Lewis deSoto (1954) is of Cahuilla origin from the Southern California region known as the Inland Empire. He studied art, philosophy and religion at UC Riverside and received his B.A. in Studio Art in 1978. He received his MFA from the Claremont Graduate University in 1981. He has taught at Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland/San Francisco, San Francisco Art Institute and is a Professor Emeritus at San Francisco State University. His works of photography, sculpture, installation and other media works are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, the Columbus Museum of Art and other public and private collections. His book of essays and photography, EMPIRE, was published by Heyday Books in late 2015. He has studios in Southern and Northern California.