Mehves Lelic

Mehves Lelic is an Assistant Professor of Art and Art History and Director of the Mosely Gallery at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), within the School of Education, Science and Arts. She is an Istanbul-born artist, curator, and educator whose work explores themes of modernity, heritage, belonging, and the human relationship with the environment.

Her educational background includes an MFA from Bard College and a BA from the University of Chicago. These formative experiences have grounded her interdisciplinary approach to visual culture and artistic practice.

Lelic's research and creative practice focus on contemporary photography, curatorial discourse, cultural memory, identity, and environmental perception. Her work bridges artistic production with scholarly curation, engaging with both historical and modern narratives through visual media. She investigates how personal and collective identities are shaped by cultural transitions and spatial contexts.

Her photographic works have been exhibited internationally at institutions such as the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Rotterdam Photo Festival, PhotoNOLA, Filter Photo Chicago, the Ogden Museum, Institute of Contemporary Art Baltimore, Cosmos Arles France, and the Photographers’ Gallery Istanbul. Her work has also been published in prominent journals including National Geographic, GEO Magazine, Ain’t Bad, Lenscratch, C41, Aesthetica, and Der Greif.

She has been recognized with several prestigious awards and fellowships:

• National Geographic Expeditions Council Grant
• City of Chicago Individual Artists’ Award
• Turkish Cultural Foundation Cultural Exchange Fellowship
• Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) Conference Fellowship
• Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artists’ Grant
• ArtTable Faith Flanagan Fellowship

Lelic has extensive curatorial experience, having previously served as Curator and Head of the Curatorial Department at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland. In this role, she organized over 20 exhibitions, including notable shows such as Spatial Reckoning: Morandi, Picasso, and Villon (2023), Laura Letinsky: No More Than It Should Be (2023), Marty Two Bulls, Jr.: Dominion (2023), In Praise of Shadows: Jun’ichiro Tanizaki and Modern and Contemporary Works (2023), Mary Cassatt: Labor and Leisure (2023), Fickle Mirror: Dialogues in Self-Portraiture (2022), Jackie Milad: Vestige (2022), Norma Morgan: Enchanted World (2022), The Movable Image: Video Art by Collis/Donadio, Shala Miller, and Rachel Schmidt (2022), Hoesy Corona: Terrestrial Caravan (2022), and On Water (2019). These exhibitions reflect her deep engagement with diverse artistic voices and thematic depth across historical and contemporary practices.

She leads the Mosely Gallery, contributing to the cultural and academic life of UMES by promoting dialogue around contemporary art and providing experiential learning opportunities for students in curation, exhibition design, and public programming.