Patrick Nagatani

Patrick Ryoichi Nagatani earned his M.F.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1980. Nagatani has given numerous public lectures, seminars and workshops and his work has been exhibited widely both nationally and internationally. Nagatani’s interest has been in studio set-ups and staged photographs from his Polaroid 20X24 work to his “Chromatherapy” images. He has also been a “tapist” (paints with masking tape) since 1983 to the present. Currently he is writing and editing with other writers a novel called “The Race”. He has collaborated with Randi Ganulin in making images for the book and a portfolio. He received National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artist Fellowships in 1984 and 1992. He is an active member of the Atomic Photographer’s Guild. Some of his awards include: The Aaron Siskind Foundation Individual Photographer's Fellowship, The Kraszna-Krausz Award for his book Nuclear Enchantment, the Leopold Godowsky Jr. Color Photography Award, the Eliot Porter Fellowship in New Mexico, and the California Distinguished Artist Award from the National Art Education Association. He has served as a panelist for the Illinois Art Council, Southern Arts Federation, Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, California Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. He is an honored recipient of the "Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts” from Governor Bill Richardson in New Mexico as well as the Honored Educator Award from the Society of Photographic Education in 2008. His survey show and book, Desire for Magic – Patrick Nagatani 1978-2008, premiered at the University of New Mexico traveled to the Japanese American National Museum in L.A. and was exhibited at the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences of West Virginia. He retired as a Professor from the Department of Art and Art History at UNM in 2006 after teaching art / photography there for 20 years.