ALMA ‘East Meets West’ Exhibit Features Vartabedian, Gevorkian Photos

The Armenian Museum of America (ALMA) will host an exhibit in October and November featuring the photography of Tom Vartabedian and Sona (Dulgarian) Gevorkian.

ALMA will host an exhibit in October and November featuring the photography of Tom Vartabedian and Sona (Dulgarian) Gevorkian.

Titled “East Meets West,” the exhibit will feature Vartabedian’s photos of trips to Armenia and Gevorkian’s travels throughout Nagorno-Karabagh (Artsakh/NKR).

Co-sponsoring the event will be Project SAVE (Armenian Photographic Archives) where Vartabedian has served on the board of directors for the past seven years.

Gevorkian has been interested in photography since her youth. She traveled to Armenia more than a dozen times between 1989 to 2008 with different organizations, including the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) for an internship at the Armenian Parliament and Land & Culture Organization for excavation and earthquake relief efforts. Those trips included side ventures to NKR.

Gevorkian worked for the Armenian Relief Society Eastern USA for several years. Today she is a special education aide for Concord Public Schools and serves on the ARS Lowell “Lusintak” Chapter executive board.

She studied Social Studies and International Relations at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her work has been exhibited at the Bedford (Mass.) Public Library. She resides in Bedford with her husband Allen and their three children: Datev, 14; Tsoline, 13, and Narineh, 12.

Vartabedian has exhibited his work three times at ALMA. An exhibit of his photography titled “Armenian Village People: A Country Kaleidoscope” was displayed at libraries throughout Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

He is the recipient of several photography awards from United Press International, Associated Press, and the New England Press Association and was honored as a Master Photographer by the New England Camera Club Council.

A veteran news reporter, Vartabedian retired from The Haverhill Gazette in 2006, but his stories and columns continue to be featured weekly in Armenian papers throughout the country. He has also co-authored a book titled “The Armenians of the Merrimack Valley.”

Vartabedian is married to Nancy Vartabedian. They live in Haverhill and are the parents of three children and six grandchildren.

A reception to celebrate the exhibit’s opening is set for Sunday, Oct. 23, from 2 to 4 p.m. on the third floor of the museum’s Adele and Haig Der Manuelian Galleries. The museum is located at 65 Main St., Watertown, Mass. For more information, call (617) 926-2562 or email info@armenianmuseum.org.