Drue Kataoka (www.Drue.Net) is a contemporary artist based in Silicon Valley. Born in Tokyo and trained in Sumi-e. A graduate of Stanford University. Her artworks have integrated Asian brush painting techniques with gunshots, hospital beds, alpine snow water and storm and heartbeat recordings. She received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research & Education Institute Award for her extensive community service. In addition to numerous corporate and private commissions, she has done collaborations with Grammy award winner Wynton Marsalis, winemaker Jim Clendenen and over 20 organizations. Her work UP! was sent to the International Space Station for the first Zero Gravity Art Exhibit and was later exhibited on earth for the Celestial Matters show at the Charles Bank Gallery in NYC.

Drue has been named a Cultural Leader & Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. She has presented solo sessions at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, China and participated as a panelist on topics such as "Unlocking Creative Potential," "Art in Asia" and "Art in Illusion." She has also given talks at TEDx Tokyo, TEDx Silicon Valley and TEDxWomen. Her work has been featured on CNN, CBS, ABC, Stanford Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Chronicle of Higher Education, and many others. She established the Drue Kataoka art scholarship for youth in 2001.

Her global participatory artwork to raise awareness for infant mortality titled "Touch Our Future" will launch in April at:

http://www.TouchOurFuture.org

#TouchOurFuture