kathleen stafford

b. 1951, Springfield, Ma,USA. 

 Kathleen Stafford is an artist, mainly known for working with watercolors and printmaking. The 35 years that Stafford spent in Africa and the Middle East has tremendously shaped her artwork. In Kuwait, she had said to be inspired by traditional Bedouin attire and the desert flora. 

Stafford received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Birmingham, Alabama in 1973, and moved to Italy to expand her education in the field, studying at the Accademia di Belle Arte in Rome and Palermo. 

Her story about escaping the 1979-1981 Iran hostage crisis is portrayed in the 2012 Oscar-winning film: Argo. 

EXHIBITIONS

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

Galleria Flaccovio (with Fausta Zangara) – Palermo, Italy, 1982.

Khallil Museum Gallery – Cairo, Egypt, 1986.

Sultan Gallery – Kuwait, 1988.

Franz Fanon Gallery (with Zina Amour) – Algiers, Algeria, 1989.

2nd International Biennial Exhibition – Algiers, Algeria, 1989.

French Cultural Center – Nouakchott, Mauritania, 1994.

‘Les Colours de Mercoledi’ (with Nancy, Abaiderahmane), French Cultural Center – Nouakchott, Mauritania, 1996.

‘Carnets de Voyages’, Galerie Essaadi – Carthage, Tunisia, 1999.

‘De Rome a Carthae’ (with Anna Aglira) – Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia, 2000.

‘Sahara Profon’, Galerie Essaadi – Carthage, Tunisia, 2001.

‘Icones Africaines’ Galerie Arts Pluriels – Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, 2003.

‘Color and Light’, The African Living Arts Centre – The Gambia, 2005.

‘Brushstrokes’, The African Living Arts Centre – The Gambia, 2007.

Torpedo Art Gallery – Alexandria, Virginia, USA, 2010.

‘African Icons’, Nike Art Gallery – Lagos, Nigeria, 2011.

‘Obioma, The Good Hearted People’, Nike Art Gallery – Lagos, Nigeria, 2012.

‘African Encounters from Coast to Coast’, Black History Museum – Alexandria, Virginia, USA, 2012-2013.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Micanopy Center for Modern Art – Micapony, Florida, 1978.

Galeria Della Cornice – Rome, Italy, 1997.

Drawn to Washington – Silver Spring, Maryland, USA, 2008.

Target Gallery Imprint – Alexandria, Virginia, 2010.

OFFICIAL COLLECTIONS

Dulin Gallery of Art – Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.

Sultan Gallery – Kuwait.

American Embassy Chancery – Kuwait.

Association of Cultural Heritage and Tourism – Tunisia.

Commission for the Ministry of Culture – Tunisia.

US Embassy – Tunis, Tunisia.

Collection of Prince Yemisi Shyllon – Lagos, Nigeria.

Black History Museum – Alexandria, Virginia, USA.

Smithsonian National Museum for African Art, Shop – Washington, D.C., USA.

AWARDS AND HONORS

Honorable Mention – 2nd Biennial Exhibition, Algiers, Algeria, 1989.

United States Ambassador of Georgetown – Arts in Embassies Program, Guyana.

Her escape from Iran was portrayed in Oscar-winning movie: ‘ARGO’ – 2012.

United States Ambassador – Arts in Embassies Program, Mauritiana.