Tom Nakashima

Tom Nakashima, Professor Emeritus, attended Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, where he completed his bachelor’s degree in 1965. He earned MA and MFA degrees from the University of Notre Dame in 1966 and 1967, respectively. He has taught at the Catholic University of America since 1981.

Nakashima, who was born to a Japanese-American father and an Irish-Canadian mother, draws on sources from both traditional Japanese art and modern European masters. As Nakashima grew up during World War II, America was confining his extended family members and countrymen to internment camps. His knowledge of this occurrence is a major theme of his allegorical work. Nakashima’s work is in the holdings of numerous museums across the United States and in Japan, including the National Museum of American Art, the Corcoran Museum, and the Long Beach Museum of Art. Among his awards is a Mid-Atlantic/National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and an Award for the Visual Arts.