JANM’S NEXT TARGET FREE FAMILY SATURDAY OFFERS BASEBALL-THEMED ACTIVITIES

The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) will continue its popular Target Free Family Saturdays series on May 10, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission to the museum is free all day, giving families the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities as well as view current exhibitions. May’s Target Free Family Saturday will be a celebration of JANM’s Dodgers: Brotherhood of the Game exhibition. Baseball-themed games, crafts, and educational activities organized by the museum will be available for the whole family.

In addition, May 10 is photo and video capture day for “A Day in the Life of Asian Pacific America,” a crowd-sourced online exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and Flickr. JANM encourages its Target Free Family Saturday visitors to participate by uploading their own photos and videos to the #LifeAPA Flickr group. In addition, JANM will participate as an institution by utilizing a photographer and a videographer to document the day and uploading selected content under the museum’s name. JANM is a longtime affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution; in 2013, the museum hosted three of its traveling exhibitions.

The complete event schedule for May 10 follows.

All-Day Activities:

• Valley Sports Cards, Memorabilia & Picture Framing will offer free baseball card appraisals. Baseball memorabilia will also be available for purchase.


• Milk Can Toss, Baseball Throw, T-Ball Challenge and other sports-themed carnival games will be on site.


• Kids’ crafts stations will feature activities such as baseball cap decorating (while supplies last), paper puppet making, and origami.


• Visitors will be encouraged to participate in “A Day in the Life of Asian Pacific America,” sponsored by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and Flickr. Individuals can take their own photos and videos while at the museum and upload them to the #LifeAPA Flickr group, which may then be featured in an online exhibition. For complete instructions, see smithsonianapa.org/life2014.

Scheduled activities:

• 11:30 a.m./1 p.m.: Exhibition curators Mark Langill (Dodgers Publications Editor and Team Historian) and Koji Steven Sakai (JANM Programs Manager) will lead family-friendly tours of Dodgers: Brotherhood of the Game. Limited to 30 participants for each tour.


• 11:30 a.m./1 p.m./2:30 p.m.: Screenings of The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), a biographical film about the first African American Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson stars as himself.


• 2 p.m.: Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Mother’s Day weekend will be celebrated with three new writers—April Naoko Heck, Amarnath Ravva, and Nicky Sa-eun Schildkraut—reading from their debut publications, which grapple with the ties formed by family, community and history. A discussion and book signing will follow the readings.

NOW ON VIEW AT JANM:

Dodgers: Brotherhood of the Game
Through September 14, 2014
From their original roots in Brooklyn to their current residency in Los Angeles, the Dodgers are trailblazers in the world of sports, on and off the field. The franchise is dedicated to supporting a culture of winning baseball; providing a first-class, family-friendly experience at Dodger Stadium; and maintaining strong partnerships in the community. 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 artistry of traditional Japanese tattooing. Curated by Takahiro Kitamura, the exhibition features the work of seven internationally-acclaimed Japanese tattoo artists: Chris Horishiki Brand, Horitaka, Horitomo, Miyazo, Shige, Junii and Yokohama Horiken. Perseverance includes uniquely displayed life-sized photographs by Fulbeck.

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 by Bill Manbo during his incarceration at the Heart Mountain concentration camp in Wyoming in 1943 and 1944. It shatters preconceptions about this episode of injustice by showing it in vivid and beautiful color.

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.