Ibtisam Tasnim Zaman (elected in 2024) is a multidisciplinary (quadrilingual) Black, American, Oklahoma native, Muslim raised, lesbian artist. Her art practice consists of creative writing, spoken word poetry performance, narrative painting of BIPOC people and community art projects. She considers herself a Figurative Surrealist Painter and sculptor drawing inspiration from Persian Islamic geometric art, Indian classical art among others. In 2021 she was selected to create a mural at the NYC Health + Hospitals Gotham Health – St. Nicholas as part of the Community Mural Project funded by the Laurie M Tisch Illumination Fund. During her residency at RU, Ibtisam featured new work with Damali Abrams in ‘Our Mothers’ Garden’ at Ace Hotel Brooklyn NY. In the fall of 2023, Zaman showcased her work with APAC (African Peach Arts Coalition), and was awarded by New York Council On The Arts. For 2024, Ibtisam recently completed a residency at WaveHill, a 6 month residency at Atelier Mondial in Basel, Switzerland. Zaman has upcoming exhibitions at the KunstHausBaselland, and a solo exhibition at Brownsville Museum of Fine Art this fall. In 2025, she will be featured in a solo exhibition in Basel, Switzerland.