MA LY (b. 1970)

French-American visual artist Ma Ly lived 30 years in France before relocating to Fresno, California in 2008. He has been a professional painter and art instructor since 2011. Ly rented a space at Broadway Studios then at M Street Arts Complex, both in downtown Fresno. He founded and managed Vernissage Art Gallery in Fresno's Tower District from 2018-2023. Ly has been the preparator for Fresno Art's Council's ArtHop at Fresno City Hall since November 2025 (and also from 2016-2020). He currently works from his home studio.

In 2016, Ly received the Horizon Award from the Fresno Arts Council and the Award of Arts from the Fresno County Office of Education. From 2011-2016 he was an art instructor at Fresno Adult School and at Michaels in Clovis, California. From 2013-2016 he served as artistic director for the Art Of Life project that pairs cancer survivors with local artists to learn expression and healing through art. From 2016-2018, he was the Artist Liaison at the M Street Arts complex in downtown Fresno.

Ly's award-winning paintings have been showcased in several local venues. His notable commissions include: Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama both commissioned by the Fresno County Office of Education (2013); Fresno activist Betty Rodriguez on permanent display at the Betty Rodriguez Regional Library in Fresno (2015), and the official portrait of late Joseph I. Castro, President of California State University, Fresno (2020). Other paintings of significant cultural figures, including George Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr., are exhibited at local museums. Ly's painting “Vernon Conrad: The Garden of The Old Man” was selected by former California Senator Andy Vidak as the winning artwork representing Senate District 14. It was displayed in the 2017-2018 State Senate’s Contemporary Art Collection at the Capitol building in Sacramento, California.

Self-portrait, acrylic, 2-1/2 x 3-1.2"