AUGUST 2024 FEATURE ARTIST: LELAND CHOY

Leland Choy, B.F.A., M.A.

Leland studied at the California College of Arts in Oakland.  He wanted to become a professional student by continuing his studies at Sac State U. He miscalculated and he received his MA and then they asked him to leave.  He spent the following 30 years trying to teach art, and judging by his former students, he did not succeed, but they had to pay him anyway.

He began exhibiting in juried shows in 1988 and had been accepted five consecutive times to the Calif. Art Expo at the State Fair (1990-1994), the only oil painter who has done so.  He was accepted in the prestigious Crocker Kingsly show only 3 times, and not through lack of trying.

He has won Best of Show from Fairfield, Tracy, Lodi, and Stockton Art shows.  He also used to pen a column for the Lodi Art Center's monthly newsletter.  I think he had a readership of 3.

He has never exhibited in New York because he claimed he was too lazy to crate his paintings for shipping, when in reality, gallery owners never returned his calls.  He has never exhibited in Los Angeles because he claimed that Philistines dominated the art scene, and he refused to be associated with them, when in reality, gallery owners, again, never returned his calls.  He has managed to survive, intact, by the support of his loving family who has advised the public not to lend him any money.  He makes his home in Lodi, California