When artist Nailah Taman addressed students in Simms Auditorium, their message was simple: there is no single path to becoming an artist.
Invited to campus through the Jada B. Gonzales Visiting Artist Series, Nailah delivered a 30-minute talk to the 10-12 division and led a workshop with Senior Studio and Fiber Arts classes. Notably, Senior Studio students served as jurors in the nationwide selection process that brought Nailah to Albuquerque Academy.
During the workshop, students participated in a hands-on experience centered on sewing and personal storytelling through textiles. They were encouraged to bring fabric that held personal meaning — garments, heirlooms, or materials connected to family and memory — and to transform them into new works. Nailah guided them through sewing techniques while prompting reflection on how materials carry history, identity, and intention, reinforcing the idea that art can emerge directly from lived experience.
An Egyptian American, nonbinary visual and textile artist based in Los Angeles, Nailah opened their auditorium talk with an image of the first quilt they made at age eight alongside their grandmother. “Making is part of my life and part of my ancestry,” they said, grounding their practice in family history and cultural inheritance.
Tracing their journey from ceramics at the University of Minnesota to large-scale textile installations, Nailah described work shaped by ancestral symbolism and Egyptian tent-making traditions. Their sculptural “fleshy glyphs,” inspired by hieroglyphics, reinterpret carved forms through soft, hand-sewn materials. “I’m always trying to make stuff to build a better world,” they told students.
Nailah also spoke about creating art amid social upheaval, including living in Minneapolis during the 2020 uprising following the murder of George Floyd and later collaborating on an installation commemorating Palestinians killed in Gaza. “Art can be political,” they said. “It can be in so many settings.”
The Jada B. Gonzales ’23 Artist Series was established in 2023 in remembrance of Jada Gonzales with support from donors. Jada was an artist – both as a writer and photographer; she sought connection and savored the personal discovery inherent in the artistic process. She generously invited others in to share her art, and she was courageous and determined in her pursuit of her unique creative vision.
