Nishiki Sugawara-Beda b.1973 - Is a Japanese-American visual artist based in painting and installation. She draws upon her Japanese heritage to explore themes related to culture, language, and spirituality rooted in Zen Buddhism. Connecting across space and time, she experiments in ancient Japanese materials and techniques including Sumi ink, Kakejiku landscapes, and rice paper, to merge them with abstract and expressive forms familiar to the modern Western aesthetic. 

Sugawara-Beda exhibits her work in solo and group exhibitions and offers lectures nationally and internationally to promote cultural diversity and exchange. Exhibition venues include NorthPark Center, Dallas, TX; the Spartanburg  Art Museum (SC); Morris Graves Museum of Art (CA); Dennos Museum (MI); and Amos Eno  Gallery (NY). Publications include New American Paintings; Expose Art Magazine; AEQAI; Athenaeum  Review; and the London Post. Awards including a Seed Grant; Diversity Fellow Program; International Enhancement Grant; Idaho Arts Fellowship; Sam Taylor Fellowship; and Tusen Takk Foundation residency have supported her artistic research.  In 2022, The Dallas Museum of Art acquired four scrolls, representing the four seasons, for their permanent collection.

In addition to national conferences, including the College Art Association, Sugawara-Beda also gives keynote speeches and workshops to cultural organizations including Pilipino American Unity for Progress, Inc., OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, and Business Council for the Arts, Dallas.