Curated by Dr. Sandy Kita, senior scholar, Chatham College, and organized in honor of Donald Jenkins, this exhibition features a selection of Japanese hanging scrolls from the collection of Walter and Dörte Simmons that represents various styles and schools of painting that developed during Japan’s Edo period (1615–1868) as outgrowths of, and in response to, the age-old indigenous Yamato-e tradition. Read More »

From the founding of the Fountain Gallery in 1961 to the present, Arlene Schnitzer has created provenance – the history and ownership of a work of art. Her impact on the way we see and appreciate the art of our time, and particularly, the artists of the Pacific Northwest is unparalleled. Read More »

Over the course of the year, a graduate museum studies class, taught by Assistant Professor Phaedra Livingstone, met at the JSMA and learned the theory and practice of developing a museum exhibition, with input from JSMA staff members. This pilot project culminates in the installation and evaluation of the special exhibition Through Her Lens: Interpreting Gertrude Bass Warner’s Asia. The class—with students Lisa Hewitt, Jessica Hodgdon, June Irene Koehler, and Megan Lallier-Barron—worked with materials Gertrude Bass Warner travelled to Asia to collect and which form part of the museum’s founding collection as well as those of the UO Archives and Special Collections. Read More »

Curated by Dr. Kendall H. Brown, professor of Asian art history at California State University, Long Beach, and organized by the Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, the exhibition focuses on the nexus of American art, the woodblock print movement, women and East Asia between 1900 and 1940 through the presentation of work by Helen Hyde (1868-1919), Bertha Lum (1869-1954), Elizabeth Keith (1887-1956), and Lilian Miller (1895-1942). Read More »

UO graduate (BS '84, Finance) and renowned photographer, Russel Wong (born 1961, Singapore) began his career taking pictures of star athletes during his time as an undergraduate in Eugene. Soon he was shooting commercial photos for Nike, fashion photography for leading magazines like Vogue and Elle, and high-profile sports, celebrity, and Hollywood and Asian movie star portraits for a variety of U.S. and international publications, as well as sixteen covers for TIME. He has also directed numerous award-winning commercials and begun plans to direct his first feature film. Read More »

Night Hunter House by Stacey Steers is an installation piece built to accompany the animated film Night Hunter. From the outside the house is dark and Victorian in style. In each of the ten rooms, viewed through windows, there is a small video screen playing a different loop from the film, which is also shown in the gallery. The film is composed of cut-up and reassembled 18th- and 19th-century engraved book illustrations depicting dense forests and brooding interiors, along with the resurrected silent film star Lillian Gish, who sews and cooks but also contends with giant worms, swarming moths, and a menacing snake. The rooms of the dollhouse are elaborate, filled with miniature furniture, tiny light fixtures, antique lace, bird eggs and moth specimens. The interiors become increasingly perplexing as the loops progress through the film, in tandem with the film’s oblique narrative structure. A sound loop, comprised of elements from the original composition for the film by Larry Polansky, provides accompaniment. Read More »

Last year, the JSMA lost our dear friend and supporter Yoko Matsuoka McClain (1924-2011), who first came to Oregon in 1952 as a student and began working for the museum, eventually receiving a B.A. and M.A. A pillar of the community and UO professor of Japanese language and literature from 1964 to 1994, McClain wrote numerous books and articles and spoke frequently on both sides of the Pacific. As the granddaughter of Sôseki Natsume (1867-1916), one of Japan's most famous writers, McClain was revered by anyone familiar with Japanese literature, and yet she wore this legacy lightly, charming all she encountered both with her intellect and approachable attitude. Her grace and stature as a scholar and educator opened many doors, both here and abroad.

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