She moved in 1990 to South Florida, where she met business executive Glenn Ryals, who first fell for her art, then for her. They married, and in 1999, he gave her the Art Palace as a studio and retreat. Built as a home by a California couple in 1984 and christened Gloria’s Palace, it was already a local landmark, its Middle Eastern-styled dome visible from the Palmetto Expressway near Dadeland Mall. Today it serves as an opulent showcase of Huong’s works and collection. Most every space is filled with art, from abstracts to sculptures.

“I wanted a place where I could just lock the doors and work 12 hours a day creating art,” she says.

On the 20th anniversary of her escape from Vietnam, Huong began what would become a monumental project called The War Pieces — a 120-panel mural of abstracts and figures stretching 400 feet. It includes searing images of widows, orphans and the fallen. She returned to the theme with The Iraq Mural, inspired by the start of the Iraq War in 2003.

“When the president announced the war would be coming to an end, I knew this mural was finally done,” she says.

In 2008, the still-larger Peace Mural — at more than 2,000 pieces, it represents the arc of her career — was shown at the M Street Gallery in Georgetown. The exhibit was deeply personal, touching on her war-torn homeland, profound loss and the possibilities of finding peace.

In June 2010, sections of Huong’s Obama Peace Mural, painted with the assistance of other artists and interns, were displayed at a convention center in Washington D.C. Unveiled at the Broward County Main Library in Fort Lauderdale, the work came to include a chapter on the massive oil spill then dominating the news. She called it Bleeding in the Gulf, and like past projects it included provocative oil and acrylic images and quotes.

Inspired by the divisive questions of whether and how to legalize the millions of undocumented people living in the country, the immigration mural continues Huong’s tradition of social messages delivered through art. Over nearly four decades, she has addressed human rights, justice, war and ultimately, peace.

“She has an amazing life story that has influences her art and her activism,” says Carol Damian, director and chief curator of the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University.

“She would not have this ability if she hadn’t suffered herself and totally appreciates what it is like to be oppressed, exiled and alone,” Damian says. “Her work forces conversations, and her larger mission is peace and compassion.”