Mahari Chabwera
b. 1995
Mahari Chabwera is a visual artist and curator making tapestry paintings at the intersection of meditation and self-mythologization. Chabwera’s work uses process-driven craft practices like bead weaving, and non-traditional materials like tempered glass to engage ideas of light, energy and self-recreation.
Mahari has shown in numerous exhibitions along the East Coast, most notably with The Reginald F. Lewis Museum, The Virginia Museum of History & Culture and The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art. In 2020 she received the Visual Arts Center Emerging Artist Award, as well as The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship. In 2023 she received The Grit Fund from the Peale Museum for spearheading the project Studio House. Chabwera holds a BFA in Painting & Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University, and has participated in residencies with The Contemporary Arts Network, Vermont Studio Center, and 1708 Gallery.
Grants/Awards :
Artist2Artist Fellowship, Art Matters, New York, 2023
The Grit Fund, The Peale Museum, Maryland 2023
MSAC Creativity Grant, Maryland 2023
Emerging Artist Award, The Visual Arts Center, Virginia, 2020
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship, Virginia, 2019-20
Residencies :
McColl Center Artist in Residence Program, Charlotte, North Carolina (Upcoming 2026)
1708 Pilot Artist Residency Program, Richmond, Virginia, 2025
Studio House, Baltimore, Maryland 2022 - 2023
Tiny Birch Residency, Warren, Vermont, 2021
The CAN First Patron Artist in Residence Program, Newport News, Virginia, 2020 - 2021
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont, 2019
Selected Group Exhibitions :
2025 Surface Bent, Friends Artspace, Arlington, Virginia
2024 BLACK WOMAN GENIUS: Elizabeth Talford Scott—Tapestries of Generations, Reginald F. Lewis Museum, Baltimore, MD
2023 Foggy Bottom Biennial Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, DC
2023 Artists for Era, Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Richmond
2022 - 2023 Made in VA, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA
2022 The Ties That Bind, Hilyer Gallery, DC
2022 All Together, MLK Library via Black Artist Research Space, DC
2022 CONSCIOUS, SUBCONSCIOUS, (COLLECTIVE) UNCONSCIOUS, Anderson Gallery, Richmond VA
2020 Cabin Fever Live Auction, 1708 Gallery, Richmond VA
2020 Evolution of The Sacred Self Iridian Gallery
2019 New Waves, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA
Curatorial Projects :
2023 Salt Eaters, NomuNomu Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2022 Salt Eaters, Raunjiba Design Center & NomuNomu Artspace, Baltimore, MD
2020 Primordial Emanations, that which is brought forth follows the womb: a surrender to her luminous blackness, 1708 Gallery, Richmond VA
2019 In Search Of Our Mothers’ Gardens, We Made Armor, Sediment Gallery, Richmond, VA
2018 he Burned Our Drums, So We drummed Our Bodies; A Developing Dedication To The Vulva, Corner Office, Richmond, VA
2017 Poictesme Literature and Art Anthology, Richmond, VA