Arthur Okamura
Rock Study #2, 2008
acrylic on canvas
55 x 27 1/2 in.
Known for his screen printing and abstract expressionist paintings, Arthur Okamura (1932–2009) was a Japanese American artist who rose to prominence in the 1960s as a book illustrator and member of an artist community based in Bolinas, California.
Born in Long Beach, Okamura grew up in Southern California with his family. During World War II, he and his family were detained at the Santa Anita Assembly Center and later transferred to the Granada War Relocation Center in Colorado, where they were incarcerated for three years. Okamura was 10 years old when he entered the “internment camps.”
After the war, his family was released and moved to Chicago. There, Okamura began his art career at a silkscreen poster studio at age 15. After graduating high school, he attended the Art Institute of Chicago, Yale School of Art, and University of Chicago. He held his solo first exhibition at the Frank Ryan Gallery in Chicago and was later awarded a fellowship to study painting in Mallorca.
In 1956, Okamura moved from Chicago back to California. While he initially lived in San Francisco, he eventually settled in Bolinas. Once established in the artist community there, Okamura illustrated multiple books of poetry by friends. In 1971, he created the pastel drawings for the television movie “The People.” In addition to working as an artist, Okamura taught at the California College of the Arts in Oakland for 31 years, retiring in 1997 as professor emeritus. During his retirement, he wrote and illustrated magic trick books, including “Paper Propeller, the Jumping Frog, the Spinning Quarter: And 38 Other Amazing Tricks You Can Do With Stuff Lying Around the House.” Today, his work can be found in multiple prominent art museums and at the New School at Commonweal in Bolinas, where he served on the board of directors.
ARTHUR OKAMURA
Born Long Beach, CA 1932
Died Bolinas, CA 2009
EDUCATION
1954 Yale University Summer Art Seminar
1951, 1953, 1957 University of Chicago
1950-54 The Art Institute of Chicago
SCHOLARSHIPS
1950-1954 Art Institute (four years)
1954 Yale University Summer Art Seminar
1954 Edward L. Ryerson, Foreign Travel Fellowship
TEACHING
1997 Professor Emeritus, California College of Arts & Crafts
1989, 1991 Watercolor Painting in Bali (Sponsored by Wilderness Journeys/Art Trek & University of California, Santa Cruz)
1987 Watercolor Painting in Tahiti
1977 Humboldt State College
1976 University of California, Santa Cruz
1976 Fort Wright College, Spokane, WA
1972 University of Utah, Guest Lecturer
1966-1997 California College of Arts & Crafts (Professor of Fine Arts)
1964 University of Utah, Guest Lecturer
1962 Saugatuck Summer Art School, Saugatuck, MI
1959 Saugatuck Summer Art School, Saugatuck, MI
1959 California College of Arts & Crafts
1958 Academy of Art, San Francisco, CA
1958 California College of Arts & Crafts
1958 San Francisco Studio of Art, Director
1957 Central YMCA College of Chicago
1957 Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL
1957 The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1957 North Shore Art League, Winnetka, IL
1956 Central YMCA College of Chicago
1956 Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2009 Arthur Okamura: Then, Now, and Beyond, Braunstein Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2006 Arthur Okamura: Paintings, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003 Paintings & Monoprints, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2001 Commonwealth, Bolinas, CA
2000 Home With New Light, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1997 Fishes, Crows, Dogs, and People, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1997 Miniature Show, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1997 As Seen At The Beach, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1996 Early Paintings, Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1996 Recent Bolinas Landscapes, Commonweal -20th Anniversary Celebration, Bolinas, CA
1995 FOCUS: Arthur Okamura (retrospective); Concurrently at the Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA, and Claudia Chaplin Gallery, Stinson Beach, CA
1994 Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1990 Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1988 Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1987 Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1986 201 Fish, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1985 Dog Paintings, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1984 Canyon Paintings, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1983 Stinson Beach Art Center, Stinson Beach, CA
1982 Fruit Paintings, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1981 Bali Paintings, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1980 Commonweal, Bolinas, CA
1977 Hanson Fuller Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1973 Kent State University, Kent, OH
1973 Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, HI
1973 Charles Feingarten Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1972 California College of Arts & Crafts, Oakland, CA
1972 University of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls, ID
1971 Hanson Fuller Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1971 Govett Brewster Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand
1968 Drawings, San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA
1968 Hanson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1966 College of Holy Names, Oakland, CA
1965 M. Knoedler & Company, New York, NY
1964 Hanson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1964 University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
1963 La Jolla Museum, La Jolla, CA
1962 Calhoun Gallery, Dallas, TX
1961 California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA
1959 Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, CA
1958 Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
1956-1976 Feingarten Galleries, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles
1954 La Boutique, Chicago, IL
1953 Frank Ryan Gallery, Chicago, IL
1953 La Boutique, Chicago, IL
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2008 A Body of Work, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
2008 Holiday Special: Gallery Group Show, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2007 Coming Attractions: Gallery Group Show, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003 Branching Out, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2001 Leading the way: visionary Asian American artists of the older generation Gordon College, Waltham, MA
1997 Making Art Histories: On the Trail of David Park, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
1997 As Seen At The Beach, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1997 Miniature Show, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1996 Hand Made Books (Opening Exhibition), San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA
1995 Chaos in the Backroom, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1995 With New Eyes, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
1994 Braunstein/Quay Gallery Artists, Shasta College Gallery, Redding, CA
1994 Seas, Lakes and Rivers, San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, CA
1993 60 Plus: Older Artists of West Marin, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1993 Gallery Route One, Pt. Reyes Station, CA
1993 Sea Fever, Transamerica Pyramid, San Francisco, CA
1993 Cats, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1991 In The Garden, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1990 Miniature Show, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1988 Opening Show, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
1988 Tropical Topics, Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, CA
1987 Art is…, The Art Museum of Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz, CA
1987 On The Trail, Claudia Chaplin Gallery, Stinson Beach, CA
1986 Tropical Visions, St. Mary's College, Moraga, CA
1986 Tropic Exotic, TransAmerica Pyramid, San Francisco, CA
1984 The Subject is Objects, St. Mary's College, Moraga, CA
1983 Oversize Watercolors, Jane Haslam Gallery, Washington, DC
1983 University of Illinois, Champaign, IL
1982 7th Anniversary Faculty Exhibition, California College of Arts & Crafts, Oakland, CA
1981 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Braunstein Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1979 Braunstein Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1976 Zen Gardens, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
1975 Falkirk Community Cultural Center, San Rafael, CA
1975 Two-Person Show with Joan Rosenbaum, Walnut Creek Art Center, Walnut Creek, CA
1974 Four from CCAC, Berkeley Art Center, CA
1973 A Sense of Place, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE
1972 Imaginary Painting from SF California State University, San Jose, CA
1971 Asian Artists, Oakland Museum of California, CA
1970 Takashima 1970 Exposition, Osaka/Tokyo, Japan
1970 Bay Area Art Faculties, College of Marin, Kentfield, CA
1967 Painters Behind Painters, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA
1967 Pittsburgh International, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
1966 SECA Exhibits, San Francisco Museum of Art, CA
1966 Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
1965 Pacific Heritage, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA
1964 Recent Collections by Friends of the Whitney, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1964 Whitney Annual, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1964 Ravinia Art Festival, Lake Forest, IL
1964 Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1963 Whitney Annual, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1962 Forty Artists Under Forty, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1962 Bay Area Artists, San Francisco Museum of Art, CA
1962 Whitney Annual, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1961 Great by Greats, Time Life Building, New York, NY
1961 Sculpture and Drawing, San Francisco Museum of Art, CA
1960 Whitney Annual, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1960 San Francisco Annual, San Francisco Museum of Art, CA
1959 New Talent, American Federation of Art, CA
1959 Dallas Museum of Art, CO
1959 Fresh Paint, M. H. De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA
1959 Knoedler Gallery, New York, NY
1959 Winter Invitational, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA
1959 West Coast Painters, American Federation of Art, CA
1959 San Francisco Annual, San Francisco Museum of Art, CA
