Finding Family Stories Arts Partnership Project To Unveil Works Of 8 Southern California Artists At Four Cultural Sites Beginning March 14, 2003

Finding Family Stories, a three-year arts partnership project that brings together cultural institutions representing Southern California’s diverse communities, will highlight the works of eight emerging and established local artists working in a variety of media, including photography, sculpture, video, and painting, at four sites beginning on Saturday, March 15, 2003, at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo, followed by openings at the other three organizations.

Organized by the National Museum in part through a grant from the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Weingart Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and the California Arts Council, Finding Family Stories is a multi-year collaboration involving the California African American Museum, the Chinese American Museum, Japanese American National Museum, and Self-Help Graphics & Art. One goal is the development of an art exhibition at all four sites with each artist exploring the themes of family, individual identity, community, and cultural diversity. An equally important goal is the development of stronger ties between existing art/history/cultural institutions in Los Angeles County and their communities.

EXHIBITION DATE

The Japanese American National Museum exhibition will run from March 15 to July 6, 2003. The Chinese American Museum will open its exhibition at the El Pueblo Community Gallery (at E-13 between Olvera Street and Alameda Street) on March 16 and run through April 12. On April 3, Self-Help Graphics & Art will unveil their part of the exhibition, which will run through April 20. On April 5, the California African American Museum will open the doors to their section of the exhibition, which runs through July 19.

The partnering organizations worked together to select eight local established and emerging artists for the culminating exhibition composed of their new and existing art, reflecting the common theme of family. All four partners will display at least one work from each of the artists.

Selected in an open call for artists by the four partners were Sandra de la Loza, Teresa Hagiya, Patrick “Pato” Hebert, Betty Lee, Michael Massenburg, Dominique Moody, Jose B. Ramirez, and Steven Yao-Chee Wong. The institutions essentially commissioned the artists to create new work for Finding Family Stories and then make available existing works so all eight artists are represented at all four venues. Each work connects in some fashion to the theme of family.

UNDERSTANDING FINDING FAMILY STORIES

Observed Roberto Bedoya, former executive director of the National Association of Artists’ Organizations (NAAO), “Finding Family Stories is about the ‘we’ of Southern California that escapes finessing but grows in multiplicity and possibilities. It is a ‘we’ that holds questions, such as: How many languages are spoken in the Los Angeles Unified School District? How is my family like your family? How is it different?

“The sharing in Finding Family Stories is not a sharing that is linked to sentimentality that reduces the complexity of being human to a Disney version of ’we are all brothers and sisters,’ and ‘under our skin we are all the same,’ or an advertisement slogan that states ‘no color lines.’ Happy-face reductionism is not what Finding Family Stories is about; rather, it is about exploring our complexity as humans, the complexity of diverse cultural values and traditions.”

ARTISTS’ WORK

Artists Massenburg and Moody both looked at their own families to gain inspiration for the exhibition. Massenburg spoke to his many relatives and turned to books on African American history before creating In Time, Melissa Letter, and Circle of Cousins, painted, collaged images that tell his complex family history.

Moody, who has sought the whereabouts of her absent father, reflects her family’s saga in four new works created with found objects, collaged photographs, and life-sized figures of family members.

Ramirez, an inner-city elementary school teacher, painter, and muralist, explores the connections between family and community. He strongly believes in teaching respect for differences and social responsibility, all which is reflected in his new series of paintings entitled Fly, which celebrates family and community solidarity. He was inspired by the book, The People Could Fly, based on an African American folktale set in the American South.

Utilizing her parents’ Polaroid family snapshots from the 1950s and 1960s, de la Loza looks at the nature of staged family portraits in her installations, which suggest how much photographs conceal as much as they reveal. In a new audio-based installation, de la Loza reveals a sense of family found in the home, on the street and within the city.

Lee’s new work is a deeper exploration of her semi-autobiographical Laundry Series. Mining her childhood experience of growing up in a small, isolated midwestern town without other Asian Americans, Lee developed her self-awareness in the back rooms of her parents’ laundry business. All four venues will exhibit items from this series including photographs, video installation, and net-based project.

In hay una vieja que eta enamorada, Hebert looks to his family’s past in Panama. Using lenticular technology to layer multiple photographic images, Hebert juxtaposes pictures of his family next to landscapes images that reference Panama’s colonial history.

Wong’s work examines Los Angeles’ Chinatown in Chinatown Stories: Realizing the Imagined. Through found objects including vintage postcards, Wong brings out prevailing stereotypes of Chinatown and Chinese people, often fanned by tourist culture and Hollywood myths. Wong contrasts this imagery with actual experiences of Chinatown residents and raises the complexity of identity.

Hagiya’s new installation Retroreflective utilizes the trappings of road safety signs such as those that appear in main thoroughfares and rural roads. Road safety signs help guide motorists through our highways, but the fact that we never question their validity is a point provocatively employed by Hagiya. Are such signs really for our safety? Where do we draw the line between safety and being controlled and manipulated against our will?

