John Natsoulas

Fresh out of college, John Natsoulas began his work with Amnesty International in East and North Africa, where he campaigned against the imprisonment and torture of political prisoners. In 1986, Natsoulas organized Amnesty International’s first fundraising exhibition, Artists for Amnesty. The event precipitated the release of the Moroccan prisoner, Mohammed El Mousari.

Natsoulas established a gallery in his hometown Davis, California where he could continue to pursue humanitarian causes through the arts. Over the last four decades, the gallery has hosted the hundreds of exhibitions, workshops, festivals, and conferences. The gallery brough together painters, sculptors, ceramicist, printmakers, dancers, performance artists, musicians, and poets who are dedicated to working in all mediums.

Natsoulas’ passion for the history of the region has led to extensive historical documentation and the publication various books on the artists who shaped the movements of Northern California. Today, Natsoulas continues in this direction, producing historical and high-profile exhibitions, publishing hundreds of artists’ catalogs and books, and spearheading the country’s first Transmedia Art Walk in downtown Davis, with over sixty sculptures and murals by local artists.