JANM RECEIVES GRANT FROM NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) has been awarded more than $130,000 from the National Park Service Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program for support of a two-year project, “A Collections-Based Guide for Digitally Exploring America’s Concentration Camps.” The grant is one of just twenty-one awarded for 2014; the grant program is now in its sixth year.

“This is a significant grant for the Japanese American National Museum and I’m pleased that the National Park Service has acknowledged us as a vital institution in this way,” said JANM President and CEO Greg Kimura. “We will make good use of these funds and produce content that furthers the mission of the museum as it relates to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.”

Quoted in the Park Service’s press release announcing this year’s recipients, National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said, “As America’s storyteller, the National Park Service is committed to sharing this tragic episode of our nation’s past and what it teaches us about the fragility of our constitu-tional rights. The grants fund projects to help us gain a better understanding of that past, engage new audiences, and build new partnerships in the preservation of these historic sites and lessons they hold.”

The JANM project will use the museum’s vast and diverse permanent collection to create a new, on-line guide that thematically explores the Japanese American World War II experience. The project will integrate excerpts from newly-digitized life histories, selected artifacts from JANM’s collections, links to each WRA camp, and relevant digital resources in order to connect students, teachers, and the public with all 10 of the War Relocation Authority (WRA) camps.

The JANM grant proposal was selected through a competitive process. Grant amounts for 2014 ranged from $12,650 to $497,186 and were awarded to projects in seven states and the District of Columbia. Since its inception, the grant program has awarded more than $15 million. A total of $38 million was authorized for the life of the program.

NOW ON VIEW AT JANM:

Colors of Confinement: Rare Kodachrome Photographs of Japanese American Incarceration in World War II
Through August 31, 2014
Colors of Confinement presents 18 rare Kodachrome photographs taken in 1943 and 1944 by Bill Manbo during his incarceration at the Heart Mountain concentration camp in Wyoming. These vivid and surprising color photos show Japanese Americans engaged in activities like baseball, ice skating, and celebrating Bon Odori with a stark prison landscape visible behind them.

Dodgers: Brotherhood of the Game
Through September 14, 2014
From their original roots in Brooklyn to today’s home in Los Angeles, the Dodgers are trailblazers in the world of sports, on and off the field. Dodgers: Brotherhood of the Game explores the team’s storied past through four players and a Hall of Fame manager, each of whom made history in his own right: Jackie Robinson, Fernando Valenzuela, Chan Ho Park, Hideo Nomo, and Tommy Lasorda.

Perseverance: Japanese Tattoo Tradition in a Modern World
Through September 14, 2014
This exhibition of photographs by Kip Fulbeck explores the master craftsmanship and ongoing influence of traditional Japanese tattooing. With a unique display designed by Fulbeck to reference the craft’s roots in ukiyo-e and other Japanese art forms, the exhibition showcases both the splendor and the intricacy of modern tattooing. Curated by master tattoo artist and author Takahiro Kitamura, the exhibition presents the work of seven internationally-acclaimed Japanese-style tattoo artists: Horishiki (Chris Brand), Horitaka, Horitomo, Junii, Miyazo, Shige, and Yokohama Horiken.

Common Ground: The Heart of Community
Ongoing
Incorporating hundreds of objects, documents, and photographs collected by JANM, this exhibition chronicles 130 years of Japanese American history, from the early days of the Issei pioneers through the World War II incarceration to the present.

About the Japanese American National Museum (JANM)

Established in 1985, the Japanese American National Museum promotes understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japanese American experience. Located in the historic Little Tokyo district of downtown Los Angeles, JANM is a hybrid institution that straddles traditional museum categories and strives to provide a voice for Japanese Americans as well as a forum that enables all people to explore their own heritage and culture. Since opening to the public, JANM has presented over 70 exhibitions onsite and traveled 6 of its exhibitions to over 30 locations, including the Smithsonian Institution and the Ellis Island Museum in the United States, and several leading cultural museums in Japan and South America.

JANM is located at 100 N. Central Ave., Los Angeles. Museum hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday from noon to 8 p.m. Admission is $9 adults, $5 students and seniors, free for members and children under age five. Admission is free to everyone on Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and every third Thursday of the month from noon to 8 p.m. Closed Mondays, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. For more information visit janm.org or call 213.625.0414.