Anthony Mancera was born in El Paso TX, grew up in Los Angeles CA and, after a tour of duty an Army corpsman in the Vietnam War, moved to San Francisco in 1970. His experiences during the war laid the groundwork for his art. After being an art student, then an art instructor, at the Hospitality House Community Arts Program, Mancera enrolled in the San Francisco Art Institute in 1972 on a Third World Cultural Grant. He is inspired by Impressionism, Japanese motifs, abstraction, and spiritual themes. A playful, deconstructive style is prevalent in his work over the last five decades.