ART AT OMSC

A resident of Koshigaya City, Saitama, Japan, he was the 2008–09 OMSC artist in residence. Watanabe graduated in 1982 from the Ochanomizu Art School in Tokyo after having earned, a decade earlier, an economics degree from Tohoku Gakuin University in Sendai. He teaches at a private art school that he started in 1982. Watanabe’s oil paintings have been displayed in numerous solo exhibitions, including "The Encounter and the Hope" at Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo, in 2000, "Prayer for Peace" at the Ein Karem Gallery, Tokyo, in 2006, and "The Prodigal Son Returns" at the Institute of Sacred Music, Yale University Divinity School, in 2009. He is a member of the Christian Art Association in Japan and the Asian Christian Art Association.

"In retrospect I realize that [my works] are my own humble responses to God's calling in my life. . . . The images are often given to me through the words of God, at worship services on Sundays, and during my daily devotion. I have the earnest hope that I will go on painting to praise the Lord," writes Soichi Watanabe in his art book, Jesus Walking with Us (2004)."