Yumi Hogan

Yumi Kim was born on December 25, 1959 in Naju, South Korea.[1][2] Kim is the youngest of eight children and grew up on a chicken farm in the rural South Jeolla Province.[3][4] Kim immigrated to the United States with her first husband while in her twenties.[5]

Hogan is an artist. Following encouragement from her husband, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting degree from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2008 and a Master of Fine Arts degree from American University in 2010.[5][6][7]

Hogan's artwork, primarily abstract landscapes in Sumi ink on Korean Hanji paper, has been shown locally and around the world.[8][9] Twenty-seven of her abstract landscape paintings were featured at an art show at the Ocean City Center for the Arts in July 2017, with sales proceeds from her exhibit donated to art therapy programs for pediatric cancer patients.[10] In late 2017, Hogan launched an art therapy program at the University of Maryland Children's Hospital via her Yumi C.A.R.E.S Foundation.[11][12]

Her work was featured at an exhibition in May and June 2019 by the University of Maryland University College Arts Program, in which it was described as blending Maryland and Korean landscapes.[13]

As First Lady of Maryland, Hogan has continued to teach as an adjunct faculty member at her alma mater, Maryland Institute College of Art.[9][7][5]

In 2016, Hogan had a gallery showing of paintings inspired by her husband's cancer diagnosis and recovery.[3]

Hogan with South Korea Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon in 2017.

Yumi Hogan became First Lady of Maryland on January 21, 2015, when Larry Hogan was inaugurated as Governor of Maryland.[14] She is the first Korean American first lady of a U.S. state and the first Asian American first lady in the history of Maryland. Five months into her husband's term, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Hogan served as his caretaker and unofficial nurse. Her public initiatives shifted upon his recovery, and she began advocating the benefits of art therapy, especially for cancer patients.[3]

In 2016, Hogan received the International Leadership Foundation's Inspirational Leader Award. She is also a 2017 recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.[4]

In September 2018, Hogan received the National Association of Secretaries of State Medallion Award for her advocacy and work to benefit victims of domestic violence and human trafficking.[15]

In April 2020, Hogan worked with her husband and South Korean Ambassador to the United States Lee Soo Hyuk to obtain 500,000 testing kits for $9.46 million during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Maryland.[3][16] However they turned out to be flawed and were never used. The Hogan administration quietly paid the same South Korean company another $2.5 million for 500,000 replacement tests.[16]

Yumi with her husband Larry Hogan in 2018.

Yumi Kim and her first husband had three daughters.[2][17][18] She moved to Howard County, Maryland in 1992 after previously divorcing her first husband.[2][1][5] To support her daughters, she taught in her basement and worked as a cashier.[5] She became a U.S. citizen in 1994.[2][5] She met Larry Hogan at an art show in Columbia[8][9] in 2001.[19] They were married in 2004[5] at Paca House and Garden in Annapolis.[8] Self-described as "traditional", Yumi Hogan holds Presbyterian religious beliefs, was reluctant to tell her family of her divorce, and did not live with Larry Hogan until they were married.[8] In May 2018, the Hogans adopted two rescued Shih Tzu dogs.[20]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yumi Hogan.

• Asian Americans in government and politics
• List of Asian-American firsts
• List of American women's firsts

• "Inside Two Worlds: Yumi Hogan brings an artist's eye to the role of First Lady", by Gabriella Souza in Baltimore magazine, June 2015