Winners of the 2025 Sadat Arts for Justice and Peace Program

The Sadat Arts for Justice and Peace Program is a partnership between the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development and Arts for All that brings together the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSOS) and the College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU) to engage students at the University of Maryland. 

The winners of the 2025 program were recently announced, highlighting talent and inspiration among participants. 

This year’s entries were inspired by Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg's words: “The fight for social justice is the fight for climate justice. We can’t have one without the other.” The winning works explore the intersections of social and environmental justice through visual art, poetry, music composition and chamber music performance.

View the Winning Works and Learn More about the Artists

The founder of the program is Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development. Telhami has long worked with members of the university community, and leaders in a number of fields, to explore the ways in which artistic expression can shed light on and inspire peace and progress.

"The Sadat Art for Justice and Peace Program, which I launched 27 years ago, initially focused on paintings and sculpture centered on timely issues. Over the years, it has continued to inspire. Last year, we expanded the competition in partnership with the University's Arts for All program to include poetry and music. The results have been extraordinary, as reflected in the outstanding winning submissions by our students, with this year's theme on climate justice," Telhami said. 

BSOS, which houses the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development, commends the Sadat Chair for this program, which is a model for interdisciplinary and cross-college collaboration, particularly between BSOS and ARHU.

Pictured is the 1st Place work: 'Happyland,' acrylic on canvas, 2025, by Leah Orozco

Published on Wed, Apr 23, 2025 - 3:22PM