Yuko Nii


Yuko Nii is a Japanese artist and philanthropist. Her work has included painting, printmaking, graphic design, stage set, costume and fashion design. She has written journalism, poetry, fiction, essays and philosophy, and published a book with Terrance Lindall, entitled Blue Eyed Satori.

Early life and education

The daughter of a steel executive, Nii was born in 1942. She is from Tokyo. She studied English and American Literature at Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan. In 1963 she transferred to Macalaster College, St. Paul, Minnesota as a scholarship student, and earned her BFA. in 1965. From 1966 she attended Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, as a fellowship student and earned her Master of Fine Arts in painting in 1969.

Williamsburg Art & Historical Center

In 1996, Nii founded the not for profit Williamsburg Art & Historical Center in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, which is housed in the Kings County Savings Bank Building in the National Register of Historic Places - a New York City Landmark.

Honors and awards

In 1998, Howard Golden, then Brooklyn borough president, named Nii Brooklyn’s Women of the Year. In 2001, Governor George Pataki named Nii a "Woman of Excellence, Vision and Courage."