FINDING FAMILY STORIES FESTIVAL

To commemorate the project and to encourage viewers to visit more than one site, the Finding Family Stories Festival will be held on Saturday, April 5 and on Sunday, April 13. The Festival begins at noon on April 5, at the El Pueblo Community Gallery, hosted by the Chinese American Museum and run until 2:30 p.m. Activities will shift to the California African American Museum from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. On Sunday, April 13, the Festival will begin at 12 noon and run until 2:30 p.m. at the Japanese American National Museum. Festivities then move to Self-Help Graphics & Art from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS

A series of public programs for Finding Family Stories begins with “Tertulia” on Thursday, April 10, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Self-Help Graphics & Art. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet some of the participating artists. For information, call (323) 881-6444.

Artist Sandra de la Loza will conduct an art workshop on Saturday, May 10, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., at the California African American Museum. This program is free to the public, but space is limited to 25 participants. For reservations, call (213) 744-2077.

“Speaking with Ancestors: Discovering Families Through the Written Word” is set for Saturday, May 31, beginning at 1:30 p.m. at the Japanese American National Museum. Among those who will speak are Larry Jaffe, Michael Datcher, Dima Hilal, and Princess Peter-Raboff with a discussion hosted by Peter J. Harris, writer and producer of “Inspiration House” on KPFK (90.7 FM). For reservations, call (213) 625-0414.

Artist Dominique Moody will conduct an art workshop on Saturday, June 28, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., at the California African American Museum. The event is free to the public, but participation is restricted to 25 participants. For reservations, call (213) 744-2077.

FINDING FAMILY STORIES PARTNERS

Chinese American Museum

With a mission to enhance understanding of America’s diversity by sharing the 150-year history of Chinese Americans, the Chinese American Museum is in the process of renovating a historic building dating back to the original Los Angeles’ Chinatown, the Garnier Building, and an adjacent structure for its headquarters. The renovated buildings are located in the El Pueblo Monument, a 44-acres public park located at the birthplace of Los Angeles. The Chinese American Museum is jointly developed and operated by the Friends of the Chinese American Museum (FCAM) and El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument (El Pueblo), a department of the City of Los Angeles. The organization has been creating exhibitions since 1992, including From Hearth to Heaven: Chinatown Living (1999) and Inspiring Lines: Chinese American Pioneers in the Commercial Arts (2001–2002).

California African American Museum

The California African American Museum is embarking on a new phase in its history, undergoing extensive renovation of its facilities that required it to close its doors for a year and a half. The California African American Museum recognizes its institutional responsibility to act as “keepers of the flame” and has its primary goal to “capture the attention and imagination of families.&rdquo The California African American Museum believes that “It is through the family that we educate and enlighten our young and old alike, explore new and engaging territories, pass on societal values, share stories and experiences that represent the fabric and fiber of our culture, and ultimately, preserve our place in history for future generations.” The California African American Museum is a State of California department established by the State legislature in 1977, one of only four State museums in California. The institution focuses on the history, culture and art of African Americans with an emphasis on California and the Western United States.

Japanese American National Museum

The Japanese American National Museum is the only private, nonprofit education institution dedicated to preserving and telling the story of Americans of Japanese ancestry as an integral part of U.S. history with the aim of promoting greater understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity. Founded in 1985, the National Museum opened its renovated Historic Building in the Little Tokyo Historic District in downtown Los Angeles to the public in 1992. The National Museum has grown into an internationally recognized institution, presenting award-winning exhibitions, groundbreaking traveling exhibitions, educational public programs, innovative video documentaries and cutting-edge curriculum guides. In 1999, it opened a state-of-the-art Pavilion, providing ample space for multiple exhibitions and secure collections storage. The National Museum has over 60,000 members and donors representing all 50 states and 18 different countries.

Self-Help Graphics & Art

Self-Help Graphics & Art (SHG) is celebrating 30 years of service to the community as one of the most prolific printmaking art centers in America. Incorporated in 1973, Self-Help Graphics & Art has been the leading visual arts center serving the Chicano/Latino community of Los Angeles. Through its varied programs, which include a Printmaking Atelier, Professional and Youth Artists Workshops, Ethnic/Cultural activities, and its on-site gallery, Galeria Otra Vez, SHG seeks to fulfill its goal of promoting the rich cultural heritage and contribution of Chicano/Latino art and artists to the contemporary American experience. Self-Help Graphics grew out of a group of Chicano and Mexicano artists gathering together to form a collaborative studio in East Los Angeles. Besides supporting artists, Self-Help Graphics continues to benefit community youth with its programming.

PAST FINDING FAMILY STORIES PARTNERS

Between 1995 and 1997 through a grant from the James Irvine Foundation, the Finding Family Stories arts partnership project operated with the Japanese American National Museum as the organizing body. Partners included the Korean American Museum, Plaza De La Raza, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Skirball Cultural Center, and the Watts Towers Arts Center (City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department).

GENERAL INFORMATION

The California African American Museum is located at 600 State Drive, Exposition Park, near USC. It reopens to the public on Saturday, April 5, 2003. For more information, call (213) 744-7695.

The Chinese American Museum is located at 125 Paseo de la Plaza, Suite 400, Los Angeles, California 90012. It is renovating a historic building and will open to the public in the summer of 2003. For more information, call (213) 626-5240.

The Japanese American National Museum is located at 369 East First Street, in the Little Tokyo Historic District of downtown Los Angeles. It is open Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and $3 for students & children. For information, call (213) 625-0414.

Self-Help Graphics & Art, Inc., is located at 3802 Cesar Chavez Avenue in the heart of East Los Angeles. Gallery and studio hours are Tuesday through Sunday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call (323) 881-6444.