academic and lived trajectories: prints, place, and practice
Feb 26, 2026 6:30 PM
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8:00 pm
Join MGC Community Print Studio for a conversation on how artists can enter and shape a contemporary printmaking practice. Drawing from experiences rooted in migration, queerness, pedagogy, and belonging, the artists will reflect on their academic and lived trajectories into the medium. The discussion explores print as both a technical discipline and a critical space for examining memory, gender, vulnerability, and place. Moderated by Saki Sequeira, the talk centers representation, access, and belonging while highlighting how print studios foster non-linear learning, cross-cultural exchange, and community.
Location: Small Hall
Bios:
Lisa D. Archigian is an artist, educator, and librarian from the Bronx. As a teaching artist, Lisa is trained in best practices for working with students with disabilities, using art as a pathway to critical thinking and social emotional learning (SEL), and is certified to provide mental health first aid to youth. She earned a BA in Arts, Literature, and Writing from Union Institute and University, and MLS from Queens College, CUNY, specializing in Children’s and Young Adult Services in the Public Library Library.
Often dealing with narratives of physical and mental space, her paintings and prints have appeared in exhibitions in New York; Los Angeles; and Kyoto, Japan, where several of her woodcut prints are held in the collection of the Kyoto International Woodprint Association. Her work as an illustrator has been praised by Publisher’s Weekly and Rain Taxi Review. Lisa serves as MGC Community Print Studio Director at Powerhouse Arts in Gowanus, Brooklyn, having first been introduced to the studio as a Fellowship Artist in 2015
Raised in New York City, Kelwin Coleman is a multidisciplinary printmaking artist who has attended a variety of national and international residencies. Coleman attended Purchase College (BFA) and received his MFA from Tulane University. Coleman is a working artist, educator, printmaking technician and arts administrator. Coleman currently lives in New York City.
Mehdi Darvishi is a multi-disciplinary artist that his practice spans from traditional printmaking and wooden sculptures to interactive paintings and site-specific installations. He was born in the summer of 1988, coinciding with the Iran – Iraq peace resolution. In his war-stricken hometown, Mehdi grew up unexposed to art galleries and museums. In 2007 he left home to earn a BFA in Painting at the University of Tehran. After receiving his degree in 2011, his interest in printmaking grew into a life's pursuit. He has since exhibited in over 30 countries and has participated in more than three hundred global exhibitions, competitions, residencies, and as a visiting artist. His works have been widely collected by museums such as the China Printmaking Museum, the Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Art, Jyvaskyla Museum of Fine Arts, the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, and the US Library of Congress.
He has served as a visiting artist at several renowned art institutions worldwide, including the New York Academy of Art, the University of British Columbia, the Katowice Academy of Art, and the University of Belgrade. He is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the City University of New York–College of Staten Island.
Erika Sequeira (Saki) comes from a creative writing and photography background. Observing the correlations between darkroom processing and silkscreen printing, she followed the calling to pursue a career in printmaking. She sees printmaking as an accessible extension of one’s art practice and enjoys collaborating with artists to make their fine art editions come true. She now works at Powerhouse Arts in pursuit of becoming a Master Printmaker.
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