Lela Shahrzad Welch

Lela Shahrzad Welch (b. Tahlequah, Oklahoma) has exhibited at The Momentary (Bentonville, AR), Keystone Art Space (Los Angeles), Napa Art Gallery (Camarillo, CA), Mesa Gallery (San Diego, CA), Atkinson Gallery (Santa Barbara, CA), SOA Gallery (Long Beach, CA), and The Art, Design and Architecture Museum (Santa Barbara, CA), in addition to various public projects across the Central Coast of California with an upcoming show at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (December 2026).

Welch is currently in the summer cohort at the Bemis Art Center but has participated in several residencies, including the Industry of the Ordinary and the INVERSE Performance Art Festival. She has received fellowships from the San Luis Obispo Arts Council and the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she is currently the 2024-2025 artist-in-residence. They have been mentioned in various publications, including Art & America, eFlux’s Art and Education, New Times San Luis Obispo, and SLO Life Magazine.

In 2021, she studied with the virtual first experimental art school, Dark Study. Welch graduated in 2018 with a BFA in Art & Design from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, receiving the Life Achievement Award. Welch received their MFA at the University of California, Santa Barbara, under the esteemed Chancellor’s Fellowship, graduating with the prestigious Ron Newby Award and as a Mind and Machine Intelligence award winner. Currently, Welch is a Lecturer in the Art and Design department at California Polytechnic State University and lives and works in Los Osos, CA.