Cheng-Khee
Biography
Cheng-Khee was born in 1934 in Fengting, in Fujian Province in China, and attended grade school there. He emigrated to Penang, Malaysia ("the Pearl of the East") in 1948, where he was raised by his uncle. He received his B.A. Degree from Nanyang University in Singapore, and Master's Degree in Library Sciences at the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis. He married Sing-Bee, and they raised 4 children: Yi-Hung, Yi-Min, Wan-Ying and Yen-Ying. During the day, Cheng-Khee pursued his career as a Librarian at the University of Minnesota-Duluth; at night he would develop his skills and ideas in watercolor.
In 1979, Cheng-Khee also started teaching watercolor painting at the University of Minnesota, and was promoted to Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Minnesota in 1981, and to Associate Professor of Art in 1988.
He retired from his career as a librarian and art professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth in 1994 to pursue his artwork on a full-time basis.
Cheng-Khee has been represented in numerous national juried exhibitions and captured over 200 honors, including the American Watercolor Society Silver Medal, Allied Artists of America Gold Medal, and Knickerbocker Artists USA Grand Award Gold Medal and purchase Prize for Excellence. His one-man shows include a 1987 China tour exhibition and 1997 exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum. His paintings have been exhibited and received numerous awards in the United States.
He has been elected Signature Member of numerous national, regional and state watercolor societies:
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Transparent Watercolor Society of America (formerly Midwest Watercolor Society) - 1980
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American Watercolor Society - 1981
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Georgia Watercolor Society - 1982
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National Watercolor Society - 1983
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Rocky Mountain National Water media Society - 1984
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Knickerbocker Artists USA - 1989
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Allied Artists of America - 1992
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American Watercolor Society, Dolphin Fellow - 1994
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Signature Member of Excellence, Georgia Watercolor Society - 1994
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Honorary Member of the Singapore Watercolor Society - 1996
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Watercolor USA Honor Society - 1998
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Audubon Artists - 2003
He established the Lake Superior Watercolor Society and held the first Annual Membership Exhibition at the Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota, Duluth in 1982.
Cheng-Khee painted the watercolors in the best-selling book, Old Turtle, written by Douglas Wood, which was published in 1990. Old Turtle:
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received the Minnesota Young Adult Book Award and the Midwest Best Children's Book Award in 1992
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received the American Booksellers Association's Children's Book of the Year Award (ABBY) and the International Reading Association's Children's Book Award in 1993
He was elected and served as Board Director of the American Watercolor Society, 1996 to 1998
He has served as Juror of Selection and Awards for numerous national, state and local watercolor societies. He has been featured internationally on radio shows, TV productions, and art journals.
According to his biography in The Watercolor World of Cheng-Khee Chee,( (c) 1997), when he was presented the Grand Prize Gold Medal and Purchase Award at the Knickerbocker Artists' 1993 Annual International Exhibition in 1993, "he was asked to say a few words at the award banquet in Washington, DC. At the end of his remarks, he asked Sing-Bee to join him at the podium and said, 'And if I have any ability at all, I owe that to my wife, Sing-Bee. She encourages and makes time for me to paint to develop my ability. Our neighbors felt sorry for her because she was the one who took out the garbage, mowed the lawn, raked the leaves, shoveled the snow, and drove the car, but she performed these chores with joy in her heart, because she wanted me to have more time to paint. We share our vision, and we chase our dreams together.' Then he presented her with the prize."