Artist Conversation and Reception for Today, Tomorrow

Join Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) and Anderson Center at Tower View on Friday, February 2 for a conversation with artist asmaa al-issa, followed by a reception for the exhibition Today, Tomorrow. The conversation between al-issa and Shaymaa Khalil, Operations Director of IARP, begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Tower View Barn. This will be immediately followed by a reception running from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. The event is free and open to all and will feature light refreshments from both Iraqi and American cultures.

Featured image: Henna from Palm Navigation by asmaa al-issa.

About the Artist

asmaa al-issa (b. Baghdad, Iraq) cultivates an art practice that responds to her lived experiences and interactions with the land, materials, and people around her. asmaa’s practice as an artist and educator focuses on nurturing creativity while building cross-cultural alliances.

asmaa’s formal education includes a BFA in Visual Arts from the University of Calgary, CA (2013) and a MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, CA (2017). asmaa was a fellow & instructor at the Painting & Printmaking Department at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (2018 – 2019), an artist in residence at Studio Kura in Itoshima, JP (2019), and Manarat Al Saadiyat Art Studio in Abu Dhabi, UAE (2022). Her artwork has been exhibited across Canada, in Spain, Japan, and Qatar. asmaa’s artistic practice has been supported by her family, Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and Calgary Arts Development.

Photo Credit: Lamia Al-Issa.

Project Partners and Supporters

This event is co-presented by Iraqi American Reconciliation Project and Anderson Center at Tower View.

Founded in 2007, the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) is a nonprofit located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that builds bridges of communication, understanding, and support between Iraqis and Americans after decades of sanctions, war, and occupation. Learn more here: reconciliationproject.org

Anderson Center is a rare, rural oasis, a place that celebrates the imagination and supports the development of new arts and ideas through residencies, studios, and public engagement.  Located at the expansive, historic Tower View site in Red Wing, Minnesota, Anderson Center works to create a vibrant regional, national, and international community where art continues to be created and valued for its power to enrich lives and society.

This engagement is supported by the Arts Midwest GIG Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is supported by the Minnesota State Arts Board.

This project is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.