Kegham Tazian

Artist | Sculptor | Painter

Kegham Tazian is a globally-renown, award-winning multi-media artist, who has studied, taught, painted, and sculpted in the greater Detroit area for more than 50 years. His artwork has been exhibited, collected and publicly-commissioned around the world. The Armenian-born artist has gained much notoriety for the diversity of his work and the variety of media exemplified in his pieces.  A blend of modernism, realism and abstraction are commonly depicted in his paintings and sculptures.

His artwork has appeared in more than 40 solo exhibitions and more than 85 group exhibitions throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East, while his artwork can be found in numerous private collections worldwide. For several decades, he has been among the Detroit area’s most noted artists. His work adorns the entrances and halls of public parks, major corporations, universities, libraries, churches and municipalities, including the City of Birmingham, the Armenian Embassy in Washington, D.C., Siemens Corporation, Huntington Bank, Wayne State University, Farmington Hills Public Library and the city halls of Brighton, Farmington and Farmington Hills, Michigan.

Tazian is the recipient of many prestigious awards and honors, including the International Artists in Watercolor Award in London, England and, in 1995, he was named the Farmington Area Arts Commission Artist-in-Residence. Tazian has been extensively featured in local and national newspapers and magazines for more than five decades; his paintings and sculptures have also appeared in books and national publications such as Art News and American Artist. In 2009, Tazian's large outdoor sculpture was prominently featured at the prestigious ArtPrize competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

In October 2023, Tazian was issued a Special Lifetime Achievement Award by the Cultural Council of Birmingham Bloomfield for his extensive accomplishments in the fine arts and his long-standing support of the art community. Tazian also received additional honors from Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters for his notable artistic contributions to the State of Michigan.

Tazian is Professor Emeritus at Oakland Community College in Farmington Hills, Michigan. He began his teaching career at O.C.C. in 1967, serving as Chairman of the Art Department for six years and as Director of the Smith Theatre Art Gallery for over 25 years. In 2011, Tazian and his family established the Kegham Tazian Endowed Scholarship Fund to promote the pursuit of fine art at Oakland Community College. 

Tazian currently resides in Birmingham, Michigan.