Tour of Chiura Obata Exhibit at Smithsonian American Art Museum - FREE
Chiura Obata (1885-1975) was one of the most significant Japanese American artists working on the West Coast in the last century.
Chiura Obata (1885-1975) was one of the most significant Japanese American artists working on the West Coast in the last century. Born in Okayama, Japan, Obata emigrated to the United States in 1903 and embarked on a seven-decade career that saw the enactment of anti-immigration laws and the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. But Obata emerged as a leading figure in the Northern California artistic communities, serving not only as an influential art professor at UC Berkeley for nearly twenty years, but also as a founding director of art schools in the internment camps. With a prodigious and expansive oeuvre, Obata's seemingly effortless mastery of, and productive engagement with, diverse techniques, styles, and traditions defy the dichotomous categorizations of American/European and Japanese/Asian art. His faith in the power of art, his devotion to preserving the myriad grandeur of what he called "Great Nature," and his compelling personal story as an immigrant and an American are all as relevant to our contemporary moment as ever.
Place: Museum of American Art
8th and F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004
Date: Thursday, March 19, 2020
Time: 5:45 p.m. - 6:45 p.m.
Please meet the group at the F Street Info Desk of the Museum.
For anyone bringing a backpack, please carry it in the front or at your side to prevent any accidental damage to the art work. The museum has free public lockers at both entrances for guests do not want to carry around their belongings. Please note that no food or drinks are allowed into the galleries. If you would like to eat at the museum, there is a beautiful courtyard, where you can do so.