about
bio
Ebony Iman Dallas is a fifth-generation Oklahoman and second-generation Somali American mixed-media artist whose work combines contemporary African woodcarving and textiles with line work inspired by Somali henna designs. Dallas’ work has exhibited extensively, including in her joint exhibition with Guggenheim Fellow Ron Tarver at Oklahoma Contemporary, The Romare Bearden Centennial Celebration in New York, and her solo exhibition “Through Abahay’s Eyes” at Joyce Gordon Gallery in Oakland, CA. She was a participating artist in the City of Tulsa’s Greenwood Art Project and co-lead artist and project manager for the $117k mosaic mural honoring the late Willa D. Johnson, Oklahoma City’s first African-American female councilwoman. This mural is located at the City of Oklahoma City’s Willa D. Johnson Recreation Center.
After receiving her MFA from California College of the Arts, Dallas went on to found Afrikanation Artists Organization in Hargeisa, Somaliland where they opened the first art gallery in the post-war region and in the United States. In 2023 Dallas was named Paseo Artist of the Year and she is a founding fellow of the Oklahoma City Thunder Artist Group. In 2022 she was named LEAP Artist of the Year and artist in residence.
Previously she worked in the Clara Luper Department of African and African American Studies at The University of Oklahoma and the School of Visual Arts at Oklahoma City University.
artist manifesto
Art has the power to change the world through the spread of love or hate.
I choose love.
Art is a language that informs, inspires and unifies across tongue, culture, gender, socioeconomic background, political leaning and ethnicity.
Art encourages hope and dreams beyond current conditions.
Art heals deep wounds and can alleviate depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
Imperfection is beauty.
Artists deserve fair trade value for their work. We eat, love, and have families too.
Everyone deserves access to an arts education, art supplies, and opportunities to share their work.
Representation matters. Art is a vehicle to share alternative stories from alternative perspectives.
Art is the pulse of a culture and we artists are historians—descendants of ancient cave painters.
I paint to inspire hope.