SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

• Waters That Connect Us, Monte Vista Projects, Los Angeles, CA, in collaboration with SCOTTY, Berlin, Germany, and Espacio Unión, Mexico City, Mexico, October 2026 (forthcoming)

• Bad Marks, Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion, Costa Mesa, CA, October 5–November 19, 2026

• Water-borne, Bone-Dry, Monte Vista Projects, TRYST International Art Fair, Torrance, CA, 2026

• Persistence, GWC Art Gallery, Huntington Beach, CA, 2026

• Revelate, Professional Artist Fellowship Exhibition, Billie Jean King Main Library, Long Beach, CA, 2025–2026

• Original Sources, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA, 2024

• Pieces, Saddleback College Art Gallery, Mission Viejo, CA, 2022 (solo exhibition)

• Please Wait, Saddleback College Art Gallery, Mission Viejo, CA, 2022

• Path, Werby Gallery, CSULB, Long Beach, CA, 2020 (solo exhibition)

• Khor Art Initiative, Saradipour (Saray) Art Gallery and Artsy, online exhibition,2020

• Insights, Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum, Long Beach, CA, 2019

• Fourth Annual Illustration Week, Tehran Gallery, Tehran, Iran, 2019

• Made in California, Brea City Art Gallery, Brea, CA, 2019

• All Media Exhibition, Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA, 2018

• 4th MFA Biennial, Brea City Art Gallery, Brea, CA, 2018

• Talkhun, Tehran Gallery, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran, 2016 (solo exhibition)

 

SELECTED AWARDS, GRANTS, RESIDENCIES & HONORS

• Artist in Residence, Camera Obscura Art Lab, Santa Monica, CA, 2025-2026 cohort

• Grantee, Professional Artist Fellowship, Arts Council for Long Beach, 2024-2025

• Finalist, New Voices Artist Cohort, New York Print Center, New York, NY, 2024

• Distinguished Achievement in Creative Activity Award, CSULB School of Art, 2020

• Marilyn Werby Endowed Scholarship, 2019

• President’s House Selection, California State University, Long Beach, CA, 2019

• John Baldessari Scholarship, 2018

• Awarded Public Mural Project Commission, Baharestan Festival for Nowruz, Tehran, Iran, 2016

 

PUBLICATIONS & PRESS

• Publication: “Wearing the Shadow,” Different Visions: A Journal of New Perspectives on Medieval Art (forthcoming 2026).

• Press, Featured Artist: “Rising Stars: Sara Hassan Khani of Long Beach,” VoyageLA Magazine, January 28, 2025.

• Press, Featured Artist: “Origin Stories: Artists Examine and Protect Their Past at OCCCA,” Los Angeles Times, October 31, 2024.

 

EDUCATION

Master of Fine Arts (MFA), California State University, Long Beach, CA, 2020
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran, 2015

 

TEACHING & ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

• Lecturer

School of Art, California State University, Long Beach, CA, Fall 2022- Present
Design and teach lower-division and upper-division undergraduate studio art courses, including ART 390: Drawing: Figures in Context and ART 272: Drawing with Perspective. Develop syllabi, assignments, demonstrations, and course materials; lead critiques; and guide students in technical skill development, visual analysis, and conceptual inquiry.

• Visiting Artist

Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA, 2022

Led printmaking workshops and delivered an artist talk in conjunction with solo exhibition, Pieces, at Saddleback College Art Gallery

• Art Instructor

ECF Art Center, San Pedro, CA, 2021-2022
Taught studio art classes for adults with disabilities; organized community events and workshops; and founded So-Cal Artists Meet-Up, a weekly artist talk series connecting artists with disabilities to the greater Los Angeles art scene.

• Art History Research Assistant

CSULB Research Foundation, Long Beach, CA, 2020

Supported art historical research, image documentation, and archival organization.

 

CURATORIAL, PROFESSIONAL & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

• Curatorial Member, Monte Vista Projects Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2025- Present
  Los Angeles-based artist-run collective producing exhibitions and public programs.

• Co-Curator, Exuviae, Monte Vista Projects, Los Angeles, CA, July 18–August 9, 2026

• Juror, Student Annual Exhibition Awards, Saddleback College Art Gallery, Mission Viejo, CA, 2026

• Artist Panelist, Original Sources Artist Cohort, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA, 2024

• Co-Founder, drawing-house Figure Drawing Collective, Long Beach, CA, 2023-Present
  Organizes an annual summer series of life drawing sessions for the Long Beach community.

• Co-Curator and Exhibition Preparator, “Taboo to be Blue,” ECF Art Center San Pedro Project Space, San Pedro, CA, 2022
  Curated a group exhibition for Mental Health Awareness Month in collaboration with Angel’s Gate Cultural Center and Why We Rise LA.

• Artist Collective Member, Level Ground Art Collective, Los Angeles, CA, 2021-2022
  A nonprofit art collective led by queer, Black, and Brown artists.