The Fresno Art Museum’s auxiliary member group, The Council of 100, is delighted to announce American sculptor Wendy Maruyama as their Distinguished Woman Artist for 2024. She is the 34th artist to be given this annual award. Based in San Diego, California, Maruyama is recognized nationally and internationally for her master work in wood furniture and wildlife portraits and for her social commentary. Her solo exhibition at the Fresno Art Museum opens in July 2024 and is an overview of her work over the years. Curated by Michele Ellis Pracy, Fresno Art Museum Executive Director and Chief Curator, this exhibition of Maruyama’s work will be presented in the Vestibule, Fig Garden, Duncan, and Hallowell Galleries from July 2024 through January 2025.

Artist and educator Wendy Maruyama (b. 1952) has been making innovative woodwork for over 40 years. Selections for this solo show include examples of her traditional studio craft: utilitarian and fanciful furniture pieces produced over time; wall reliefs of her pieced, life-size elephant heads; and room-size paper installations. Her social commentary explores the themes of feminism, her Japanese-American heritage, and her personal family history. Maruyama is a master woodworker and a contentious appreciator of history. Her artworks reflect her complexity as a human being, as a second-generation Japanese American, and as a contemporary artist who is female in this country and in this century.

Maruyama recently retired from teaching at San Diego State University and now works full-time in her studio. She has had solo exhibitions in New York City, Savannah, Scottsdale, San Francisco, and elsewhere nationally. Maruyama has also exhibited in Tokyo, Seoul, and London. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Dallas Museum of Art; the Oakland Museum of California; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and the Mingei International Museum in San Diego.

Maruyama is the recipient of several prestigious awards including several NEA arts grants, a Fulbright research grant, and the Japan/US Fellowship.

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