Exhibitions
Minidoka on My Mind: Paintings and Prints by Roger Shimomura
April 5 - July 17, 2016
“Since 2006 I have done over 70 paintings and 50 prints that are based upon the incarceration camp experience during WWII, when over 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast were sent off to live in tar paper barracks, hemmed in behind barbed wire fences, surrounded by guard towers with machine guns pointed in. These camps were situated in deserts and lava fields in ten of the most desolate locations in the Western United States. I was a child of 2-5 years of age and all of my earliest recollections of life are from Camp Minidoka, Idaho.
This exhibition should serve as a reminder that during times of international crises, our government seems to consistently lose its memory regarding past mistakes.”
Roger Shimomura’s paintings, prints, and theatre pieces address sociopolitical issues of ethnicity. He was born in Seattle, Washington and spent two years of his early childhood in Minidoka, Idaho, one of 10 concentration camps for Japanese Americans during WWII. During his career as an artist and teacher he has received numerous prestigious awards. Art works by Shimomura are in the permanent collections of over ninety museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution.
Related Programs
All programs take place at the Beach Museum of Art and are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
Thursday, April 7, 5 p.m.
Opening Reception for “Behind the Glass Eye: Photographs by Toyo Miyatake” and “Minidoka on My Mind: Paintings and Prints by Roger Shimomura”
Guest curators of “Behind the Glass Eye,” Hirokazu Kosaka and Alan Miyatake, will make brief remarks, and Kosaka, a master of Japanese archery, or kyudo, will perform an arrow ceremony in honor of all those affected by the Alien Registration Act of 1940. Musical performances highlighting the artistic and social connections among American artists affected by World War II and its aftermath will be offered.
Saturday, April 9, 2016, 2 p.m., Leadership Studies Building, Town Hall (Room 114)
You People: Mistrust of the Other
Inspired by the exhibitions “Behind the Glass Eye” and “Minidoka on My Mind," this forum offers an opportunity to unpack moments in American history when entire ethnic groups were marginalized and classified as inferior and/or dangerous by the mainstream population. Join a panel of scholars and artists for an informed discussion of the lessons we can learn from history, and participate in a dialogue about racial profiling and stereotyping, then and now. Panelists include Roger Shimomura, artist and University of Kansas professor emeritus; Dr. Steven Dandaneau, vice provost for undergraduate studies, Kansas State University; and Hirokazu Kosaka, guest curator of “Behind the Glass Eye.” Moderated by Dr. Zelia Wiley, interim associate provost for diversity, Kansas State University.
Thursday, April 14, 5:30 p.m. , Pelton Gallery
Saxophone Expressions: An Exploration of Musical Turmoil
Thursday, April 21, 5:30 p.m., Pelton Gallery
Hip Hop Dance Workshop
Workshop fee $5.00. Advance registration required, call 785-532-7718 or email beachart@k-state.edu.
Optional Post-Workshop Photo Shoot, 7-8 p.m.
Thursday, May 5, 5:30 p.m., UMB Theater
Film Screening: The Cats of Mirikitani (2006), with director Linda Hattendorf