Arab American artists use their art both to resist and to embrace their past, present and future. Through their art they retain their origins, while creating something new. They collaborate and come together. The artists included here are above all artists and the artistic renderings in this collection demonstrate their commitment to craft, innovation, and expression. They take on the task of etching their own image willingly or unwillingly, consciously or unconsciously. By telling their own stories through their own artistic mediums, these voices from within the Arab American art movement reclaim their own image and tell the world who they are.
Holly Arida is an educator and writer who has developed a new method to teach Middle East Studies and authored several articles about global education. She received her M.A. from the Center for Modern Middle East and North African Studies at the University of Michigan and serves as advisor to the Arab American National Museum. Holly Arida teaches at Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.