Beimnet Zerefa

BEIMNET ZEREFA
በእምነት ዘረፋ

Beimnet Zerefa is an interdisciplinary designer from Gondar, Ethiopia, exploring cultural practices through the intersection of design and tech. Her design practice is informed by her background in traditional art that ranges from painting to photography and textiles, and is realized through digital media including graphic design, illustration, web design, and coding.

C.V.

Education

BFA Integrated Design — Parsons School of Design
AUGUST 2021 - MAY 2025, NEW YORK

Parsons Merit Scholarship (August 2021-2025)
Parsons Grant (August 2022-2025)

Experience

Admissions Call Agent — The New School
JUNE 2024 - MAY 2025, NEW YORK

Delivered accurate program and admissions information to 50+ prospective students daily
Collaborated with cross-functional departments to resolve complaints and improve user experience
Ensured seamless admissions process navigation while efficiently managing high volumes with empathy and professionalism

Community Assistant — The New School
SEPTEMBER 2021 - MAY 2024, NEW YORK

Organized and executed 80+ community events, driving student engagement and belonging
Streamlined office operations through detailed logs and reports, ensuring compliance
Designed event flyers, posters, and educational materials for print and digital distribution
Led residential tours with effective wayfinding for seamless visitor experience

Projects

AddisFiles — Web archive for Ethiopian and Eritrean art

Designed and built a web archive as a growing resource for artists, researchers, and enthusiasts exploring the cultures' diverse artistic forms

mIDPoint — Promotional website for program exhibition

Developed backend CMS implementing curatorial taxonomies and collaborated with the design team on site architecture and templates

Skills

DESIGN
Illustrator
Photoshop
InDesign
After Effects
Figma

Branding
Typography
UX / UI
Illustration

WEB
CSS / HTML
Python
JavaScript

SOFTWARE
Adobe Creative Suite
Google Workspace
Microsoft 365
Canva

Exhibitions

Midpoint IDP Senior Thesis Exhibition
Parsons School of Design, New York
MAY 2025

Lang Dean's Honor Symposium
Starr Foundation Hall, New York
APRIL 2025

Lost and Found Exhibition
Shelter Gallery, New York
DECEMBER 2023

Rehfeld’s Modern Gallery, Sioux Falls, SD
April, 2019

SDHSAA State Visual Arts Contest Gallery, Rapid City, SD
March, 2019

Awards

Academic Honors, Parsons School of Design
May, 2025

Outstanding Residential Education Community Member, 20th Annual Narwhal Student Leadership Awards
April, 2022

Class A 3rd Place Award, SDHSAA South Dakota State Visual Arts Contest
March, 2019

ALA SD Girls State, University of South Dakota,
June, 2018

Languages

English (fluent)

Amharic (native)

Spanish (intermediate)

Last Updated 25.07.16

SELECTED WORK

Figma deck

AddisFiles, 2025

Medium: UI/UX, Web design, Tech
Software: Figma, HTML, CSS, JavaScript

AddisFiles is a growing digital archive of Ethiopian and Eritrean art and design, providing a valuable resource for Habesha artists, researchers, and enthusiasts. It offers access to diverse artistic forms, helping to enrich the creative landscape and preserve cultural memory. Ethiopian art is often narrowly defined by tra`ditions associated with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church—a perspective reinforced by scholars, popular writings, and Western museums. This focus overlooks the culture’s many other creative practices and their evolution over time. Archiving serves as both a means of preservation and a catalyst for innovation in cultural heritage. By expanding the concept of Habesha art, AddisFiles aims to foster a broader understanding of its cultural narratives and their relevance in contemporary contexts.

This project was presented at midpoint; the exhibition and series of activations by 2025 seniors graduating from Integrated Design at Parsons School of Design Strategies that empowers young design leaders, intrepid artists, and creative change-makers.

NY Scenes, 2024

Medium: Illustration, Vector art
Software: Illustrator

NY Scenes is my stylized exploration of New York through digital illustration. The goal was to challenge myself by using my Illustrator skills to design vector art in a distinct visual style that sits between realism and surrealism. The final illustrations are isloated scenes of the city captured through a vibrant and geometric vector art form.

Newsletter, 2025

Medium: Graphic design, Typography
Software: InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop

Motivated by my experience of the Ethiopian objects featured at The MET’s Africa & Byzantium exhibition in March of 2024, I wrote a research paper critiquing how the exhibition assigned itself the role of re-presenting those objects and misdirects their memory. My critique uses the disconnection of Ethiopia’s depiction in the Western art world to point to the harm of unethical archival practices in museums. My professor at the time asked me what my idea of a safe archival space looks like, and I began exploring that concept by creating a newsletter version of my critique. The brand identity I designed for this newsletter became the starting point for the web archive I later built.

የልብ ክሮች (Threads of the Heart), 2023

Medium: Photography, Transfer print, Textile
Software: Photoshop

This piece is comprised of photographs taken in my childhood home from my most recent trip to Ethiopia. I combined digital photography with a photographic transfer print method that uses heat to print onto organza fabric. Each photo is then adorned with embroidery that extends the image beyond its borders and brings the vibrant colors and motifs of Ethiopia alive. I recall the images of home, reimagining my childhood through the language of textile and embroidery. The Amharic title የልብ ክሮች (yelib kiroch) translates to “Threads of the Heart,” symbolizing the pieces of home that I carry with me and the memories that shape the unseen faces I hold close to my heart.

Lost and Found, 2023

Medium: Curation, Exhibiton, Type-setting
Software: InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop

Lost and Found is a multimedia exhibition that delves into the themes of belonging, comfort, and human connection through visual storytelling in the form of photography, painting and sound. This exhibition explores the concept of multiculturalism – recognizing the significance of shared experiences among individuals from different cultural backgrounds – and building an inclusive space for creatives of color in NYC.

Lang Dean’s Honor Symposium, 2025

Medium: Presentation, Research, Writing
Software: G-Suite

The annual Dean’s Honor Symposium is an academic summit that celebrates exceptional work including research projects, internships, study abroad experiences, senior capstones, and independent work in the community.

Colonization is not a single act but a system of domination that remains part of our contemporary lives. Through a panel presentation of my research project, Misdirection of Memory: A Critique of Ethiopian Re-presentation in Africa & Byzantium at Metropolitan Museum of Art, I led a conversation about the ethics of institutional archive practices and contributed to a greater discussion about colonization as it relates to the current cultural and political climate.