The Japanese American National Museum Names Directors for the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy at JANM and the Watase Media Arts Center

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) has appointed James E. Herr as the new director of the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy at JANM and Tadashi Nakamura as the new director of the Museum’s Frank H. Watase Media Arts Center. 

Herr brings over twenty years in philanthropic and nonprofit management to his work. Previously, he was a program officer at the Annenberg Foundation, a program officer at the California Community Foundation, the senior manager of Global Corporate Citizenship for the Boeing Company, the manager of Corporate Social Responsibility at Sony Pictures Entertainment, and the director of diversity at Film Independent. He participated in the GCS Los Angeles Korean Leadership Exchange program and was selected as an American Leaders of Change Fellow through National Urban Fellows.

“My work in the region over the last twenty years has centered on the arts, particularly from the lens of the Asian Pacific Islander experience. As a grantmaker, I had the good fortune to support a wide variety of community-based arts organizations and witnessed first hand their impact on civic engagement and social justice issues. As a board member of a number of arts and civic organizations, I helped to create opportunities for greater inclusion of our artists and our stories.  I know that by harnessing the dynamic power of the arts to reflect, engage, and inspire, we can ensure that our API communities—and all underserved and marginalized communities—feel empowered to participate in our democracy. In fact, our democracy depends on this participation,” said Herr.

Nakamura is an Emmy award-winning director and was named one of CNN’s “Young People Who Rock” for being the youngest filmmaker at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and one of the “Top Rising Asian American Directors” on IMDb. His latest film, Mele Murals, was broadcasted on PBS and Al Jazeera. His previous film, Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings, was broadcasted nationally on PBS and won the 2013 Gotham Independent Film Audience Award. His parents, JANM Chief Curator Karen Ishizuka and “the Godfather of Asian American media,” Robert Nakamura, created the Frank H. Watase Media Arts Center at JANM in 1997.

“It's a huge privilege to be able to continue the work that my parents, John Esaki, and Akira Boch have built over the years at the Watase Media Arts Center. It's a strong legacy that I'm proud to carry on. I see this opportunity as an organic continuation of my work as a filmmaker over the last twenty years. We have a lot of exciting projects in the works that document both historical and present day Japanese American stories. It's a true privilege to work with the JANM staff and the Little Tokyo community to share these stories with the world!” said Nakamura.

“Jim and Tad bring exactly the expertise and experience we need to implement a strong vision for the future of the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy at JANM and the Watase Media Arts Center respectively. I couldn’t be more thrilled that they have joined us,” said Ann Burroughs, President and CEO.

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About the Japanese American National Museum (JANM)

Established in 1985, JANM 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 in 1992, JANM has presented over 70 exhibitions onsite while traveling 17 exhibits to venues such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Ellis Island Museum in the United States, and to several leading cultural museums in Japan and South America. For more information, visit janm.org or follow us on social media @jamuseum.