Name/Title
Western Park Apartments - Pearl Yue - Old WomanDescription
“I have loved art since I was seven years old,” Pearl Yue will tell you. “I spent a lot of time in my bedroom painting.” Her sisters and brother also showed decided artistic talents early in life but their father warned them, “Artists only become famous when they’re dead. Get work that will support you!” Pearl found a career as a microbiologist for China’s Academy of Science.
Born and raised in Tianjin, in Northern China, Pearl’s family owned an herb factory over a 300-year period that produced such high-quality products that the Emperor made it the royal pharmacy. Her father was the last of the family to manage it when the communist regime put an end to private property ownership.
Pearl and her husband moved to San Francisco in 1990 with their son and daughter and she quickly found work at U.C.S.F. Even then, though, she continued to make art – taking charge of holiday decorations at work and painting in the evenings and weekends at a gallery on Sutter Street. She retired in 2002 and moved into Western Park Apartments almost six years ago. She was delighted to find a thriving Art With Elders program there and takes advantage of the art studio as often as possible.
