Ara (they/them/any) is a queer/trans designer and textile artist of Western Armenian and Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. As an artist in diaspora, their practice of cultural and ancestral (re)connection inspires them to create work that highlights how we find everyday moments of connection across emotional and physical distance. Where they’re from, fire season is year-round, their dad makes them a bowl of fruit every night, and fighting over the check is a form of love. 

They are fortunate to have shared their embroidery and Ժանյակ (Armenian needlelace) work at the SWANA Rose Culture and Community Center in so-called Portland, Oregon, most recently as one of five artists in residence for the Through the Looking Glass artist in residence program. 

In addition to their textile work, they’ve designed scenery for live performance with Hand2Mouth Theatre and Fuse Theatre Ensemble; they are also fortunate to have graduated from the inaugural PATHWAYS program, a professional development program for BIPOC-identifying emerging artists through Artists Repertory Theatre. You can find them stitching, eavesdropping, and trying to pet every cat they see.