Join us each month at the Dunedin Fine Art Center’s Coffee and Conversation series, where art and insight blend over a great cup of coffee. Sponsored by DFAC’s Sterling Society, this series features a new guest artist every month, sharing their creative journey and unique perspectives. Admission is $5, or free for DFAC members—an enriching way to connect with art and the community.
Coffee and Conversation with Akiko Kotani
Thursday, March 20, 2025 at 12 noon
Save your seat and pre-register now!
Akiko Kotani’s artist talk will trace her journey from Waipahu, Hawaii, where she was born and earned a BFA at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, to the TriBeCa area of New York. She will also explain how she became captivated by Guatemala’s traditional weaving techniques and patterns. Kotani applied what she learned from her life in New York and her extensive studies in Guatemala to pursue an MFA in Contemporary Weaving at the Tyler School of Art in Elkins Park, NY.
As an artist and a professor of art at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania and Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey, she has gained significant recognition in the Tampa Bay area. Since relocating to Tampa Bay in 2015, Kotani has held five solo exhibitions. In 2019, Creative Pinellas honored her as an Artist Laureate in Largo, FL. She, along with two other Florida artists, was recently selected for the “Florida Contemporary 2021/22” exhibition at the Baker Museum. In 2023, her “Neon Forest” installation won the prestigious “Florida Prize” at the Orlando Museum of Art. Kotani has also participated in two previous Skyway exhibitions, and her work was recently featured in “Skyway 2024/25” at The Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, FL. Additionally, she exhibited “Midsummer Suite” at the Saga Museum in Japan and is currently showcasing “Burst,” a solo installation at the Chihuly Collection in St. Petersburg, FL.
Her work is included in collections at prestigious institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Baker Museum in Naples, Florida, and the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio. Akiko Kotani is represented by Leslie Curran Gallery in St. Petersburg, FL.
