Artists in Internment

Opening Reception in San Leandro

2012-03-08T14:38:00.002-08:00

Remembering

2012-03-01T15:07:00.001-08:00

2012-02-27T07:25:00.000-08:00

The San Leandro Library is having a great time with the Topaz Exhibit. The following pictures are from Lawson's visit to the Eden Japanese Community senior group on Thursday, February 23. It was a fabulous event and everyone loved Lawson...how could you not. :)

Special thanks to Addie Silveira for providing the pictures.

Destination: San Leandro

2012-02-16T07:36:00.000-08:00

The Topaz Exhibit has landed in San Leandro. Our capable visual arts team at the Rio boxed up the artwork, packed the truck and sent it on it's way. It arrived on Valentines Day and was installed the next morning. If you're in the area, the exhibit is a must see. Here's a preview:

Remembering...

2012-02-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

What you see is an 88 year-old Japanese American and her grandchildren. She was sent to Topaz when she was 18 where she stayed for 5 years. She taught third grade at the camp. She saw this painting in the exhibit and told her that was the view outside her classroom where she taught. She saw that man walking away right before he was shot.

The show has one more week in Salt Lake City before we take it to California. Come see it while you can!

Plan-B's BLOCK 8

2012-02-02T08:14:00.000-08:00

This Saturday night at the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple!

Matthew Ivan Bennett’s BLOCK 8 was commissioned by and received its world premiere at Plan-B Theatre Company in 2009 featuring Anita Booher (Ada) and Bryan Kido (Ken), directed by Jerry Rapier.

Special thanks to Jean Tokuda Irwin, Sensei Hirano, Ernie Kyed, Dot Richeda, the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple and Lawson Inada.

NOTE: Good news for those who have a reservation/ticket. There is additional free parking at the Salt Palace. Enter from the 200 South entrance and tell them you are going to the Buddhist Temple.

Short Poem for Friday

2012-01-27T14:38:00.000-08:00

Below is Lawson Inada reciting one of his poems.

Opening Night

2012-01-26T09:18:00.000-08:00

Last Friday the Rio Gallery hosted the inaugural exhibit for Topaz: Artists in Internment. It was a successful showing despite the competition with the opening of the Sundance Film Festival in Salt Lake City. Thanks to all who made this opening possible. Thanks to poet Lawson Inada who attracted quite the audience with his storytelling as part of the event. And a special thanks to all those who participated in the Jan Ken poems. Below are some pictures of the event:

Jan Ken Po-ems at the Topaz Exhibit

2012-01-20T14:55:00.000-08:00

We want your thoughts and responses to the artwork created by artists, no longer alive, who visually recorded their lives behind a barbed-wire fence.

Come to the Rio Gallery tonight and throughout the Topaz exhibit's run (through February 10) and add your words. Begin with one of the pieces of paper provided at the front of the gallery. Each paper has three words written on it. Your words can come before one of the words or after. You may cross one out and add another to the list. You choose. If you wish, just begin with a blank piece of paper and write a Jan Ken Po-em.

In Japan, Shinto temples and, often, trees and bushes are places where individuals may leave a paper prayer. In our version, your poem may be a poem, a wish, a dream or a prayer.

Please post on the wall and read the thoughts others have left before you.

Topaz is UP at the Rio Gallery

2012-01-17T14:33:00.000-08:00

Topaz: Artists in Internment is officially open at the Rio Gallery in Salt Lake City. The exhibit runs through February 10. The public reception will be this Friday, January 20th from 6-9 PM in conjunction with the Salt Lake Gallery Stroll, but it doesn't end there. A series of special activities are being held in conjunction with the exhibit.

Please note these dates if you are interested in attending any of the following events.

Jan. 19, 7:00 PM

Merrill-Cazier Library, Room 101

Utah State University, Logan

A reading and discussion will be held with former Oregon poet laureate Lawson Inada who was interned withhis parents in camps in Fresno, Arkansas and Colorado.

Jan. 20, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Rio Gallery

300 S Rio Grande St, Salt Lake City

The opening reception will include a screening of theshort documentary Days of Waiting, a reading by poet Lawson Inada,recognition of survivors and descendants of the internment and an ikebana arrangementby Theresa Sueoka. Days of Waiting isabout the experience of Estelle Peck Ishigo, a Caucasian woman who followed herhusband into internment. This Steven Okazaki film received an Oscar for best documentaryshort subject.

Feb. 3, 7:00 PM

Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

20 S West Temple, Salt Lake City

A screening of the documentary Unfinished Business, also by Okazakiand a best documentary feature Oscar nominee. It will be followed by a panel discussion with Lawson Inada and civilrights activist Mark Alvarez. UnfinishedBusiness is about three young Japanese Americans who refused to obeyExecutive Order 9066, the Wartime Relocation Act.

Feb. 4, 4:00 PM

Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

20 S West Temple, Salt Lake City

A screening will be held of American Pastime, a fictional account of the establishment of abaseball league in an internment camp based on the in-camp league started byChiura Obata, who also founded the art school at Topaz.

Feb. 4, 7:00 PM

Salt Lake Buddhist Temple

211 W 100 S, Salt Lake City

Plan-Bwill perform a reading of BLOCK 8, anoriginal play about a young Japanese man struggling with the decision to enlistin the military to prove his loyalty to

America

and who befriends alibrarian at Topaz whose son is fighting overseas. The production enjoyed asold-out, world-premiere run at Plan-B in 2009 in conjunction with Day ofRemembrance events. The reading features the original cast of Anita Booher (Ada) and Bryan Kido (Ken)directed by Jerry Rapier. The production will be followed by a post-showdiscussion with the cast, director, playwright Matthew Ivan Bennett and poetLawson Inada. Online reservations are encouraged for the reading of BLOCK 8 andcan be made by clicking Script-In-Hand Series at planbtheatre.org.

The special events are free and open to the public. Stay tuned for additional events,updates and opportunities to join the conversation!

Curating the Visual Work and Words

2011-12-20T08:07:00.000-08:00

Over a hundred thousand Japanese-Americans were held in ten remote camps in the 1940s. These Americans were not convicted or charged with any crime, yet were incarcerated for up to four years in prison camps surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards.

Japanese-Americans interned in the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah brought with them the skills from their interrupted lives. Among their number was University of California-Berkeley art instructor Chiura Obata who founded an art school at Topaz that grew to 16 instructors teaching 23 subjects to over 600 students.

This exhibit will feature artworks created during internment at the Topaz War Relocation Center near Delta, Utah, on loan from the Topaz Museum. Artists include Chiura Obata, Setsu Nagata Kanehara, Charles Erabu Mikami and Miné Okubo.

The exhibited artworks are collected and cared for by the Topaz Museum, a non-profit, volunteer organization whose purpose is to preserve the history of Topaz.

The exhibit will travel to three locations in 2012: The Rio Gallery in Salt Lake City, The San Leandro Public Library and the San Francisco Public Library.

The traveling exhibit is made possible by funding from the Western States Arts Federation, Utah Arts & Museums, and the National Endowment for the Arts.