Helen Zughaib was born in Beirut, Lebanon, living mostly in the Middle East and Europe before coming to the United States to study art. She received her BFA from Syracuse University, College of Visual and Performing Arts. Helen works primarily in gouache, an opaque watercolor, and ink on board. Her work has been widely exhibited in galleries and museums in the United States, Europe and Lebanon. Her paintings are included in many private and public collections, including the White House, World Bank, Library of Congress, US Consulate General, Vancouver, Canada, American Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, and the Arab American National Museum in Detroit, Michigan. In 2008, Helen was invited as US Cultural Envoy through the State Department, to Palestine, where she led a workshop with Palestinian women artists In Ramallah. In 2009, she was sent to Switzerland under the State Department’s Speaker and Specialist Program. Her paintings have been gifted to heads of state by President Obama and former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. As an Arab American, Helen feels that her background in the Middle East allows her to approach the experiences she has in America in a unique way, remaining an observer of both the Arab and American cultures. She believes that the arts are one of the most important ways to help shape and foster dialogue and positive ideas about the Middle East.
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