Cheryll Leo-Gwin
Artist · Educator · Principal, StoryBoards Northwest
Education
1975–1977
BFA / MFA, Metal Design — University of Washington, Seattle
Grants
2026–27
Wikipedia / Committee of 100 Fellowship Award
2026–27
Artist Trust SOLA Award
2025–27
4Culture Sustainability Grant
2025
Arts WA Humanities Grant
2022–23
4Culture Artists Project Grant
2016
Artist Trust GAP Grant
2014
Artist Trust GAP Grant
2011
Bellevue Arts Commission — Special Projects Grant
2010
Bellevue Arts Commission — Special Projects Grant
2009
Arts WA — Professional Development Grant
2007–08
King County 4Culture — Special Projects
1990
Artist Trust, GAP Grant — Seattle, WA
1988, 90
King County Arts Commission, Special Project Grant
1977
Ford Foundation Grant — University of Washington, Seattle WA
One Person Exhibitions
2026
Stroum Jewish Community Center Exhibition Hall — Mercer Island, WA
2023
Jack Straw Cultural Center Atrium Gallery — Seattle, WA
2019
Tsinghua University — Beijing, China
2019
The San Wei Gallery — Beijing, China
2016
Commons Gallery — Sammamish, WA
2015
Seattle Mayor's Gallery — Seattle, WA
2011
The San Wei Gallery — Beijing, China
2006
Shanghai University Art College — Shanghai, China
2000
King County Bellevue Regional Library — Bellevue, WA
1993
PACCAR Exhibition Program — Bellevue, WA
1990
Art Center Gallery, Seattle Pacific University — Seattle, WA
1987
Corvallis Art Center for the Arts — Corvallis, OR
1984
King County Arts Commission Gallery — Seattle, WA
1984
Art Center Gallery, Pacific Lutheran University — Seattle, WA
Public Art Projects
2023
Japanese American Remembrance Trail — INS Building, Seattle
2019–20
Albuquerque Public Art Program — View from Gold Mountain Monument
2013
Washington State Arts Commission — Garfield Elementary School, Everett, WA
2012
City of Bellevue — Evergreen Village Shopping Center, Floor Graphics
2011
City of Bellevue — Sternco Shopping Center Windows
2010
City of Bellevue, WA — Bel-Red District Preliminary Arts Plan
2006–08
Pierce County Parks & Rec / Arts & Culture — Foothills Trails Master Plan Project
2002–03
Early Learning Family and Childcare Center, Bellevue — Mulvanny Architects
2000–03
KCAC Beacon Hill Trolley Expansion Project — Artist
1998
Transitional Housing, Multi-Services Center — Bellevue, WA; Hopelink Foodbank Donor Wall
1998
Adele Maxwell Childcare Center Donor Wall — Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
1989
World Financial Center — Architectural Panels, Ed Schlossberg / Olympian York Architects
1984
Bridge to Brotherhood — King County and City of Redmond
Teaching & Admin
1993–2003
Bellevue College
1982–83
California State University, Long Beach
1975–85
North Seattle Community College
1986, 92
University of Washington
1999
Filton College — Bristol, England
Lectures
2023
Jack Straw Cultural Center; Stroum Jewish Community Center; Kupferberg Holocaust Center / Queensborough CC; NW Designer Craftsmen (online)
2019
Beacon Hill Library — Twin Acts on Immigration, Seattle
2017
Bellevue Arts Museum
2011
Tsinghua University — Beijing, China
2009
Bellevue Arts Museum
2006–07
Shanghai University Art College
Special Projects (Selected)
2027 — Burned Layer · Multimedia Project · SJCC (Pending)
2023–25
Lost Underground Podcast — produced at Jack Straw Cultural Center
2000–12
Artist Cultural Exchange Project — Beijing, China
Collections (Selected)
Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma WA
City of Seattle — Portable Works Collection
HopeLink, Bellevue, WA
King County Public Art Commission
Washington State Arts Commission's Portable Works Collection
