Meet the kalaveshis
SARANDA KALAVESHI
Artist/Actor
Born in Kosovo and raised during the turmoil of wartime in the 1990’s, Saranda Kalaveshi began exhibiting her artistic talents as early as three-years-old; she would consistently draw animals and replicate cartoon scenes and, as her mother likes to recall, Saranda would “draw with her finger in the air” when she slept. Saranda’s mother began collecting her paintings, and many of them were put on display during a solo exhibition at Saranda’s school for her tenth birthday. Her work ethic and talent was recognized and celebrated on numerous occasions, including several art competitions which had Saranda winning 1st place three years in a row in her town—she was also awarded 3rd place countrywide for her paintings. As a child, Saranda began investing in her musical talent as well, including attending music schools and becoming a classically trained pianist; however, she continued to regularly showcase her artwork through various exhibitions back home.
In 2010, Saranda had the opportunity to move to the United States to study acting, a feat which she has achieved on several fronts. She graduated from the University of New Mexico with a Bachelor’s in Theatre and went on to attain her Masters of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Florida, all the while participating in a variety of theatre performances, musicals, and even in several film productions in New Mexico as well as Los Angeles. While her love of the stage certainly became prominent over the past decade, Saranda never ceased painting and exhibiting her work when possible.
Saranda is a predominantly self-taught artist. When possible, she enjoys spending her spare-time exploring galleries and museums, reading and studying documentaries on the great artists of the past. She also passionately researches different styles and techniques of painting, learning all that she can before she dives into a new experiment of her own making. Saranda’s goal always has been, and remains, to inspire, educate, and entertain others through the diverse interactions between the performing and visual arts, and to this end she remains steadfast in her pursuits of artistic knowledge and revelation.
NJOMZA KALAVESHI
Artist/Actor
Njomza Kalaveshi was born in 1987 in the beautiful city of Gjakova, Kosovo. As a child, Njomza showed great interest in the arts; she met her first art mentor at the age of five when she moved with her mother and sister to Albania. Njomza began primary school in Albania, only to complete it back in Kosovo in 2000. In high school she pursued art and design studies, and from there she continued her studies in acting and theater. Njomza has a Bachelor's in Acting from the University of Prishtina, Kosovo. In 2008, Njomza was employed by the theater in Gjilan, Kosovo, where she continued to act until 2019, a year which was a crucial year for her life. She and her four-year-old daughter migrated to the United States to join her mother, Drita, and sister, Saranda. Njomza settled in New Mexico; drawing inspiration from her mother and sister, she returned to her love for painting.
Njomza’s art consists of historical characters and ethnic costumes, such as Albanian, created with varying types of media including acrylic, beads, glitter, golden leaves, and threads, to name a few. The end result of her pieces is often in the form of a portrait, wherein the focus is not necessarily on the person or face, but on the shiny, heavily textured costume that they’re wearing, often also coated with epoxy resin. Njomza prides herself in paying great attention to detail in her work, a process which can take months to be fully realized.
Most recently, Njomza has returned to her formal art education and is pursuing a degree in Fine Arts Studio Practice at Tunxis Community College in Connecticut, continuing to deepen and expand her artistic practice.
DRITA CHOY
Artist
Drita was born in Kosovo in 1965 and raised during the intense political turmoil of former Yugoslavia. From an early age, she showed strong artistic potential, excelling in visual art during middle and high school, studying Albanian folk dance, and performing in local theater productions. Despite her creative talents, she chose to pursue disability studies, specializing in children with speech impairments. She became a certified special educator, graduating from the University of Prishtina in collaboration with the University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
As political unrest escalated in the 1990s, just prior to the collapse of Yugoslavia, Drita had little opportunity to develop an artistic career. Instead, she turned to entrepreneurship to support her family, opening a shoe company and later a restaurant, which became the primary source of income while raising her two daughters, Njomza and Saranda.
Following Kosovo’s liberation in 1999, Drita joined the police force of the newly formed state. Her work eventually led her to Iraq, where she was employed by an American company supporting the U.S. Army. In 2012, while visiting her daughter Saranda during her studies at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, Drita quickly found employment on campus and decided to make Albuquerque her home. She went on to work at the University Libraries at UNM for over a decade before relocating to Connecticut.
Drita’s return to art came unexpectedly. Having spent much of her life working across multiple fields, including construction, retail, and the cosmetics industry, she believed her artistic path had been left behind. Art had lived on mainly through her daughters’ pursuits. While working at UNM, she enrolled in a pottery class, unknowingly opening the door to a new chapter. Working with clay felt, in her words, like being “born again”, a rediscovery of a creative ability she had always carried but never had the space to explore. She continued taking ceramics courses and expanded into other disciplines, including printmaking and painting. Drita later earned a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts and Integrative Studies with concentration in Ceramics for people with special needs from the University of New Mexico.
Today, Drita is excited to reunite her lifelong commitment to education with her renewed artistic practice. By offering ceramics classes for children with special needs, she is finally integrating her background as a certified special educator with her passion for art, creating a space where creativity, healing, and inclusion come together.
