We finally caught up with Durham's own Kymia Nawabi, an artist who is competing on Bravo's "Work Of Art," beginning tonight.  Nawabi grew up in the Woodcroft area of the Bull City and attended Jordan High. She's also a graduate of East Carolina University.

Via email, she answered some questions about her work (she's exhibited at artspace), her experience on the show, and growing up Iranian-American in the South:

Happiness: What made you want to be on the show?
Kymia: I really cannot think of any other facility that provides such a great amount of exposure for a young and emerging artist. "Work of Art" was the best way for me to really promote, challenge and elevate my work and myself.  Also, I love that it is also this strange sociological experiment; putting 14 strangers together and seeing what happens with all that energy.