“Middle East Art: Beauty in a Land of Conflict” is an exhibit of over forty paintings by twelve artists from the Middle East. Most of the artists trained and worked professionally in Baghdad before fleeing the violence in their homeland following the U.S. invasion in 2003; many now live in the U.S. or Canada. These paintings reflect their ancient Mesopotamian heritage as well as new artistic influences they’ve encountered in North America. In addition to paintings by Iraqi artists, several paintings by artists from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries will also be on exhibit.