Yuko Nii (born 1942) is a Japanese artist and philanthropist. Her work has included painting, printmaking, graphic design, stage set, costume and fashion design. She has written journalism, poetry, fiction, essays and philosophy, and published two books. She also runs the non-profit organization Yuko Nii Foundation.

Early life and education

Nii was born in 1942. She is from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. She studied (1961–63) English and American Literature at

Aoyama Gakuin University is a private Christian university in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Originally established in 1874 by missionaries from the Methodist Episcopal Church, it was reconfigured in its current form in 1949 as part of Aoyama Gakuin. Aoyama Gakuin Universit ...

, Tokyo, Japan. In 1963 she transferred to

Macalaster College Macalester College () is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 2,174 students in the fall of 2018 from 50 U.S. states, four U.S te ...

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

as a scholarship student, and earned her BFA. in 1965. From 1966 she attended

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, as a fellowship student and earned her

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

in painting in 1969.

Williamsburg Art & Historical Center

In 1996, Nii founded the non-profit Williamsburg Art & Historical Center (WAH Center) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, which is housed in the

Kings County Savings Bank Kings County Savings Bank is a former bank building at 135 Broadway in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. It is an example of French Second Empire-style architecture. Construction of the building began in 1860, to de ...

Building in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

- a New York City Landmark.

Yuko Nii Foundation

In 2008, she launched the non-profit Yuko Nii Foundation to hold, maintain and preserve contemporary art and historical artifacts and properties, including the landmark building, which Yuko Nii purchased in 1996 and later donated to the Yuko Nii Foundation in 2008. The collection includes many Japanese art pieces from the 16th through the 20th century. Some of the artists include

Ilya Bolotowsky Ilya Bolotowsky (July 1, 1907 – November 22, 1981) was a leading early 20th-century Russian-American painter in abstract styles in New York City. His work, a search for philosophical order through visual expression, embraced cubism and ge ...

, Jerry Rudquist, Ansei Uchima, Toshiko Uchima,

Judy Chicago Judy Chicago (born Judith Sylvia Cohen; July 20, 1939) is an American feminist artist, art educator, and writer known for her large collaborative art installation pieces about birth and creation images, which examine the role of women in history ...

Faith Ringgold Faith Ringgold (born October 8, 1930 in Harlem, New York City) is an American painter, writer, mixed media sculptor, and performance artist, best known for her narrative quilts. Early life Faith Ringgold was born the youngest of three children ...

Toshiko Takaezu Toshiko Takaezu (June 17, 1922 – March 9, 2011) was an American ceramic artist, painter, sculptor, and educator who was known for her rounded, closed forms that viewed ceramics as a fine art and more than a functional vessel. She is of Japan ...

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist who works primarily in sculpture and installation, and is also active in painting, performance, video art, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts. Her work is based in conceptual art and shows some attributes ...

Terrance Lindall Terrance Lindall (born 1944) is an American artist and the co-director and chief administrator of the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center in Brooklyn, New York. Lindall's illustrations have been published in '' Heavy Metal'', ''Creepy'', ''Ee ...

, Doug Buebe, Beatrice Coron, Kenichi Nakajima, Charles Compo, and as well as her own artworks.

Honors and awards

In 1998, Howard Golden, then Brooklyn borough president, named Nii Brooklyn’s Women of the Year. In 2001, Governor

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...

named Nii a "Woman of Excellence, Vision and Courage."

Bibliography

* ''Blue Eyed Satori''. Terrance R. Lindall, Yuko Nii, 1970 * ''Yuko Nii: Art and Achievements,'' 2017

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nii, Yuko 1942 births Living people Artists from Tokyo Japanese artists Japanese emigrants to the United States Aoyama Gakuin University alumni Macalester College alumni Pratt Institute alumni 20th-century Japanese women artists 21st-century Japanese women artists