1959 American Exhibition, Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1958-1959 Drawings of California Artists, Sponsored by U.S. Information Center, Berlin, Germany
1958 Contemporary Americans, University of Nebraska
1958 Recent Acquisitions, Denver Art Museum, CO
1958 San Francisco Annual, San Francisco Museum of Art, CA
1958 West Coast Painters, American Federation of Art, New York, NY
1958 Fresh Paint, M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA
1957 Society of Contemporary Art, Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1957 Art In Asia and the West, San Francisco Museum of Art, CA
1957 Contemporary American Painting, Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1957 Contemporary Americans, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA
1957 American Exhibition, Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1956 Ravinia Art Festival, Highland Park, IL
1955 University of Washington, Seattle, WA
1954 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
1954 Downtown Gallery, New York, NY
1954 The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
1954 The Art Institute of Chicago Annual, IL
1953 The Art Institute of Chicago Annual, IL
1952 The Art Institute of Chicago Annual, IL
1951 The Art Institute of Chicago Annual, IL
PRIZES
1976 San Francisco Art Commission - Purchase Prize
National Society of Arts & Letters, New York, Purchase Award
1960 Whitney Museum of Art – Neysa McMein Purchase Award
1960 79th Annual, San Francisco Museum - Schwabacher-Frey Award
1959 University of Illinois - Purchase Award
1957 Contemporary American Paintings, Art Institute of Chicago - Martin Cahn Award
1953 Religious Arts, University of Chicago - 1st Prize
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Alta Bates Hospital, Berkeley, CA
Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Auchenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, San Francisco, CA
Borg Warner Collection, Chicago, IL
California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco, CA
California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA
Cincinnati Art Museum, OH
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Container Corporation of America
HKNY Hotel, Okinawa, Japan
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
Illinois Bell Telephone
Illinois State University, Normal, IL
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for the Arts, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Johnson Wax Collection, Racine, WI
Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, MI
J. Willard Marriot Library Special Collections, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Miles Laboratory, Pittsburgh, PA
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
National Society of Arts and Letters, Germantown, D
Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
Phoenix Art Museum, AZ
Rockefeller Chapel, University of Chicago, IL
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
Santa Barbara Museum, CA
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC
Stanford University Collection, Palo Alto, CA
United Gas and Pipeline Company, Dallas, TX
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL
University of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls, ID
US Steel Service Institute
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
BOOKS
Magic Rabbit, Publisher: Jungle Garden Press, 1995
10 Poems by Issa - Co-Author Robert Bly, Publisher: Floating Island Publications, 1993
Passionate Journey - Co-author Steve Kowit, Publisher: City Miner Books, 1984
Basho - Co-author Robert Bly, Publisher: Mudra, 1972
Ox Herding - Co-Author Joel Weishaus, Publisher: Cranium Press, 1971
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0 - Co-Author, Robert Creeley, Publisher: Shambala/Mudra, 1971
VIDEO
1977 The Art of Pastel, Sharyle Patton, Director
1980 The Art of Oil Painting, Sharyle Patton, Director, made in collaboration with Marin County Video
1978 Screen Printing, Magda Cregg Productions
TELEVISION
1972 Pastel Drawings for Television Movie "The People," John Korty, Director
LISTINGS
Who's Who in America
Who's Who in the West
Who's Who in American Art
Who's Who Among Asian Americans
SET DESIGN
1998 Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival, Martin Luther King Park, Berkeley, CA
1997 Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival, Bandshell - Golden Gate Park
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Albright, Thomas, “Exotic Subjects in Abstract Realism”, San Francisco Chronicle, February 10, 1981
Boettger, Suzaan, “Broom's Sculpture: Whimsical Art Providing Something to Chew,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 29, 1982
Hays, Joanne Burstein, “Beyond Ceramic Traditions,” Artweek, October 27, 1984
Mancuso, Jo, “Fish Out of Water,”Image, January 4, 1987
March, Al, “Okamura's still‐lifes are on the move,” S.F. Examiner, June 14, 1982
Nagin, Carl, “Magic Markings,” SF Weekly, November 12, 2003
“The Primitive and the Tropical,” Artweek, February 21, 1981
Stiles, Knute, “Art,” The Voice February 13, 1981
Shere, Charles, “Okamura's art reflects visit to Bali,” Tribune/Today, February 24, 1981
Thompson, Peter, ed.; “John Rosenbaum and Arthur Okamura," Catalogue, The Civic Arts Gallery, May 21 ‐ June 28,1975
“Tropical Visions,” TransAmerica Pyramid Announcement, January 13, 1986
Arthur Okamura
Garden Rose, 1968
watercolor on paper
17 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.
