Wendy was born on January 17, 1943 at Manzanar. Wendy Yoshimura’s art is watercolor paintings and fine-art prints. She “paint[s] the subtle moments when clear morning light illuminates flower petals, fruit, and glass. These instants touch . . . [her] deeply — but they’re gone in a flash.”
Yoshimura is an artist currently residing in North Oakland. She teaches watercolor painting at her studio and a San Francisco community center. Her still-life watercolor paintings are often displayed in the SF Bay Area.
Wendy was assigned to second grade as a thirteen-year-old but gained fluency in English and graduated from high school. A talented artist, she entered the prestigious California College of Arts and Crafts, which is now the California College of the Arts, in 1965 and subsequently worked briefly as a commercial artist.
Wendy was exposed to art at a young age, breaking barriers and resisting the government’s influence to fight for what she knew, in her mind, was right. “Wendy had won an award in high school for a painting — her parents sent her to the College of Arts and Crafts. She later lived in a woman artists’ collective, freelanced for an advertising firm and gained a reputation for her feminist and antiwar posters” (Armstrong).
After all of the legal trouble Wendy found herself encountering, Wendy made a promise to give back to the community and tell her story. Wendy wanted to be known for more than being a fugitive wanted by the FBI; she wanted her supporters to get a sense of who she is and what she represents through her artistic expression.
Haunts:
- Wendy spends time at a San Francisco community center (JCCCNC, 1840 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94115). She teaches texture and imagery through her watercolor paintings.
- You can find Wendy at any East Bay art festival. You may also find her at cafes, where she may showcase her new work to the community.
~ by Jada Ross ~
External Links:
Armstrong, Lois. “Wendy Yoshimura Emerges from the Shadows of the Patty Hearst Case.” People, 6 Oct. 1975, https://people.com/archive/wendy-yoshimura-emerges-from-the-shadows-of-the-patty-hearst-case-vol-4-no-14/.
Niiya, Brian. “Wendy Yoshimura.” Densho Encyclopedia, http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Wendy_Yoshimura/.
“Wendy Yoshimura.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Yoshimura.
Yoshimura, Wendy. “Wendy Yoshimura Watercolor Paintings Fine Art Prints.” http://www.wendyyoshimura.com/pages1/home.html.
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SLA-s-Yoshimura-keeps-mum-while-ex-comrades-serve-2524852.php
Photo Credits:
Wong, Nancy. Wendy yoshimura in 1976. Wikimedia.org, Wikimedia Commons, 1976, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wendy_yoshimura_in_1976.jpg.
—. Wendy Yoshimura, 1976. Wikimedia.org, Wikimedia Commons, 1976, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wendy_Yoshimura,_1976.jpg.
