Akiko Kotani

Akiko Kotani (born 1940) is an American artist and art educator from Hawaii. She is currently Professor Emerita of Art at Slippery Rock University, Butler County, Pennsylvania, whose faculty she joined in 1979.

Akiko Kotani was born in 1940 in Waipahu, Honolulu County, Hawaii. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, in 1962. Later, she studied at Tyler School of Art, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, where she obtained her Master of Fine Arts degree in 1977.

After getting her BFA, Kotani worked for two years with a Mayan Indian weaver in Guatemala. After getting her MFA in 1977, she joined the art faculty at Slippery Rock University, Butler County, Pennsylvania, in 1979. She retired from the university in 2000, becoming Professor Emerita of Art.

In 2008-2010, she was an Adjunct Professor at Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey.

Kotani's work belongs in many private, corporate and museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. It has been exhibited in many international venues including the Kyoto Municipal Museum, Japan and the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio.

Solo exhibitions

• 2019 - UNBOUND: Gallery at Creative Pinellas | Largo, FL 2019 - Gallery 114, HCC, Ybor City Campus | Tampa, FL
• 2018 - ARTicles @ Leslie Curran Gallery | St. Petersburg, FL (two-person)
• 2017 - Art Center Sarasota | Sarasota, FL
• 2016 - Gallery 221, HCC Dale Mabry Campus | Tampa, FL
• 2015 - Martha Gault Gallery, Slippery Rock University | Slippery Rock, PA
• 2014 - Women & Their Work Gallery | Austin, TX
• 2013 - Pittsburgh Artist of the Year, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts | Pittsburgh, PA
• 2010 - Borelli-Edwards Galleries | Pittsburgh, PA (Two-person)
• 2007 - MX ESPAI 1010 | Barcelona, SPAIN
• 2007 - Westmoreland Museum of American Art | Greensburg, PA
• 2007 - Maui Arts Center, Kahului | Maui, HI
• 2006 - Arlington Arts Center | Arlington, VA
• 2005 - Angel Kitchen, M.X. ESPAI 1010 | Barcelona, SPAIN
• 2005 - The Contemporary Museum at First Hawaiian Center | Honolulu, HI
• 2004 - The Butler Institute of American Art | Youngstown, OH 
• 2003 - Robeson Gallery, Penn State University | State College, PA 
• 2002 - Organization of Independent Artists | New York, NY
• 2001 - Associated Artists Gallery | Pittsburgh, PA
• 2000 - San Augustin National University | Arequipa, PERU

Group exhibitions

• 2020 - SKYWAY: 2020/21, USF Contemporary Art Museum | Tampa, FL (forthcoming)
• 2020 - Florida Contemporary, The Baker Museum | Naples, FL (forthcoming)
• 2020 - Creative Pinellas Annual, Gallery @ Creative Pinellas | Largo, FL (forthcoming)
• 2020 - Elements, Tampa International Airport Gallery | Tampa, FL
• 2019 - UNEXPECTED: Art By Alternate Means, Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art | Tarpon Springs, FL
• 2018 - Group A: Celebrating 75 Years, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts | Pittsburgh, PA
• 2017 - Skyway: A Contemporary Collaboration, Museum of Fine Arts | St. Petersburg, FL
• 2016 - Répondez S’il Vous Plait, Galerie Hebert | Paris, FRANCE
• 2015 - VCCA France 10th Anniversary Exhibition, La Chapelle Sainte Catherine | Auvillar, FRANCE
• 2014 - Visual Artists Network 2014 Annual Meeting Exhibition | Tulsa, OK
• 2014 - Art Cloud #2, Multiverso | Florence, ITALY
• 2011 - Il Mondo Nuovo de Tiepolo, Galerie NegPos | Nimes, FRANCE
• 2010 - 100th AAP Annual Exhibition, Carnegie Museum of Art | Pittsburgh, PA
• 2010 - AAP @ Fallingwater, Fallingwater Gallery | Mill Run, PA
• 2010 - Collezione Civica di Fiber Art, Sala Esposizioni | Città di Chieri, Torino, ITALY
• 2010 - Of Disreadings, MX ESPAI 1010 | Barcelona, SPAIN
• 2009 - 3rd International Triennal Miniature-Textile | Szombathely Keptar, HUNGARY
• 2009 - À Parti Des Femmes D’Alger De Delacroix, Médiathèque Lucie Aubrac | Ganges, FRANCE
• 2008 - Zig Zag, Hafiyat Karaköy | Istanbul, TURKEY
• 2008 - Citta di Chieri Collection, Polo Culturale | Città di Chieri, Torino, ITALY
• 2008 - El Alpha, Esposta Gallery | Verona, ITALY
• 2007 - Fiero, Kotani, Kim, Asian American Arts Centre | New York, NY
• 2007 - Fiberart International/2007, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts | Pittsburgh, PA
• 2006 - 10th Anniversary, Contemporary Museum at First Hawaiian Center | Honolulu, HI
• 2005 - Visions in Textiles, Izmir Museum of Art & Sculpture | Izmir, TURKEY
• 2005 - 95th Associated Artists Exhibition, Warhol Museum | Pittsburgh, PA
• 2004 - Crossing Borders, Suburban Fine Arts Center | Highland Park, IL
• 2002 - Small Works in Fiber, LongHouse Reserve | East Hampton, NY; SOFA Chicago, IL; Miyaki Design Studio, Tokyo, JAPAN
• 2001 - 5th Baltic Biennial of Weaver’s Miniature, Gdynia Museum | Gdynia, POLAND
• 2000 - 90th Juror’s Selection Exhibition, Carnegie Museum | Pittsburgh, PA

