Wendy Yoshimura was born on January 17, 1943 at Manzanar. Wendy Yoshimura is an American still-life watercolor painter best known for her art and involvement with the Symbionese Liberation Army, the left-wing organization notorious for kidnapping Patty Hearst in 1974.
Although Yoshimura now resides in North Oakland, she spent her early childhood in Manzanar, an internment camp for Japanese-Americans during the WWII-era in Inyo County, California. After the war, Yoshimura and her family moved to a small island off the coast of Hiroshima before returning to the US. Yoshimura attended elementary school, high school, and college in the US and has been in and out of the Bay Area since.
As an American-born Japanese who left the US only to return, Yoshimura continued her education in the US but was set back to the second grade at the age of 13 due to her English skills. She attended the California College of Arts and Crafts, which is now known as the California College of the Arts, graduating in 1969.
During her last year in art school, Yoshimura became involved in radical politics, which placed her around California and other parts of the US, but she continued to practice her skills in watercolor painting.
Yoshimura has an extensive number of watercolor paintings on exhibit and for sale. While some of her earlier work is available for viewing through her website, no additional details are available aside from the title of her work. Her latest works are also available for viewing on her website and can been seen on exhibit throughout the Bay Area.
Haunts:
- California College of Arts and Crafts, 5212 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94618. While most of Yoshimura’s biography focuses on her political activity, her artistic past traces back to the California College of Arts and Crafts, where she received formal training in painting. Her early experiences at this Bay Area institution do not appear to be formally documented, but she is known to have released her work after attending college in California.
~ by Vy D. Hunyh ~
External Links:
Wendy Yoshimura Watercolor Paintings Fine Art Prints – http://www.wendyyoshimura.com/
Edible East Bay – https://edibleeastbay.com/2018/05/16/about-our-cover-artist-3/
Discover the Networks – https://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individuals/wendy-yoshimura/
Photo Credit:
Wong, Nancy. Press conference with Wendy Yoshimura and Lloyd Wake. Wikimedia.org, Wikimedia Commons, 1976, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Press_conference_with_Wendy_Yoshimura_and_Lloyd_Wake.jpg.
