Today we’d like to introduce you to Leili Arai Tavallaei.
Hi Leili Arai, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always straddled my creative practice with community building. I graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art with a BFA in Animation and a Minor in Printmaking. While a student, I gravitated towards the Center for Identity and Inclusion, which has since been folded into the Office of Student Engagement. Jellema Stewart was the Director at the time, and I cannot thank her enough for the support and mentorship she gave me.
With encouragement from staff and my peers, I founded a student union so those who looked like me could be in community, celebrate and share their culture, and have an official platform for engagement with the wider student body and administration. I’ve never sought out leadership positions intentionally; I was simply motivated enough to do the work and found myself surrounded by folx who shared that vision. MICA is where I learned that art and community are inseparable and that lesson has shaped how I organize today.
After graduation, I sought spaces that could nurture both my artistic practice and my understanding of myself. Islam & Print, co-founded by artists Safiyah Cheatam and Dan Flounders, is an artist residency based in Baltimore whose mission is to champion diverse Muslim experiences, build a network of regional emerging visual artists, and create an archive and collection of contemporary Muslim artwork.
The artists I was in fellowship with expanded my worldview and the trajectory of my practice, deepening my connection to my roots while helping me untangle my complex, rather unconventional relationship to my faith. I realized that I am what the Muslim community looks like, at least in part, and that my artwork is how I practice my faith and culture. Islam & Print marked one of my first public and professional experiences as a working artist, and I’m grateful to be part of a community committed to tenderness, understanding, and advocacy.
Moving to Dallas marked the beginning of an entirely new chapter. The creative community welcomed me with open arms, and I began a long-term residency with The Cedars Union (CU) as a member of Cohort IV. During that time, I was awarded a solo show with Erin Cluley Gallery as part of their annual Cluley Projects open call, became a recipient of the Arch and Anne Giles Kimbrough Fund through the Dallas Museum of Art, and participated in several local group exhibitions. The CU opened many doors for me and helped me establish roots within the greater DFW arts ecosystem.
That foundation eventually led me to become an artist in residence at the Museum of Asian Texans (MAT), co-founded by civic organizer and writer Stephanie Drenka. Surrounded by the rich history of Asian Americans, and more specifically Asian Texans, I found myself working in a space that echoed many of the questions already emerging in my practice. Artmaking in a space dedicated to the collective history of my community while participating in contemporary historical moments was incredibly meaningful. These residencies legitimized my practice; the MAT affirmed the importance of culture keeping as an integral step in my making process while The CU provided me with the infrastructure and resources needed to continue making.
Since then I’ve had my work featured at Aurora Video Art Night, taught workshops at the Crow Museum of Asian Art for their Wellness Lab, and curated shows across DFW. I’m now located in the Tin District as a member of Chapman Collective, run by nationally recognized sculptor Jessica Bell. Chapman Collective has already hosted several gallery events, and I’m excited to see how both my work and my relationships within the community continue to grow there.
Alongside my studio practice, my time in Dallas has been equally defined by community building and grassroots organizing. I joined the Dallas Asian American Art Collective (DAAART), founded by Christina J. Hahn and fellow CU Cohort IV alum, and now serve on its Board of Directors. Through DAAART, I’m involved with organizing exhibitions, workshops, public programs, and community events that connect and cultivate the Asian American creative community in Dallas while advocating for and amplifying the voices of Asian Texan artists.
Through DAAART, I’ve had the pleasure of learning from and working alongside local leaders like Chef Reyna Duong of ChimLahn, artist and social practitioner Darryl Ratcliff of Ash Studios, and educator and filmmaker Niloo Jalilvand of Pegasus Media Project. One of the most rewarding parts has been watching ideas become reality. I’ve seen creative partnerships, small businesses, and independent projects begin as conversations and blossom into fully realized endeavors. The people are why arts and culture matter and this is why community organizing is just as important to me as my arts practice.
Looking back over the past few years, what surprises me most isn’t any single exhibition, residency, or award, it’s how interconnected each opportunity has been. Every space welcomed me into another community, every mentor introduced me to another conversation, and every project deepened both my artistic practice and my commitment to creating spaces where others can belong.
The City of Dallas has surprised me with its heart and accelerated my career tenfold. Its people are passionate, driven, and above all filled with a Texas charm I doubt could be replicated anywhere else. I’m deeply grateful to call this community home and excited to continue contributing to the creative ecosystem that has given me so much.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being an artist and dedicating yourself to community work is not a conventional path. It’s been hard. There will always be barriers to jump when embarking on this kind of journey. That being said, I fully believe that arts and culture are an integral part of and foundational infrastructure for any society. It’s work I’ve been called to do. Creatives and cultural practitioners are our narrators, visualizing the people’s perspective and bridging the gaps in our world.
