Tannaz Motevalli (she/they) is an Iranian-American artist and librarian living in Baltimore, MD. In 2017, Tannaz received a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Studio Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago primarily studying performance art, fiber, sculpture, visual critical studies, and writing. In 2023, Tannaz completed their Master’s in Library and Information Sciences with a Certificate in Museum Scholarship and Material Culture at University of Maryland, College Park. Tannaz currently works at the Maryland Institute College of Art's Decker Library as the Information Literacy and Instructional Design Librarian.
As a librarian, Tannaz’s goals and interests include equity, diversity, and inclusion in cultural heritage institutions; accessibility and disability justice in libraries and cultural heritage institutions; museums and public programming; community outreach and engagement; and information sharing across disabled and BIPOC communities. Since 2018, Tannaz has worked in library collections and institutional archives at the Chicago Women's Health Center, International Museum of Surgical Science, David C. Driskell Center for the Study of Visual Arts & Culture of African Americans & the African Diaspora, and the National Library of Medicine.
As an artist, Tannaz’s work explores illness and disability, the female body, desire and sexuality, fantasies and world-building, and impermanence. Tannaz has performed and exhibited works in the International Museum of Surgical Science, Links Hall, Comfort Station, Sector 2337, Roman Susan Gallery, Weinberg/Newton Gallery, TCC Chicago, TriTriangle, The Chicago Home Theater Festival, 2nd Floor Rear Festival, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Oak Hill Center for Education and Culture. Alongside their artistic career, Tannaz has been involved in several curatorial projects. In 2014 Tannaz ran an alternative gallery space called Gallery 3F, and from 2015-2016 co-founded an artist publication called To: From:. And while working at the Decker Library as the Collections Maintenance and Preservation Technician, Tannaz maintained two years of rotating library exhibits and displays.