Fontana Art Depot Gallery Presents John Wu Exhibition Exploring Art and Education

The free showcase runs through December 13, 2026, with an artist reception and hands-on workshop scheduled during the exhibition.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The free John Wu Featured Artist Showcase runs October 17 to December 13, 2026, at the Art Depot Gallery in Fontana.
• Wu’s paintings, drawings and artist books investigate learning, institutions and everyday relationships.
• An October 23 artist reception requires no registration; the November 21 workshop has limited capacity and advance registration is encouraged.
• Gallery hours are noon to 7 p.m. Wednesday to Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Visitors to Fontana, California, can explore the relationship between art, everyday life and education in a new free exhibition devoted to Los Angeles-based artist and educator John Ziqiang Wu. Presented by the City of Fontana as its fourth Featured Artist Showcase of 2026, the exhibition opened October 17 and continues through December 13 at the Art Depot Gallery.

Wu’s practice moves between observational drawing, watercolour painting, portraiture, artist books and collaborative installations. Rather than treating education solely as a subject, his work examines how people relate to institutions and to one another within learning environments. The exhibition introduces local audiences and travellers exploring Southern California’s cultural venues to an artist whose work combines personal observation with playful institutional critique.

Art shaped by classrooms and daily encounters

As a co-founder of Learning Art & Art Learning Studio, an art tutoring workshop, Wu has made teaching and the experience of learning central to his creative work. His artist publications include Learning Art and Art Learning Society (2017), The Lamps’ Story (2018) and CalArts’ Story: The Place and The People (2018), alongside Dad’s Hands Are Smaller (2018) and One Day Intern (2020). The books document social settings, institutional structures and the people and objects that shape everyday experiences.

Wu earned a BFA in Fine Art from ArtCenter College of Design in 2013 and an MFA in Photo/Media from the California Institute of the Arts in 2017. He taught painting and drawing at UCLA from 2023 to 2025. His work has also intersected with prominent Southern California arts organisations: he was an artist in residence at the Hammer Museum in 2019, contributed an artist project to X-TRA in 2022 and has work in the Hammer’s collection.

Past presentations have included the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, Hutto-Patterson Exhibition Hall and Phase Gallery. His work has also appeared in group exhibitions at the Brand Library & Art Center in Glendale, Night Gallery in Los Angeles, the Pasadena Museum of California Art and SALT in Istanbul. He performed with Asher Hartman in ANNIE OKAY at the Hammer Museum.

Free reception and artist-led workshop

The showcase is open to the public without an admission charge. Visitors can attend an artist reception on Friday, October 23, 2026, from 5 to 8 p.m., with no registration required. A second event, an artist-led workshop on Saturday, November 21, from 3 to 5 p.m., is also free, although advance registration is strongly encouraged because capacity is limited.

The Art Depot Gallery is located at 16822 Spring Street, Fontana, CA 92335. Exhibition visiting hours are Wednesday through Friday, noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Those planning to join the workshop can consult Fontana Arts for programme information and registration, or contact the gallery at (909) 349-6975.

The venue itself adds a local-history dimension to a cultural outing: the gallery occupies a former freight depot built in 1915 beside the Pacific Electric Trail in Helen Putman Historical Plaza. It now serves as the headquarters for the city’s cultural arts programme, bringing exhibitions and arts activities into a historic community setting.