lelashahrzad@gmail.com
2024 MFA University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2026 Title TBD, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, CA (forthcoming)
2025 ghosts-above_ghosts-below.dxf, LEFT FIELD Gallery, Los Osos, CA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 The 100th Show, LEFT FIELD Gallery, Los Osos, CA
2024 The Dinner Party, KEYSTONE Art Space, Los Angeles, CA
2024 Incandescent, Art, Design and Architecture Museum, Santa Barbara, CA
2024 GLAMFA, CSU Long Beach School of Art Gallery, Long Beach, CA
2023 INVERSE Performance Art Festival, Crystal Bridges’ The Momentary, Bentonville, AR
2023 Analogous Roots, Napa Hall Art Gallery, CSU Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA
2023 tributaries, Art, Design, and Architecture Museum, Santa Barbara, CA
2023 Tres Leches, Red Barn Artist Space, Santa Barbara, CA
2023 Small Images, Atkinson Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
2022 Untitled, Glassbox Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
2020 INVERSE Performance Art Festival, Crystal Bridges’ The Momentary, Bentonville, AR (virtual)
2020 Archipelago, Virtual Show
2019 Traces, INVERSE Residency Exhibition, San Luis Obispo, CA
2018 Off Menu, 2G Studios, San Luis Obispo, CA
2018 The Sadness of Maps, Industry of the Ordinary Residency Exhibition, San Luis Obispo,CA
2018 Maiden LA, Grand Park, Los Angeles, CA (catalog)
2018 This Must Be The Place, University Art Gallery, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA
2017 Student Art Exhibition, by nomination only, San Diego Mesa College, San Diego, CA (catalog)
PUBLIC ART
2021 Untitled IV, Mission Plaza, San Luis Obispo, CA
2021 Marianne Williamson Can’t Save Me Now, San Luis Obispo, CA
2019 Attention Economy, Arts Obispo Exhibition, Two-Person Show, San Luis Obispo, CA
RESIDENCIES
2025 Bemis Center, Omaha, NE
2024-2025 Post-MFA Fellow: Artist in Residence, University of California, Santa Barbara
2021 Dark Study, Experimental Program by Nicole Won Hee Maloof + Caitlin Cherry (virtual)
2020 INVERSE Performance Art Residency through the Momentary, Bentonville, AR (virtual)
2019 INVERSE Performance Art Residency, San Luis Obispo, CA
2018 Industry of the Ordinary Residency, San Luis Obispo, CA
AWARDS + FELLOWSHIPS
2024 Mind + Machine Visual Art Award, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
2024 Ron Newby Award, University of California, Santa Barbara
2024 Inclusive Blacksmiths Peter’s Valley Craft School Scholarship + Grant, Layton, NJ
2023 Levitan Art Fellowship, University of California, Santa Barbara
2023 IPS Grant, University of California, Santa Barbara
2023 Curatorial Assistant, Undergraduate Exhibition, Art, Design + Architecture Museum,University of California, Santa Barbara
2022 Chancellor’s Fellow, University of California, Santa Barbara
2021 Downtown Plaza Grant in partnership with the San Luis Obispo Arts Council, San Luis Obispo, CA
2018 Personal Achievement Award, Art + Design Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA
COLLABORATIONS
2023 Participant, Primary Source/A Conversation by Suzanne Lacy (with Susan Mogul, Linda Vallejo and Jenni Sorkin), REDCAT, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Participant, The Suzanne Lacy Archive (with Suzanne Lacy and Leslie Lebowitz),REDCAT, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Artist + Performance Assistant, Performance for Shana Moulton at Taft Gardens, Ojai, CA
PRESS
2025 New Times, March 2025, San Luis Obispo, CA
2024 The Independent, May 2024, Santa Barbara, CA
2024 The Current, May 2024, Santa Barbara, CA
2021 SloLife Magazine, Dec ’21/Jan ’22 (pages 46-47)
2021 LA’s Most Inspiring Stories, VoyageLA, online, September 20, 2021
2021 The New Alternatives, Art in America, May 2021 (page 68)
2021 On Divergent Art Education: A Case Study in Dark Study, Art & Education, March 2021
2020 Shout Out LA, VoyageLA, Los Angeles, CA, August 2020
2017 Mesa Visions, Art and Literary magazine, judged artwork with photographs, San Diego,CA, May. 21, 2018 (page 8)
LECTURES + PANELS
2025 Guest Lecturer, Art 120 College of Creative Studies, University of California Santa Barbara
2024 Senior Thesis Guest Critic,College of Creative Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, March ‘24
Senior Portfolio Reviews Guest Critic, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA, October ‘24
2023 Senior Portfolio Reviews Guest Critic, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA, October ‘23
2020 Panelist, INVERSE Performance Art Festival, The Momentary, Virtual