St. Pete is celebrated for its fabulous weather, beautiful vistas, world-class food scene, and thriving cultural atmosphere but the people of St. Pete truly make this city something special. In appreciation, each month Green Bench Monthly shines a light on one of the many people that make St. Pete unique.
This month our spotlight shines on local artist and teacher Kyu Yamamoto. Born, raised, and educated in Japan, Kyu was working at a commercial art studio when he met his future husband Steve, an Eckerd College graduate who was teaching English in a Japanese high school. Love bloomed and in 1985 the couple moved to Nashville, Tennessee where Kyu worked as an assistant sculptor on the 42-foot Athena Parthenos. In 1992, the couple relocated to St. Pete where Kyu established himself as a respected fine artist and highly regarded public art contributor (winning a Muse Visual Arts Award in 2017) as well as a popular teacher. His home studio parallels the beauty of the couple’s refurbished mid-century house and both are filled with examples of Kyu’s work as a sculptor and painter. Leaving his studio after our talk (with an origami stork and a Japanese Kit-Kat candy bar in hand), I felt incredibly honored that he had welcomed me into his artistic world.
“capture the spirit, that which brings life”
Before moving to the States, Kyu attended the highly-competitive Aichi Fine Arts University and then worked for several years at the commercial Rui Kobo Studios. Both helped to fine-tune his technical skills but his years studying sculpture at a fine arts high school in Nagoya, Japan provided the intellectual and emotional foundations for his present-day work as an artist. During those early years, his mentor taught him to THINK about his art and to ask the question: “why are you making this?” rather than “what are you making?” This approach to making art has informed his own work since that time.
Kyu Yamamoto. Photos by Brian Brakebill.
As he explains, “I do not find it so important to capture the physical details of a figure, as I do to capture the spirit, that which brings life.” Kyu cares about people and that attitude comes through in everything he does.
“Art provides an avenue for communication.”
Kyu passionately believes that art should elicit a reaction. It’s not the technical aspects that determine whether a piece is successful. Instead, if his art makes you think or laugh or cry or brings a smile to your face, then he has achieved his goal. Before he begins a work of art, he knows what “story” he wants to communicate. His sculpture “Dignity” (on permanent display at North Shore Fire Station No. 4, 2501 4th Street North) is a perfect example of using art to make a statement. His goal was to convey the emotional juxtaposition of hope and sadness while also offering a space for inclusion. He succeeded beautifully. He also brings that communication-based approach to his teaching. For example, he recently taught a class at Gibbs High School in which he mentored a small group of 9th graders as they created selfportraits as a way to explore their own sense of self-esteem. As he told me, it was an eye-opening lesson in communication for everyone— students and teacher!
Before Covid-19 forced shutdowns, he also regularly taught sculpting and drawing for the Morean Art Center, the Clay Center of St. Petersburg, and the City of St. Petersburg (at Bay Vista Park). He’s hoping he can return to teaching in the fall, so check the aforementioned websites for updates about future class schedules. In the meantime, he continues to devote his time to making “art you can feel.” Visit www.kyuyamamoto.com to find out more about Kyu and his ongoing artistic endeavors, including his pieces on display at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and the University of Florida.
