• Leila Mesdaghi is an Iranian-Colombian born in New York City in 1977. She moved to Iran after the Iranian revolution in 1978 and lived in Tehran until she moved back to the U.S after graduating from the Tehran Islamic Azad Law University in 2000. She received a BA in Art from Florida Gulf Coast University in 2016 and has been working and living in Fort Myers, FL. Her interdisciplinary work Including painting, sculpture, video, performance, and installation has been depicting subjects such as shame and vulnerably. She refers to her work as emotion-scapes as she challenges how we observe, react, and respond to our emotional, psychological, and social pain and issues.

  • Bard College, MFA, 2024

    Florida Gulf Coast University, Bachelor in Art, 2016

    Tehran Islamic Azad University, Bachelor in Law, 1999

  • Chair of the City of Fort Myers Public Art Committee, Present.

    Visiting Artist Talk at Pratt Institute, Junior Class of Sculpture and Integrated Practices, Fine Arts Department, Spring 2022

    Vice Chair at the City of Fort Myers Public Art Committee, 2020-2022

    Artist talk at Sanibel-Captiva Art League, Feb, 2021

    Rauschenberg Residency, Residency Assistent, Captive, FL, 2017 - 2020

    Florida Gulf Coast University Art Gallery, Gallery Assistant, Fort Myers, FL, 2014 - 2016

  • City of Fort Myers Art and Culture Grant, FL, 2020

    Gulfshore Life Magazine, Insider Artist Profile: Fort Myers Artist Leila Mesdaghi by Terry Ward, Jan 2020

    Three Song Stories Podcast, Episode 043- Leila Mesdaghi, WGCU PBS & NPR for Southwest Florida, Interview by Mike Kiniry, 2019

    City of Fort Myers Art and Culture Grant, FL, 2019

  • 2020 Southwest Florida Community Foundation Arts and Culture Grant

    2019 Southwest Florida Community Foundation Arts and Culture Grant

    2016 SunPeaks Center For The Arts and Sustainability Residency, Colorado Springs, CO

    2016 Overall Best of Show Annual Juried Exhibition, Bern Davis Art Center, Fort Myers, FL

    2016 Art History Research Award, Florida Gulf Coast University

    2016 Southwest Florida Fine Craft Guild Awards of Excellence

    2015 FGCU 17th Annual Juried Student Exhibition Dean’s Award

    2015 24 Hours Festival, Ghostbird Theatre, Visual Arts Award

    2015 Marvin and Helene Gralnick Scholarship

    2014 24 Hours Festival Ghostbird Theatre, Visual Arts Award

    2014 Greater Fort Myers Women in Business Scholarship

    2014 FSW Honors Research Scholarship in conjunction with Yoko Ono’s Imagine Peace exhibition at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery

    2014 Bob Rauschenberg Gallery Scholarship

    2013 FSW Fine Art Scholarship

    2013 FSW College of Humanities Award for Excellence in Fine Arts

    2012 24 Hours Festival FSW College, Best of Show in Visual Arts Award

  • 2022 One and Only · يكتا , Group Exhibition, Curated by Jessica Todd, Parachute Gallery, Tampa, FL

    2022 City of Fort Myers Biannual Art and Culture Grand Recipient Exhibition, Fort Myers, FL

    2021 Fast Forward, FSW Alumni Group Exhibition, Big Arts, Sanibel, FL

    2021 Art Lives Here, Billboard Exhibition, Lee County, FL

    2020 Pop Of Color, Southwest Florida International Airport, Fort Myers, FL

    2020 Love Cannot Alter it, Solo exhibition, Cape Coral Art Studios, Cape Coral, FL.

    2017 20/20: An Alumni Exhibition Celebrating FGCU’s 20th Anniversary, Fort Myers, FL.

    2017 Peace on Paper, 2nd Contemporary Art Biennale, Tehran, Iran.

    2017 Peace on Paper, Contemporary Art Museum Isfahan, Iran.

    2017 Peace on Paper, Contemporary Art Museum Abadan, Iran.

    2016 The Chicken Play, Ghostbird Theater Company, Fort Myers, FL.

    2016 126 Seconds, TGIF Film Festive, Fort Myers, FL

    2016 Ask Me Anything, Performance. Sidney and Bern Davis Art Center, Fort Myers, FL

    2016 Quest For Permanence, Florida Gulf Coast University Main Gallery. Ft Myers, FL.

    2016 Privilege of Removal: A Senior Project, FGCU, Fort Myers, FL.

    2015 Broadsides: Poetry Off The Shelves, Alliance for the Arts. Fort Myers, FL.

    2015 I’m Sorry For What I Said, Performance, Bern Davis Art Center. Ft Myers, FL.

    2014 Ferðalag : Lacoste, Charles, Mesdaghi. Bob Rauschenberg Gallery. Fort Myers, FL.

    2013 Unspoken Words, Performance, Sidney and Bern Davis Art Center, Fort Myers, FL.

    2012 It’s Raining Art Sidney and Bern Davis Art Center, Fort Myers, FL.

    2012 State of Mind Politics: 2012 , Alliance for The Arts, Fort Myers, FL.

  • No More Birdwatching , mixed media, 3x3’, Florida SouthWestern State College Collection, FL

    Untitled (mushroom,) oil on canvas 7x14’, Florida SouthWestern State College Collection, FL

    One-Way Ticket, mixed media, 4x3’, Private Collection, FL

    Bloody Days l, Bloody Days IV, Collagraph 21x 15", Private Collection, FL

    Tehran, acrylic on canvas, 4x6’, Private Collection, CA

    No War With Iran, acrylic on canvas, 7x7’, Private Collection, CA

    Untitled (pink, black, white), latex on canvas, 6x9’, Florida SouthWestern State College Collection, FL

    Between Head and Heart, mixed media, 50 X 96", Private Collection, Canada

    In Waiting I, collage, 20x24”, Private Collection, Canada

    In Waiting II, collage, 20x24”, Private Collection, VA

    Untitled (pink abstract), acrylic on canvas, 6x5’, Private Collection, VA

    The Wash, acrylic on canvas 6x5’, Private Collection, FL

    Another Beautiful Day, oil on canvas, 4x4’, Private Collection, FL

    Queens Rising Variation, wooden queens, editions 1,3,5,6,8,9,11,13, Private Collection, FL