About

John Matsunaga is a Minneapolis based visual artist, photographer, and educator. Major themes in his artwork include memory and forgetting, space, place, and the built environment, and Asian American history and identity.

Matsunaga studied anthropology at UCLA (B.A.) and UC Berkeley (M.A.), and received an M.F.A. in Visual Studies from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. In 2017, he received a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant for photography.

In addition to his art practice, Matsunaga serves on the board of directors of the Twin Cities chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (TC-JACL) and is a member of its education committee. His work with the TC-JACL focuses on educating the public about the history of the Japanese American incarceration and defending the civil rights of immigrants, people of color, and other marginalized and oppressed groups. Matsunaga also teaches courses in the Asian American Studies program at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities specializing in Asian American visual and popular culture, and Japanese American history.