On May 7, Cabrillo College hosted a dedication ceremony of the Howard Ikemoto Art Studio on its Aptos campus on the Visual, Applied, and Performing Arts lawn.
In memory of Howard Ikemoto who taught drawing, printmaking, and painting at Cabrillo College for 34 years, from 1966 to 2000, George Newell and Bruce Nicholson spearheaded a fundraising campaign to name an art studio after him.
Howard Ikemoto
Newell and Nicholson raised $25,000 for an endowed scholarship in Howard Ikemoto’s name, and the Art Studio classroom will be named in his honor, in recognition of his incalculable contributions to art and artists in Santa Cruz County and beyond.
He was a beloved teacher, who, with a gentle sense of wisdom and humor, encouraged students to take risks and enjoy the process of artistic self-discovery. He was also a respected artist whose work was exhibited in numerous galleries and museums, and was widely collected.
One former student recalled how Ikemoto opened the print lab on Saturdays for extra instruction and a sense of comraderie.
Born in 1939, Ikemoto spent his early years in the Tule Lake war relocation center. The internment camp is where he first became captivated with drawing. He earned a master’s degree in art and began teaching at Cabrillo, where he taught every form of art except photography.
He was diagnosed with dementia in 2014. His first wife Jeanne Ikemoto, who was married to Howard for 24 years, helped arrange a last show of his artwork in 2017 at the Cabrillo Gallery to raise money for his care.
He died on Dec. 31, 2020, at age 81.
His second wife, soulmate and fellow artist Julie Connell died in 2009. Survivors include his daughters, Ami and Reiko and grandson Mateo.