Fay Chong was born in Canton (modern Guangzhou), China in 1912, and moved to Seattle with his family in 1920.

[2] In 1933, Chong, Andrew Chinn, Lawrence Yun, Yippie Eng, and others formed the Chinese Arts Club.

Initially an informal co-op, they began holding regular shows at a shared studio in Seattle's International District, and eventually exhibited as an arts collective at the New York Chinese School.

Artists Guy Anderson and William Cumming - who, along with Graves and Mark Tobey, would later become prominent members of the 'Northwest School' - were regular guests, joining them on art-making field excursions.

In the mid-1950s - already a well-known, nationally exhibited "WPA artist" - he enrolled at the University of Washington, studying under Mark Tobey and others.