Artist bio
In the creation story of i taotao tåno (the ancient Chamoru), Fu’una is the being that created the universe. At her brother Puntan’s request, she used his body to create parts of the universe and the earth. She then used her powers to bring sunshine and flowers, and then added her body to the earth.
The current incarnation of Fu’una is descended on her maternal side from an indigenous Chamoru village displaced by the United States military; on her paternal side, she is descended from a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. She is an embodiment of United States colonialism and militarization. Her work attempts to process the polarity of indigenous and diasporic identity, and the interrelated influences of history, power, and heritage on the environment and the psyche. Fu’una’s work contributes to contemporary discourse on decolonial and feminist aesthetics and the role of art in sustaining cultural continuity.
Drawing on cultural and environmental symbolism, Fu’una’s public work engages with themes of heritage, longing, and spatial reclamation. Her murals operate as site-responsive installations that foreground habitat and local diversity within urban landscapes. Her pop-realism style draws upon Fauvism, street art, and tattoo culture. Her murals function not only as landmarks, but as a declaration of presence and belonging.
Fu’una has lived in five regions of America and uses photography, drawing, and research to connect with her surroundings. Her experience connecting with new regions combined with her professional career in community-based education provide a foundation of collaborative methodologies that she employs in her public work, particularly when working within historically marginalized populations.
Fu’una earned her MA in Art + Design Education from RISD in 2014 and her BS in Art Education from Rhode Island College in 2013. She completed additional coursework in art and design at Cornish College of the Arts and Academy of Art University. Her honors include the 2025 Providence Art Club Castelnovo Prize for Painting and first place in the 2017 Punto Urban Art Museum local street muralist competition. She has dedicated over 15 years of her professional career to providing art and design programming for all ages in a breadth of community-based contexts including museums, alternative schools, and out-of-school programs. She is currently based in Providence, Rhode Island.
Honors + Awards
Providence Art Club Castelnovo Prize for Painting, 2025
Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Make Art Grant, 2024
Bromfield Gallery, Solo Exhibition Competition (juried), 2024
Pawtucket Arts Collaborative Foundation Show First Honorable Mention, 2022
Punto Urban Art Museum first place honors, 2017
Select media
“052: Fu’una.” projectguam.com, 20 Dec 2024, https://www.projectguam.org/blog/052-fuuna
Salkind, Micah. “‘Dream Big / Work Hard’ mural installed by Fu’una at RFK Elementary. artculturetourism.com, 20 Nov 2023, https://artculturetourism.com/dream-big-work-hard/
“Pacific Islander Portraits: Building Visibility Through Art,” AAC Journal Volume 1 Issue 5
Rose, Michael. “Artist to Know: Fu’una.” Go Local Prov, 10 Aug 2022.
"MuSE Program Gives Teens In-Depth Look At Museum Work." Newport Daily News, 11 May 2019.
Flanagan, Mollie. "Rhode Island Cultural Anchor: Kameko Branchaud." risca.online, 19 Feb 2019.
Solo Exhibitions
Måhålang (Longing), solo exhibition, Bromfield Gallery, Boston 2024
27,000 miles, solo exhibition, RISCA Atrium Gallery, Providence 2023
Hali’ Taotao Santa Rita, Santa Rita Senior Center, Santa Rita, Guam installation 2014
Lessons in Impermanence, Johnson and Wales University Intercultural Center, Providence RI 2012
Select group exhibitions
Year of the Snake, Blue Triangle Gallery, Boston MA 2025
Yušká: Uncoil, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston 2024 (juried)
Providence Biennial: Poesis, Waterfire Arts Center, Providence RI 2023 (invitational)
Community Invitational Exhibition, Providence Art Club, Providence RI 2022
GAX 9 for Festival of Pacific Arts, Guam Art Exhibit, Tumon, Guam 2016
Artists At Work, Smithsonian Ripley Center, Washington, D.C. 2015 (juried)
GAX VII, Guam Art Exhibit,Tumon, Guam 2014
The Lost Museum, Brown University and Mark Dion, Providence RI 2014
Arc of Alchemy, Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence RI 2013
GAX VI, Guam Art Exhibit, Tumon, Guam 2013
Presentations + Workshops
Guest presenter, “Public and Collaborative Art, RISD Pre-College 2024
Guest presenter, Arts in Context graduate course, RISD 2023
Guest presenter, “Collaborative Aesthetics,” Providence Art Club Lecture Series, 2022
Guest speaker, Critical Investigations in Arts Learning graduate course, RISD, 2020
Portfolio reviewer, RISD Pre-college, RISD 2019
Workshop presenter, “Sci-Fi and Horror Movie Poster Design,” RI Foundation 2019
Guest speaker, Contemporary Practices in Art + Design Education graduate course, RISD 2019
Panelist, “Murals, Contested Public Spaces, and Belonging: Public Art in the Age of Displacement”, Providence Symposium 2018
Presenter, “Introduction to Museums”, LEAP for Education and Salem High School 2018
Presenter, “Visitors of Color,” LEAP for Education, 2017
Presenter, supported several Cooper Hewitt sessions including special sessions with Tim Gunn, National Art Education Association (NAEA), New Orleans, 2016
Teaching + Arts administration
Associate Director, CE Pre-Collegiate and Youth Programs, RISD 2023 - present
City of Austin, Cultural Funding Specialist, 2020 - 2022
Peabody Essex Museum (PEM), Connected Learning Developer, Salem MA 2016 - 2018
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Family Programs and Design Camp Coordinator, New York, NY 2015
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Education Assistant, New York, NY 2014 – 2015
Service to the Field
Panelist, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Horace Mann Hall Public Art, Providence 2023
Reviewer, National Endowment for the Arts Our Town endorsement, City of Austin Cultural Arts Division, 2021
Reviewer, Community Initiatives, City of Austin Cultural Arts Division, 2020 - 2021
Founder, Visible Spectrum, RI 2018 - 2021
Juror, Winter Member’s Exhibition, Providence Art Club, Providence RI 2019
Public Art Highlights
2024
Clean Air for Chinatown, vinyl window installation for Pao Arts Center, Chinatown Boston 2024
2023
Dream Big / Work Hard, Providence Art Culture Tourism + RFK Elementary School, Providence RI
Yayoi Kusama portrait, Link Street LLC + The Avenue Concept, Providence RI
2022
Georgia O’Keeffe portrait, Link Street LLC + The Avenue Concept, Providence RI
401: After Winter Must Come Spring, The Avenue Concept, Providence RI
2019
U ok?, Punto Urban Art Museum, Salem MA
Kung Fu Kitty, Witch City Kitty cat convention, Salem MA
School of Rock, School of Rock, Seekonk MA
Newport Art Museum School façade, collaboration with teen participants in MuSE, Newport RI
2018
Snail, The Raw Project, South Miami FL
But wait, there’s a thing, Beyond Walls, Lynn MA
Goal Wall, collaboration with teens at LEAP for Education, Salem MA Welcome to New Liberty, collaboration with students at New Liberty Innovation School, Salem MA
Zanshin, Kodokai Dojo, North Smithfield RI
2017
So Pretty It Hurts, Punto Urban Art Museum, Salem MA. First place honors; juried
Seeker of the Forbidden Sandwich!, Salem Mural Slam, Salem MA
Bodhisattva Bernie, Red Fence Gallery, Beverly MA