Thu Nguyen was born in Saigon, Vietnam. Because she was very shy, she spent a majority of her childhood making quilts, doll clothes, and paintings, instead of playing with other children. In 1974, her painting won Best of Show at a children’s exhibition sponsored by UNICEF in Saigon. A year later in 1975, Thu’s family was split up, and she lived for a year in Hong Kong prior to immigrating to the United States as an orphan. After a very snowy and cold winter in Pennsylvania, Thu moved to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, she had a small stint with Hollywood. She got a part in Oliver Stone’s “Heaven and Earth” and followed with a lead role in Elizabeth Hong Yang’s “Touch Within” in China. She later received a BFA in painting from California State University, Long Beach . Since then she has lived, worked, and exhibited her work in many parts of the United States.

Thu Nguyen has received two grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and three grants from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation. Thu’s work is represented in many public and private collections in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Mexico .

One of Thu Nguyen’s paintings has been selected as a finalist and is showing in the portrait competition exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery from March 12, 2016 through January 8, 2017. It will then travel to five host museums across the country from February 2017 through August 2018.

I needed an art gallery to sell my work but found none that met my taste, so I decided to open up my own art gallery that cater to my work, not the boring touristy art that everyone is selling around here.