IceBreaker

Dr. Faisal Abdu’Allah

Dr. Faisal Abdu’Allah is a contemporary artist best known for his large-scale steel prints and tapestries that explore the intersectionality of identity. His work has been exhibited on five continents, and he has participated in the Torino Biennale, the 55th Venice Biennale and, recently, Aqua Art Miami.

Abdu’Allah is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including The Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors award, Mayor of London Award, National Endowment for the Arts and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. His works are in the collections of Tate Britain, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art and Chazen Museum of Art.Abdu’Allah is the Chazen Family Distinguished Chair in Art, Associate Dean for the Arts in the School of Education at UW–Madison and stars in the documentary “The Fade.”

Aydian Dowling

Aydian Dowling is a social media influencer who first received national attention in 2015 as the Men’s Health Ultimate Guy’s Reader Choice Winner, making him the first transgender man on the cover of a mainstream magazine. That same attention landed him multiple appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Dowling is a thought leader in the LGBTQ+ community, serving as the co-founder and President of the Board of Directors for Point of Pride, a grassroots 501(c)(3) non-profit that has provided life-changing support to thousands of transgender people in all 50 states and more than 75 countries.

Dowling’s company, TRACE, is a first-to-market mobile application made by and for the transgender and nonbinary community and their allies. With the help of TRACE, he is on a mission to uplift the mental wellbeing of the transgender community.