Sarah Ahmad is a multi-media artist based in the American Southwest and Pakistan. A Tulsa Artist Fellow (2019–23) and 2024 SOVEREIGNTY resident fellow at Santa Fe Art Institute and NARS foundation in Brooklyn. Ahmad has exhibited internationally—from Tulsa’s Gilcrease Museum and CUNY’s James Gallery—to the Sharjah Art Museum, UAE; Pakistan’s Lahore Museum; and Asia Triennial, Manchester. Her work has been featured in mainstream media (USA Today, NPR, PBS) and in art publications (ARTnews, Bomb, MIT). Ahmad has been funded by awards including the Andy Warhol Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies. As an immigrant working across national boundaries, Ahmad’s practice rooted in earth-centered healing provides an awareness of geo-political environmental ties between global and local, positioning her to bring voice from the—often marginalized—rural.
Sermin Ciddi is a renowned Turkish artist skilled in contemporary miniature (minyatür) painting, one of the highly specialized visual arts of Ottoman and Turkish culture along with the art of illumination (tezhip), calligraphy (hat) and marbling paper (ebru). Born in Istanbul, Ms. Ciddi takes inspiration from a variety of sources: places she has lived and traveled to, the architectural salience of each location, and finally, their interaction with surrounding nature.
Ms. Ciddi studied at the Istanbul State Fine Arts Academy and subsequently worked with Turkey’s premier miniature artists, gaining her diploma in the field, before joining their ranks with her first exhibition of her work in 1996. Her art has beendisplayed in numerous galleries and cultural spaces across Turkey and the United States.
She specializes in acrylic, gouache and watercolor painting and is currently a resident juried artist at The Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia.
Rashin Kheiriyeh is an Iranian-American illustrator based in Washington D.C., is celebrated for her distinctive illustrations showcased in prestigious publications such as The New Yorker and The New York Times. With a prolific career spanning over 100 children's books, Rashin's art resonates with audiences globally. Her acclaimed works include titles like "Rumi, Poet of Joy and Love" and "The Shape of Home," praised by Publishers Weekly for their "buoyant slice-of-life" narratives and lauded by The New York Times for their "joyful, wildly imaginative" storytelling.
Rashin's exceptional talent has earned her nominations for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2023 and 2024, recognizing her significant contributions to children's literature. A graduate in painting from the School of Visual Arts in New York, Rashin holds an MFA in graphic design and an honorary PhD in illustration from Alzahra University in Tehran. In 2017, she was honored as a Maurice Sendak Fellow.
Rashin's paintings have been prominently featured in exhibitions across a multitude of countries, including the United States, France, Italy, Canada, India, China, South Korea, Spain, Japan, Slovakia, Germany, and Iran. Her diverse body of work continues to inspire and captivate audiences worldwide, blending cultural richness with artistic innovation.
Meena Khalili is a professor of design and interaction, who makes daily drawings of things. She is an artist who uses design as a strategy for creation, and a designer who brings artistic methods to her solutions.
Khalili is the recipient of the National Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement in Graphic Design by the Southeastern College Art Conference. Her work has been shown at the Type Director’s Club of New York, Chicago Design Museum, and galleries throughout North America, in Italy, Canada, China, Indonesia, Croatia, Australia, and Moscow, with illustrations and book art in permanent collections at the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, VCU Libraries Special Collections and Archives, the Omni Hotel Louisville, and the Library of Congress. She is featured in Issue 05 of The Great Discontent.
Her research is driven by her experience as an Iranian-American. Her work explores cultural identity and generational storytelling.
Khalili's interdisciplinary work moves between traditional design and studio art practices with focus on ethical design, sustainable practices, user experience and human interaction, storytelling, typography, illustration, moving image, and augmented reality. In addition to her international exhibitions, Meena maintains an active speaking schedule with engagements and workshops throughout the U.S., and abroad in Hong Kong, Doha, and Venice.
Khalili is Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina School of Visual Art + Design. She is a native of Washington, D.C. and holds a BFA in Illustration and an MFA in Visual Communication + Graphic Design from VCUarts and completed study at the Illustration Academy, and the LdM Institute in Florence, Italy.
Ardent advocate for design education, Meena served as National Co-Chair of the AIGA Design Educators Community from April '20-May '22.
Bizhan Khodabandeh is a visual communicator who moves freely across the professional boundaries as designer, illustrator, artist and cartoonist. His works vary from small graphic art projects to major public campaigns. Khodabandeh is particularly fascinated by how art and design can be a catalyst for social change.
He has received numerous international and national awards for his work, including: a silver medal from the Society of Illustrators for comics, a silver medal from the International Design Awards, a finalist in the Cross-Cultural Design Competition, and best in show through the American Institute of Graphic Arts. He has received recognition for his work as both an illustrator and designer through various institutions such as: The Society of Illustrators, The American Institute of Graphic Arts, Creativity International, the International Design Awards, Adbusters, and Creative Quarterly. Khodabandeh has had work featured in publications such as Print, Creativity International, Adbusters, and Comic Bastards among others.
Currently Khodabandeh is an assistant professor at VCU’s Robertson School of Media & Culture and freelances under the name, Mended Arrow.
Dara Naraghi was born in Iran and educated in the United States. He has written comics and graphic novels of all types, from self-published zines to New York Times best sellers. His work has been published by The OSU Alumni Magazine, DC Comics, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, NBM Graphic Novels, and others.
His Persia Blues graphic novel series was nominated by the American Library Association for several prizes, and has twice won the SPACE prize for best graphic novel.
When not writing, Dara enjoys spending time outdoors, pursuing hiking, backpacking, running, cycling, paddling, camping, and more.
Dara lives in Columbus, Ohio with his lovely wife, and the world’s coolest corgi and craziest mutt.