Bravo series award winner returns to UF this week

April 16, 2012

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Kymia Nawabi, University of Florida alumna and winner of Bravo’s “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist” season two, will visit the College of Fine Arts Thursday and Friday.

Nawabi beat 13 competitors to win a solo show at the Brooklyn Museum of Art and a cash prize of $100,000 through the Bravo television series. She graduated in 2006 from the UF College of Fine Arts School of Art + Art History with a master of fine arts.

“My drawing and sculpting skills really hit new levels while I attended UF,” Nawabi said.

Nawabi will participate in a lecture presentation open to the public at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Fine Arts B Building, Room 103. She will give a presentation on her artwork and experience in New York.

On Friday, Nawabi will hold two roundtable discussions for School of Art + Art History students, in Fine Arts C Building, Room 112. An undergraduate discussion will be held at 1 p.m. and a graduate discussion at 2 p.m.

“If making art is what you want to do, please do not let anyone tell you you should not do it because being an artist is too risky a profession, etc.,” Nawabi said. “It is a risky profession with a lot of hard work and plenty of uncertainties, especially concerning money, but if it is what you love and you believe it is what you want to do – do it.”

For more information on the events, call 352-392-0201.