Vicky Mihara Avery grew up in San Francisco’s Japantown and together with her family, owns and operates 2 retail stores, Paper Tree in San Francisco and Miki’s Paper in Berkeley.

In the 1950’s her grandparents wrote and published one of the first American origami instruction books as a cultural introduction for children. In 1967 her family opened Paper Tree gift shop in the newly built Japan Center in San Francisco. The San Francisco Cherry Blossom Festival was created and naturally Vicky and her sister Linda taught origami to children and have since become nationally known for their Origami presentations, lessons and exhibitions.

Specializing in a wide range of paper arts, Vicky has lectured about “Tsutsumi” the Japanese art of gift wrapping at museums and events around the country. She has provided paper-craft services to clients such as Industrial Light and Magic, Walt Disney, VISA, and the Wall Street Journal. Vicky’s production firm, Origami Workshop, has created three instructional DVDs, The Art of Japanese Gift Wrap and Origami Fun For Kids 1 & 2.

Vicky is one of the founders of the Pacific Coast OrigamiUSA Conference and was awarded the Michael Shall Volunteer Award from OrigamiUSA for her contributions to the continuing growth of origami in America.

2016 was the 18th year that Vicky has participated in the Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival. Both children and adults love learning to create Origami from her and we are always honored to have her participation. Please stop by her table to meet her and learn more about Origami.