AMHERST, Mass.-On Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012, the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College will host noted New York-based contemporary artist Samia Halaby in a gallery talk focusing on her painting Aluminum and Steel (1971), currently on view as part of the museum's collection.

Born and raised in Jerusalem and Lebanon, Halaby first came to the United States in 1936. She received her B.S. in design from the University of Cincinnati in 1959 and her M.F.A. from Indiana University in 1963. She spent the next part of her life teaching, including a 10-year stint at the Yale University School of Art. Inspired by the radical artistic trends of the 20th century, especially Russian avant-garde art, Halaby is a distinguished abstract painter. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Palestinian Diaspora inform much of her work. She has also produced key scholarship on Palestinian art history and has written one of the few in-depth studies of the subject in English.

The Mead Art Museum houses the art collection of Amherst College, totaling more than 16,000 works. An accredited member of the American Association of Museums, the Mead participates in Museums10, a regional cultural collaboration. During the academic term, the museum is open Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to midnight and on Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For a complete schedule of the museum's exhibitions and programs, as well as driving directions and additional information, please visit the museum's website, www.amherst.edu/museums/mead, or call 413/542-2335.