Greg Kono

Artist Bio: 

I’m a third generation Japanese American (Sansei) and native of Sacramento, California. I graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design in 1986. After graduating, I worked for Herb Rosenthal and Associates in Los Angeles as an exhibit designer and West Office Design Associates in San Francisco as an exhibit designer. There, I designed exhibits for national and international science museums.   In 1990, I relocated to Seattle where I attended the University of Washington and Pratt Fine Arts Center to study sculpture and metal design. I served as a staff member of The Children’s Museum, Seattle where I fabricated and maintained exhibits until 1991 when I formed my own design studio, Kono Design.

In 2001, I began making paper and bamboo kites. My family reunion kite was one of my first kites completed. In April of 2002 I was fortunate to discover a Japanese kite building workshop taught by master kite builders; Nobuhiko Yoshizumi and Scott Skinner at the Drachen Foundation in Seattle, Washington. Six months later I began working for the foundation, where I develop traveling exhibits, update their website, teach and participate in kite building workshops, while continuing to develop my own kites and artwork.

I started working for the Nature Consortium as a teaching artist in 2005. I have since taught kite making workshops both locally and internationally to youths and adults. I recently began teaching toy making to youths. In the beginning of 2007 I received a Drachen Foundation Grant to study traditional Edo Kite Making with master kite maker Mikio Toki in Chiba, Japan. My artwork is continuing to evolve with an emphasis on bamboo and paper.

For more images and information, visit www.konodesign.com.