• Città di Chieri | Torino, ITALY
• Moulin à Nef at VCCA-France | Auvillar, FRANCE
• Dokuz Eylul University | Izmir, TURKEY
• The Cleveland Museum | Cleveland, OH
• Erie Art Museum, Patron Purchase | Erie, PA
• Pittsburgh Public Schools Trust | Pittsburgh, PA
• Congregation Rodef Shalom | Pittsburgh, PA
• Montclair Art Museum | Montclair, NJ
• Pittsburgh International Airport | Pittsburgh, PA
• Bank of Hawaii | Honolulu, HI
• Beecham Corporation | Pittsburgh, PA
• Hawaii State Foundation of Art | Honolulu, HI
• Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY

• 2019 - Artist Laureate, Creative Pinellas | Largo, FL
• 2018 - Art Alliance Individual Artist’s Award | St. Petersburg, FL
• 2015 - Excellence in Fibers, Fiber Art Now | East Freetown, MA
• 2014 - Visual Artists Network Exhibition Award, Living Arts | Tulsa, OK
• 2014 - VAN National Exhibition Award, Women & Their Work | Austin, TX
• 2013 - Moderator, Paul Klee: Philosophical Vision, Boston College | Boston, MA
• 2012 - Investing in Professional Artists Grant, Heinz Foundation/The Pittsburgh Foundation | Pittsburgh, PA
• 2011 - 2013 Pittsburgh Artist of the Year, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts | Pittsburgh, PA
• 2010 - Pittsburgh Fiberarts Guild Gallery Award, Borelli-Edwards Galleries | Pittsburgh, PA
• 2006 - VCCA’s Exchange Artist in Residence at Tyrone Guthrie Centre | IRELAND
• 2006 - Artist in Residence at Vermont Studio | Johnson, VT
• 2005 - Fellow at VCCA’s Moulin à Nef | Auvillar, FRANCE
• 2005 - Westmorland Museum Exhibition Award, AAP 95th Exhibition, Warhol Museum | Pittsburgh, PA
• 2005 - Terry Smith Juror’s Award, AAP 95thExhibition, Warhol Museum | Pittsburgh, PA
• 2004 - Vira I. Heinz Fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts | Amherst, VA
• 2002 - Robert Storr’s Wallace Family Award, Visual Arts Center | Chautauqua, NY
• 2001 - David McFadden Juror’ Award, Craft National 35, Zoller Gallery | Penn State, PA
• 2001 - Fred Wilson Juror’s Award, 78th Annual Spring Show, Erie Art Museum | Erie, PA
• 2000 - Madeleine Grynsztejn’s Juror Award, AAP 90th Exhibition, Carnegie Museum of Art | Pittsburgh, PA
• 2000 - Jill Synder’s Exhibition Award AAP 90th Exhibition Carnegie Museum| Pittsburgh, PA
• 1999 - Duane Michals Juror’s Award, AAP 89th Exhibition, Carnegie Museum| Pittsburgh, PA
• 1992 - PA State Crafts Fellowship, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts | Pennsylvania
• 1985 - PA State Crafts Fellowship, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts | Pennsylvania