This level of responsibility and scale of impact can be daunting at times. To be able to sustain and continue creating artists need support, whether that’s from institutions, communities, or a combination of the two. When I’ve struggled with transitions or felt at a loss for action, there has always been a path forged by my predecessors to model off of. At the end of the day my success is because of the trust and reliability I’ve cultivated in the communities I invest in. I am a reflection of the people who believed in me and encouraged me. And I hope to pass on what I’ve learned to the next generation of creative catalysts.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an interdisciplinary artist, independent curator, and cultural organizer born in the south and raised by working parents in the suburbs of north Houston. I am a keeper of mixed cultures with Persian-Japanese-Texan roots. I translate family photographs, immigrant clutter, and my childhood memories of Texas through video installation, printed media, and bricollaged paintings. I do this so that people stuck between nostalgia and reality have a place to navigate confusion, cherish collective memory, and feel connected for future generations.
Repetition is central to my process. I deal in cultural memory and my subject matter is translated across media from original to print to new media. An old photo found in a drawer is captured by a smartphone an ocean away, reinterpreted into colored layers individually printed by my hand, scanned alongside its sister prints, and finally collated into a looping video of itself. Is this the same photograph? Along its journey elements of the photo have been omitted, obscured, and reforged and yet it continues to represent the same moment 20 years ago. The end result is not a true original, but a memory and its evolution. Likewise, my bricollaged paintings mediate memory and lived experience. They feature figures who act as harbingers of change, keepers of nostalgia, or messengers of subconscious. Their contorted appearance, riddled with hidden icons, is a physical representation of their duty. Mired in the weight of documenting what will inevitably be lost, they firmly cling to their sea of mementos.
My artwork operates as both an archive and diary, exploring how memory shifts between nostalgia and reality. There’s something ethereal yet uncomfortable about the inaccuracies of memory. That grey space, that “in-between-ness,” is essential to my everyday life as someone caught at multiple intersections of race, religion, and culture. My artwork translates collective memory through repetition and ritual so the next generation is connected to the past and empowered to forge new modes of memory keeping in an increasingly digital world.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
To inquire about speaking engagements, workshops, or curatorial projects and to keep up to date with my projects and events find me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/at_leili/) or through my website (https://www.latavallaei.com/).
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To stay involved check out these upcoming events and local organizations:
Events:
June 25th, 2026 | The People’s House Party: A Community Celebration to Save Dallas City Hall. Join us for an evening of music, art, and community at Four Corners Brewery with local organizers & artists to Save Dallas City Hall. More information on the event can be found here: https://savedallascityhall.eventbrite.com
August 28th – 29th, 2026 | The Dallas Asian American Film Festival is a hyperlocal film festival showcasing Asian American filmmakers, with an emphasis on Asian Texan talent, presented by DAAART and hosted by the Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, and Crow Museum of Asian Art. For more information look here: https://www.daaart.org/daaff
November to December, 2026 | Recontextualize / Romanticize, DAAART’s 3rd annual visual arts showcase, will take place November to December 2026 at Hyphen Space Gallery. We are accepting submissions to our open call and invite artists throughout the Asian diaspora in Texas to apply. The deadline for submissions is 7/31 by 11:59PM CST. Find out more about the theme on our application here: https://forms.gle/jgCWPp5yEbHE7WM8A
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Organizations:
Dallas Asian American Art Collective (DAAART) is a 501c3 nonprofit whose mission is to connect & cultivate the Asian American creative community in Dallas through creating spaces, arts opportunities, and public educational programming to advocate for and amplify the voices of Asian Texan artists. Find out more here: https://www.daaart.org/
The Cedars Union (CU) is a nonprofit arts incubator dedicated to connecting North Texas’s brightest creative talent with the essential resources needed to thrive professionally and artistically. Find out more here: https://www.cedarsunion.org/
Dallas Asian American Historical Society (DAAHS) was established to research, preserve, and amplify the legacy of Asian Americans in the Dallas area. More info here: https://dallasasianhistory.org/
Dallas For Change is a volunteer powered organization encouraging meaningful actions that influence change in Dallas, TX. More info here: https://www.instagram.com/dallasforchange/
Black Arts DFW is dedicated to building the bridge between Black professionals and Black Arts in North Texas to build a pipeline of Black arts patrons, philanthropists, and collectors. Find out more here: https://blackartsdfw.com/events
Cima Arts is a Dallas-based arts nonprofit organization whose mission is to expand the arts in marginalized communities. We connect audiences with local artists through exhibits, events, and educational programs, championing diverse voices to shape a vibrant and inclusive creative community. Find out more here: https://www.cimatx.com/
Friends of Darryl Ratcliff (FODR) is 501c(3) supporting artists and building healthier communities via art and culture. Find out more here: https://www.instagram.com/friendsofdarryl/
Hyphen Space is a unique co-working space where culture, creativity, and community thrive together. Find out more here: https://www.hyphenspace.co/
Did You Read Yet is a Dallas based bookclub dedicated to amplifying intersectional Asian voices in literature. Find out more here: https://www.instagram.com/dallasasiandyry/
Dallas Social Queer Organization (DSQO) is an affirming community for LGBTQ+ adults and allies building connections through shared learning, support, & queer vibes. Find out more here: https://www.instagram.com/dsqodallas/
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.latavallaei.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/at_leili/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leili-arai-tavallaei-3bb948160/
