Announcing the Yasuo Kuniyoshi Fund
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We are pleased to announce a gift of $50,000 from the Sara and Yasuo Kuniyoshi Foundation to create the Kuniyoshi Arts Fund, which will support artist educators and expand access to arts education by supporting:
Artist Teaching Opportunities – Funding more opportunities to develop, teach classes and workshops while building careers as artist educators. Many early career artists through teaching, mentorship, and exhibitions gain valuable skills while sharing their talents with the broader community.
Arts Scholarships – Providing financial assistance to those in need who wish to participate in classes, workshos, and arts programming at Maud Morgan Arts.
This gift is from the Kuniyoshi Foundation administered by Stephen and Charlotte Diamond. Throughout his decade of service on the Maria L. Baldwin Community Center Board of Directors, Stephen supported the establishment of Maud Morgan Arts Center. The Kuniyoshi Arts Fund honors Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Stephen’s uncle, and supports the artistic community of Maud Morgan Arts.
About Yasuo Kuniyoshi
Throughout his early life and career, Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1889-1953), a Japanese immigrant, supported working artists and expanded access to creative opportunities. As the first president of the Artists Equity Association, he united diverse artists to protect their economic wellbeing. This group of 1940s American artists included Thomas Hart Benton, Stuart Davis, Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, Edward Hopper, Jacob Lawerence, John Marin, and Louise Nevelson.
As an inspiring teacher at the Art Students League in New York City he nurtured the next generation of artists. Kuniyoshi’s early art was inspired by his Japanese heritage, and a bicultural quality is evident in his early work.
The 1950s were a strong period when his works commanded high prices before abstract expressionism came to the fore. Today, his paintings and drawings are in leading public and private collections in the United States and Japan. The most recent major exhibition of his work was at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 2015.