Xiaoping Chen is an accomplished painter who was born in China and has lived in Canada for several years. She studied watercolor and ceramics at the University of Mariana in 1997, and had her work featured in several private exhibits; her work has been chosen for reproduction in a variety of media, including in art calendars, as book illustrations, and book covers, among others. Chen was the recipient of many awards in China. In 1998, she was named an “Outstanding Artist” by the governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. She was formerly Art Director of the Community Arts Council in Richmond, British Columbia, of Canada.