John P. Anderson is a muralist, studio artist, and percussionist. He has lived most of his life on the West Coast of North America, and is inspired by the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest and the arid wilderness of the Southwest; especially the plants and animals that thrive both in the cities and the wildlands. He teaches visual art and music in the Seattle area, and his most memorable teaching experience was hosting open jam sessions at a community center in Tecate, Mexico.

He studied art at Shoreline Community College and Pratt Fine Arts Center. After transferring to the University of Washington for undergrad, he completed a Master’s in Spanish at the University of Salamanca, where he wrote his thesis on El arte español como forma de protesta (Spanish art as a form of protest).

His studio work includes painting, mixed media sculpture, kinetic sound art, and building and modifying musical instruments. He often breaks the two-dimensional plane of his paintings, blurring the line between painting and sculpture. Self-awareness and material-awareness are important aspects of his work. He selects materials not only for their utilitarian and textural qualities, but for what they represent in our local, national, and global society.

One of his primary art mediums is mural painting, which he teaches with Urban ArtWorks in Seattle. Some of the murals he has designed and painted are at Shoreline Community College, Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School, Lowell Elementary School, and Alki Elementary School.

Photo by Juan Pablo Chiquiza