Born in the year 2000 in Magnolia, Arkansas, Adaja Cooper expressed a passion for the arts. At the age of 17, Adaja experimented with bright colors and immersive portraits and fell in love with painting ever since. Her art teachers at Little Rock Central High School introduced her to painting as a way to stay busy during the summers. By the summer of 2017, Adaja was accepted into Governor’s School for Visual Art, where she further developed her skills with acrylics and oils. After graduating high school, she continued developing her passion for art while pursuing a Visual Art major and Business minor at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. She has won multiple state art competitions, including AYAA (Arkansas Young Artists Association), and her work has been featured in national competitions. In 2019, she won third place in the painting category at the National NAACP Act-So Competition in Detroit. Adaja’s art has been published in multiple books, magazines, and articles. She has also had the opportunity to do various solo shows at local art galleries and had her work featured in a group exhibit at the Hearne Fine Art Gallery in Little Rock, Arkansas. Adaja has been making an impact with her award-winning Central Arkansas murals. Recently, Adaja completed her year-long journey as a 2023 Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. During her year, she received a $40,000 grant to travel around the world to create and document murals in different communities. She has created and connected with artists in England, Northern Ireland, Italy, and Senegal.