Momentum Award Conversation: Madyha Leghari, Ghazal Mojtahedi, and Bao Nguyen
Moderated by Tae Hwang
November 12 from 6:30 – 8:00 PM
The Baltimore Banner called the Patricia Massey Momentum Award Exhibition (PMMA) work that is “personal, material and unafraid of memory” and we think that says it all. Join us as one of our PMMA jurors, and moderator, Tae Hwang sits down with Madyha Leghari, Ghazal Mojtahedi, and Bao Nguyen to talk about their practices, their processes, and the experiences behind the work on view. Come and hear about it in their own words.
Quote: Alanah Nichole Davis, The Baltimore Banner, October 20, 2026
The Patricia Massey Momentum Award supports emerging immigrant visual artists living in Maryland whose work reflects their cultural heritage and lived experiences.
Opening Exhibition: WED SEP 23 | 6:30-9:30PM
On-View: SEP 23 – NOV 14
Open to artists working in visual arts disciplines, the award provides financial support, exhibition opportunities, and a platform for immigrant artists to share their work with the broader community while supporting the continued growth and visibility of their artistic practices.
Three artists will be selected through this process: two finalists and one Patricia Massey Momentum Award recipient. The award recipient will receive a $10,000 award and participate in public programming with Creative Alliance, and all three artists will present their work together in a group exhibition at Creative Alliance.
This award is made possible by the McNeely Massey Family.
Artists
- Madyha Leghari
Madyha Leghari (b. 1991) is a visual artist, writer, and educator based in Washington, DC. Her interdisciplinary practice explores the instability of language and the body, with particular attention to pregnancy, embodiment, and ideas of the “natural.” She holds a BFA from the National College of Arts, Lahore, and an MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design as a Fulbright Scholar. Her honors include the Folger Artistic Research Fellowship, Hamiltonian Artists Fellowship, Nicholson Studio Residency, Bresler Residency at VisArts, and Wherewithal Research Grant. She has exhibited at the Phillips Collection, Kreeger Museum, Pera Museum, and Karachi Biennale, with coverage in the Washington Post and Artforum.
- Bao Nguyen
Bao Nguyen (they/them) is a visual and performance artist born in Vietnam and based in Baltimore. Through performance and sculpture, Bao examines their connections to places that are overlooked, unregulated or uncared for through a persistent process of generating movements, creative fieldwork, and conversations with community members.
- Ghazal Mojtahedi
Ghazal Mojtahedi is an Iranian interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker based in Baltimore, Maryland, and a PhD researcher in Human-Centered Interaction. Her practice spans installation, video mapping, motion graphics, mixed media, and digital technologies, exploring storytelling and the intersection of art and technology. Her work examines memory, displacement, belonging, and the emotional relationships between people and places, particularly within migrant communities. Drawing from personal and collective experiences of migration, she transforms everyday objects, domestic materials, and cultural symbols into spaces for reflection and storytelling. She holds an MFA in Intermedia and Digital Arts from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Her thesis, Hanging Garden and Echo of Home, received the Kathy O’Dell IMDA Award (2025) for outstanding thesis writing and exhibition. Her films, as a director and producer, explore migration and women’s equity and have been screened and recognized at film festivals across the United States and internationally.
View the Exhibition
