Walker-Cunningham Fine Art is pleased to announce works by Berkeley, California based Grace Munakata now on view.

 Grace Munakata (b. 1957) received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Fine Art Practice at University of California, Davis where she studied under legendary Bay Area Figurative artist Wayne Thiebaud (American, 1920-2021) in the early-mid 1980s. She is Professor Emerita of Painting and Drawing at California State University East Bay.

 Munakata is devoted to immersing herself in and observing the natural environment as well as to the study of cultural history -- during her travels, she has spent time in Japan, Italy, Iceland and throughout the US – Maine, Oregon, Washington and numerous sojourns in her home state of California.  She has received five residency awards in as many years from California to East Iceland. 

  Abstract with elements of figure, Munakata’s work is often about color, movement, and luminosity – imbued with emotion and highlighted by her expressive mark making, it bears undertones of culturally significant imagery lending it gravitas in some cases and light heartedness and joy in others. 

  From the Cascade mountains of the Pacific Northwest to a colorful fabric lined path she encountered in Kiso, Japan to Dorothea Lange’s photography of Japanese American internment camps during World War II, Munakata’s work is made from an artist’s curiosity and compassion. 

 Over the last 30 years, Munakata has shown extensively, and her work can be found in numerous private and institutional collections.  Most recently she was featured in Wayne Thiebaud, Influencer: A New Generation, at the Manetti Shrem Museum, University of California, Davis, CA.
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 Walker-Cunningham Fine Art is a private art brokerage and specialist in the acquisition and sale of American and European works of art.   Founded in 1979 by Boston art dealer Alfred J. Walker, the firm is now run by Sarah B. Cunningham who succeeded Mr. Walker as owner upon his retirement in 2008.  A Virginia native, Cunningham has been in the art business for over 23 years.  She grew up in Rhode Island and attended Duke University (BA) and Rhode Island School of Design. After 16 years in Boston, she and her family relocated to St. Louis in 2015.

Available for viewing online  www.walkercunningham.com  and in our space located at the historic Pierce Arrow Building, 4814 Washington Avenue in the Central West End, St. Louis, Missouri. 
By appointment only.