b. 1931 Seattle, Washington
d. October 30, 2000 Eugene, Oregon
brother Robert/Charlie/Horse/Yosh/Yoshitaka
brother John (1923- February 1971), author of No-No Boy
brother Roy, engineer at Boeing
sister Arlene,
sister Connie, Art Librarian at the University of Washington
October 29, 1976 married Frances Sharon Fling (born Hillsboro, Ohio, June 9, 1944)
prominent Northwest Master painter
Korean War veteran
attended Broadway High School, Seattle
attended Edison Technical School, Seattle
attended Cornish School of Art, Seattle
studied under Paul Immel, James Edward Peck, Leon Derbyshire, Fred Mitchell
friend of Quincy Jones, Yayoi Kusama, Paul Horiuchi, George Tsutakawa, John Matsudaira, Fay Chong, Kenjiro Nomura, Morris Graves, Kenneth Callahan, Willard Parker, Felix Pasilis, Money Hickman, Jr., Louie Bunce
1957 BFA graduate of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan founded by architect Eliel Saarinen
with Bill Ivey started the Seattle Studio School
settled in Eugene, Oregon in 1969
taught at the University of Oregon, retiring in 1999 as Professor Emeritus after 30 years on the faculty
UO Museum of Art Curator of Contemporary Art Lawrence Fong said people came to study at UO because of Okada
awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1967, a Fulbright Fellowship in 1959 and a Whitney Fellowship in 1957
had several one-person exhibitions at regional institutions, including: The Whatcom County Museum of Art, Bellingham, WA (1997), Portland Art Museum, Oregon (1972) and Tacoma Art Museum, Washington (1970)
his work had been exhibited in group exhibitions including Asian Tradition, Modern Expression, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers University, NJ (1997); Light, Shadow and Gesture: By Northwest Artists, Seattle Art Museum (1997); Washington: 100 Years, 100 Paintings, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA (1995); ART/LA 90, Los Angeles, CA (1991) and Japan and the Northwest, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan (1982)
his work had been shown at the Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, Oregon and Foster/White Gallery, Seattle
exhibited with the Greg Kucera Gallery beginning in 1988 and continuing up to his death in 2000
Frank Okada interviewed by Barbara Johns Archives of American Art
Frank Okada retrospective at Greg Kucera Gallery
Frank Okada remembered by Lois Wadsworth at Eugene Weekly
Frank Okada at White Lotus Gallery
Matthew Kangas review in Seattle Times of Frank Okada at Museum of Northwest Art