"Finding Family Stories" Arts Partnership Project Exhibit to Open in Three California Museums

The Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles; Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles; and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara, present Finding Family Stories, (FFS) Arts Partnership Project, opening Thursday, January 22, 1998; Friday, January 30, 1998; and Friday, February 6, 1998, respectively. Initiated by the Japanese American National Museum in 1995 and funded in part by The James Irvine Foundation, Finding Family Stories, was originated to foster a dialogue among the varied communities that shape California. This year’s three concurrent exhibitions will highlight stories on the Japanese American, Jewish American and California Indian communities, providing audiences with a diverse perspective on self, family and community. Past Finding Family Stories partners include the Korean American Museum, the Watts Towers Arts Center, and Plaza de la Raza.

This year’s featured artists are Joyce Dallas, Aaron Glass, Eddy Kurushima, Frank LaPena, Judith A. Lowry, and Kim Yasuda.

The Finding Family Stories video project, Reflections, will be shown at each site accompanying the artist exhibitions. Produced by L. Frank Manriquez, Stephanie Friedberg, and Thomas Boon Koo, the video is a meditation on issues related to identity, homeland, immigration, and language in the Japanese American, Jewish American, and California Indian communities.

The Skirball Cultural Center, open to the public since April 1996, was founded to interpret the American Jewish experience, to nurture American Jewish identity, and to strengthen American Society. The Center offers a wide range of permanent and temporary exhibits; concerts; lectures; performances; readings; symposia; film and video screenings, and educational offerings for adults and children. The Skirball Cultural Center is located at 2701 North Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. For more information call the Cultural Center at 310.440.4500.

For more than 30 years, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History has worked with the Chumash Indian Elders to share the story of the Chumash community. Museum programming also features speakers, dancers, and storytelling by other California Indian groups including the Maidu, Cahuilla, Pomo, Tachi-Yokuts, Wintu, and Tolowa. The Museum is located at 2559 Puesta del Sol Road in Santa Barbara. For more information call the Museum at 805.682.4711 x348.

The Japanese American National Museum, incorporated in 1985, opened the doors to its historic Phase I building in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo in May of 1992. The Museum is dedicated to preserving and telling the Japanese American story as an integral part of United States history. The institution serves a national and international audience by offering a variety of educational and public programs, exhibitions and resource materials. The Museum is located at 369 E. First Street in the historic Little Tokyo district of Los Angeles. For more information call the Museum at 213.625.0414.