Featured Artists
Middle Eastern Arts Collective Inaugural Gallery
Ahmed Alkarkhi, Saya Behnam, Afaf Khali
Music by LAiTH ALATTAR
Ahmed Alkarkhi
Education + Past Exhibits
2001 Bachelor of Fine Arts
2009 Solo Exhibition Foundry Gallery in DC
2010 Gallery Five, Richmond, VA
2010 Solo Exhibition Foundry Gallery in DC
2011 Solo exhibition Jerusalem Fund in DC
2013 Solo Exhibition -Hill Center Galleries DC
2016 Solo Exhibition Middle East Institute Gallery
2016 Smith Center for healing and the Arts, DC
2018 Museum Sandy Spring MD Refugee Exhibition
2019 HCAA Gallery in MD Solo Exhibition
2020 The Jerusalem Fund Gallery Al-Quds in DC
2021 Brookside Gardens Art Exhibit
2021 PGAHC National Harbor Gallery
2021 Dara Global Arts Gallery
2021 Harmony Hall Center Gallery
2022 Brookside Gardens Art Solo Exhibition
2022 The Laurel Art Guild Exhibition
2023 Brookside Gardens Art Solo Exhibition
2023 Museum Sandy Spring MD
2024 Solo Exhibition Museum Sandy Spring MD
2024 Solo Exhibition New Deal Coffee
2024 Harmony Hall Center Gallery
2024 Solo Exhibition at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington DC
2025 Solo Exhibition Museum Sandy Spring MD
Saya Behnam
Biography
Saya Behnam is an Iranian-American artists with more than 20 years of experience in fine art. She lives in Virginia, and her studio is at Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, VA.
Her art is about creating a space of hope, expension, light, and energy through the use of materials and colors. Most of her work begins with a center and then expands out, or presents some elements connected to it. The center can be interpreted in various ways, such as the sun, light, hope, or an energy system.
She is drawn to inspiration from nature, from the macro to the micro, such as the sacred geometry patterns within a flower, to the energies of galaxies and nebulae. Another aspect of her work involved creating handmade colors from botanicals, minerals, and various pigments. These can come from various sources, which will make her work more vibrant. In her work, you will find concepts of birth and death, cycles of life (with round canvases or shapes as metaphors for unity and nature’s cycles), and patterns in nature for energy, growth, chaos, and order.
She combines free-flow brushstrokes with these patterns. This can be considered a dance from nature and an interconnecting element in any organic and unified system, such as roots, branches, nervous systems, nebulae, and more.
Past Exhibitions
Commission of the Art and Humanities in Washington DC (2021 and 2022, 2023)
Histon Alexandria, through Torpedo Factory Art Center (2022)
The Mansion at Strathmore (2021)
Art Basel Miami (2017)
Artist’s Proof Gallery in Georgetown (2014-2021)
Hill Center in Washington DC (2015)
Collections
The US Embassy in Nicosia/Cyprus
The Martin Luther King Jr Library in Washington, DC
The Department of Public Works
The DC Commission on the Art and Humanities
The Office of Council member Brook Pinto
The law firm of Wiley Rein LLP, Washington DC
+ many other private collectors
Awards
Middle East Art Collector Association and Wall Street Journal in Dubai- Global Art Awards finalist (2017, 2018)
Hermes Creative Awards- Honorable Mention (2015)
League of American Communications Professionals (LACP- Bronze Spotlight Award
Afaf Khalil
Instagram: akartworld
Biography
Afaf Khalil is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist based in Harford County, Maryland. Born in Queens, New York in 1990 and raised between the US and Egypt, her work is deeply influenced by cultural duality, emotional resilience, and intuitive expression. Working primarily in acrylics and pastels, her style leans toward Abstract Expressionism— Favoring vibrant colors, minimal detail, and fluid form to evoke spiritual and emotional depth. Afaf’s creative process is guided by instinct rather than pre-planned concepts. Each work emerges as a meditation— inviting viewes to slow down, engage their inner world, and experience visual introspection. Her recent body of work, Energy Colors, explores themes of healing, solitutde, and human connection. With a background in avionic engineering and a parallel career in education and community mentorship, Afadf brings a disciplind yet soulful approach to her practice. She has exhibited in both solo and group shows throughout Connecticut and Maryland, including Yale University’s West Campus, the Colt Gateway Campus in Hartford, and Harford Artists Gallery. She is an active member of the local arts commuity, where she also leads workshops and mentors emerging artists.
Artistic Statement
“I predominantly work in acrylics for painting and pastels for drawings, embracing bold and vibrant palettes that evoke emotion and spark the viewer’s imagination. Influenced by van Gogh’s expressive energy, I favor the language of Abstract Expressionism— simplified shapes, radiant hues, minimal detail— to leave space for internal reflection. At the heart of my work lies the intention to offer a visual meditation— a canvas through which viewes may open their “third eye,” connect with their inner world, and awaken the emotional resonance within. My creative path often mirrors my personal journey: art has been my sanctuary, my voice, and my vehicle for healing during times of isolation or adversity in both the United States and abroad. My recent collection, Energy Colors, represents countless hours exploring layered textures, color synergy, and expressive mark-making. The work becomes a means to transcend hardship, to envision hope, and to affirm our shared humanity. Through exhibitions at Yale, Hartford, Manchester Art in the Park, and regional art fairs in Connecticut and Maryland, I strive to share this vision— and to inspire young artists through mentorship, workshops, and creative connection. Ultimately, I believe art is not just a form of expression— it is a force for unity, empathy, and transformation. Through bright, vivid, contemplative works, I seek to bridge inner and outer worlds, inviting viewers into a space of renewed imagination and collective peace.
Maryam Mohi
Biography
Maryam Mohi is an Iranian-American multidisciplinary artist whose work bridges the intuitive and the analytical. Based in the Washington, DC area, she created paintings that explore layered narratives of memory, identity, and transformation through acrylic, resin, and watercolor.
A self-taught artist with a background in computer science and business, Maryam approaches art with both technical precision and emotional depth. While she has never pursued a formal art, degree, she spent years learning directly from some of the most respected watercolorists in Iran— an experience that deeply shaped her sensitivity to color, composition, and storytelling through subtlety.
After more than a decade in corporate leadership and project management, Maryam made an intentional shift to a full-time art practice in 2025. Her transition from the structured word of systems and strategy to the fluidity of paint reflects a broader journey toward creative freedom and self-discovery.
Now newly settled in the DC area after several years in Texas, Maryam continues to evolve her practice—blending traditional techniques with experimental materials to create visually tactile, emotionally resonant works that invite reflection on belonging, resilience, and transformation.