King County Arts Commission Portable Works Collection
City of Redmond, Arts Awards Collection
Wing Luke Asian Museum, Seattle, WA
Barbara O. Rockefeller, New York City
Mr. & Mrs. Alan Sindler, San Francisco, CA
Roger Shimomura, Lawrence, Kansas
Anne Hauberg, Seattle, WA
Patti Warashina, Seattle, WA
Mimi Gan, Seattle
Awards & Honors (Selected)
2026
Artist Trust — SOLA Award
2024
Jack Straw Cultural Center — Artist Residency
2021
Lowell Art Gallery Competition, Lowell MI — First Prize
2019
San Francisco Rapid Transit Artist Roster — San Francisco, CA
2014–16
Ethnic Heritage Art Gallery Artist Roster; Seattle Office of Arts & Culture Roster
2012–18
Fulbright Foundation Senior Scholar Roster
1999
Microsoft eBooks Team at League for Innovation — Minneapolis
1991
Bainbridge Island Arts Council — NW Artists & Poets Calendar
1985, 86, 93
Kirkland Creative Arts League Award — First Place (×3)
1984, 85, 89
Pacific NW Arts & Crafts Awards — Misc. Crafts Division
1977, 83
Pacific NW Arts & Crafts Awards — Misc. Crafts Division (×3)
1985
Seattle Urban League Awards — Best of Show
1989, 79
Wing Luke Asian Museum Artist Awards — Best of Show
Invitational & Group Exhibitions (Selected)
2025
Unfinished Business — Postmark Gallery, Auburn WA
2024
Crafts 2024 / Northwest Designer Craftsmen — Everett, WA
2023
Commons Gallery — Sammamish, WA
2021–22
NWCraft21 (Virtual Exhibition) — Gallery at the Park, Allied Arts
2021
Lowell Art Gallery — Lowell, MI
2019
Brighter Future, King Street Station Gallery — Seattle, WA; Decadence to Desire, Gallery 114 — Portland, OR; STEM, Schack Art Center — Everett, WA
2018
From Invisible to Visible — Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque NM
2017
Art Spirit Gallery, Anniversary Celebration — Coeur d'Alene, ID
2016
Metalmorphosis — Bellevue Art Museum Biannual; NWDC at the Whatcom Museum, Bellingham WA
2015
NWDC at UW South Lake Union Medical Center — Seattle, WA
2014
Cornell Museum National Juried Show — Del Rey, FL
Professional Affiliations & Experience (Selected)
2026–27
Committee of 100 & Wikipedia — Fellow
2019–27
StoryBoards Northwest — Principal
2019–27
Chinese American Citizens Alliance
1998–2012
World Trade and Exchanges, Inc. — President
1993–2003
Washington State Arts Commissioner
1993–2003
Arts Administrator, Bellevue College
1995–2003
Arts Advisory Committee — Meydenbauer Center
1994–1997
King County Arts Commissioner
1986–1994
Redmond Arts Commissioner (Past Chair / Charter Member)
1982–1985
Wing Luke Asian Museum, Board of Trustees (Past President)
Bibliography (Selected)
2025
Material Narratives of Mental Health: A Cross-Cultural Analysis — International Journal of Education & Art, University of Houston
2024
Leo-Gwin at 80 — Arts Access, 03/05/24
2023
Identity and History — University of Washington Magazine; Larger than Life — International Examiner
2019
Monument Honors Asian Americans — NW Asian Weekly, 12/13/2019
2018
Monument Marks Little-Remembered Case — Smithsonian.com, 04/23/18; New Public Sculpture, Hyperallergic (Claire Voon), 04/16/18; Asian American Monument, Seattle Times & AP, 03/30/18; Downtown Monument, Albuquerque Journal, 04/08/18
2013
East Meets West through Art and Poetry — Sammamish Arts, 07/03/13
1992
Reply to Racism through Art — Journal American, Bellevue WA, 2/15/92
1991
Asian American Artists in the NW — Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
1989
Glass on Metal — Newport KY, June Issue
1986
A Manual of Cloisonné & Champlevé Enamel — Strosahl/Barnhard, Schuster
1978
Art Journal, New York NY, Summer Issue (p. 330); Crafts Horizon, June Issue