new work by Kinda Hibrawi"Dear Mr. Gibran" features new paintings by Kinda Hibrawi. Khalil Gibran is one of Lebanon's most revered poets and spiritual seekers who spent many years living in New York and hence has become a symbol of east-west understanding, with his major work The Prophet selling millions of copies in translation around the world.

Opening Reception November 14, 7-10 pm. Special guest performance by Omar Offendum.

Kinda Hibrawi's artwork is a passionate journey of femininity, spirituality and cultural convergence. Of
Syrian descent, she grew up between Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, and the United States. Through her studies she began to expand on the ancient tradition of Arabic Calligraphy by giving it a modern twist. As an Arab American, she felt the need for her artwork to reflect the richness of the Middle East coupled with Western diversity. Hibrawi's original work is sought by collectors worldwide and has exhibited in galleries across the US. As well as in the permanent collection of the Arab American Museum. Her 2007 solo exhibition in Washington DC was a great success and she was named "an artistic ambassador" by Arab News. In 2008 her paintings were selected by the Artists in Embassies Program for Ambassador Kurt Volker, the U.S. Representative to NATO. As an artistic ambassador she lectures on her work nationwide, recently she was invited to speak at the School of Visual Fine Arts in New York City. Hibrawi runs a portrait studio MyPopArt.com in California and hopes to continue bridging cultural misunderstandings between Arabs and Americans through her artwork. She is currently represented by Ayse Turgut in New York and the Chiarini Gallery in California. 

Hip hop artist Omar OffendumOmar Offendum is a Syrian-American MC/Producer - born in Saudi Arabia, raised in Washington DC, and living in Los Angeles. He started his musical career off as 1/2 of The N.O.M.A.D.S., co-produced the critically-acclaimed "FREE-THE-P" Mixtape, participated in "The Arab Summit" project, co-authored the "Brooklyn Beats 2 Beirut Streets" performance-lecture, & was featured on several major news outlets (BBC/ Yahoo/ ABC News/ Aljazeera/ Reuters). He has helped raise thousands of dollars for various humanitarian relief organizations (PCRF/ Islamic Relief/ ANERA/ Kinder) & toured the world (Damascus/ Beirut/ Amman/ Bahrain/ Dubai/ New York/ DC/ Philly/ Detroit/ Chicago/ New Orleans/ Vancouver/ San Francisco/ LA/ San Diego) to perform his ground-breaking music. Offendum is currently hard at work on his upcoming solo release - affectionately dubbed "Syriana-americanA."