Topaz Collages, a mixed media exhbit by Jeanie Kashima

Topaz Collages, a mixed media exhbit by Jeanie Kashima

by | Dec 31, 2023 | Classes & Events, Other News

TOPAZ COLLAGES: One Family’s Experience

By Jeanie Kashima

Exhibit Dates: January 22 to March 30, 2024

J-Sei Gallery Hours: MWF 10-1, TuTh 1-5

A series of collages emerged from family photos as artist Jeanie Kashima reflected on her early years, born in the Topaz concentration camp in Utah. After her mother Amy Takaki passed away at the age of 104 years, Kashima began work on her collages. While many do not have photos from their early years behind barbed wire, the Takaki family has a set of photos that document their journey and inspired the new work. 

In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which ordered 120,000 Japanese Americans to be forcibly removed from their homes to the interior of the United States. Taken from their spacious and comfortable home in Berkeley, the Takaki family was forced to adapt to living in horse stalls at the Tanforan Race Track. After several months, they were taken by train to Delta, Utah. Jeanie Takaki was the first baby born in the Topaz concentration camp and spent her formative years living with her family in the arid desert until 1945.

Topaz Collages provide a visceral landscape of one family’s experience of wartime incarceration.

ARTIST TALK with Jeanie Kashima – Sat, March 16, 2 pm

Hear from textile artist Jeanie Kashima on her inspiration and creative process in making Topaz Collages.  Enjoy refreshments and celebrate this moving and captivating story and visual expression.  RSVP for artist talk.

 

Taste of Mokuhanga: Japanese Woodblock Print

Taste of Mokuhanga: Japanese Woodblock Print

by | Dec 31, 2023 | Classes & Events

Taste of Mokuhanga: Japanese Woodblock Print Workshop

Saturday, February 3rd, Friday, February 23rd, and Sunday, February 25th — Workshops are FULL, Waiting list only.

Join us for a 3-hour introductory Japanese Woodblock Print workshop. Participants will be introduced to the art of Japanese woodblock printing called Ukiyo-E technique. Tomoko Murakami, a Japanese-born printmaking artist, will demonstrate the carving and printing processes. Participants will create small Ukiyo-E prints while learning to carve their woodblocks! All materials are provided, and all levels are welcome.  Class fee: $45 (includes materials)

RSVP to jill@j-sei.org with “woodblock” in the subject line and indicate your preferred date.

New Classes at J-Sei begin in February

New Classes at J-Sei begin in February

by | Dec 30, 2023 | Classes & Events, Other News

As we continue to encourage people to join us at J-Sei, we are excited to offer the following new or renewed classes, beginning in February.

Beginning Watercolor Painting

Mondays, 10 to 12  — CLASS IS FULL.  Waiting list only.

Enjoy the light touch of the brush on paper transforming images stroke by stroke. Whether you’ve taken class before or you are trying it for the first time, this class provides space for your artistic expression. Due to popular demand, we are adding a class time to explore Watercolor Painting with renowned Bay Area artist Wendy Yoshimura who has been teaching seniors for over 30 years. Suggested donation: $32 for 4 classes; or $10 drop-in.  RSVP to jill@j-sei.org.

Beginning Ukulele

Tuesdays, 12:30-1:30

The joy of music is good for the soul. Learn and practice the basics of ukulele, from chords to strumming, and fine-tuning rhythm and voice. We offer this beginning class in 8-week sessions. Susan Sullivan has been teaching ukulele at J-Sei for many years. She invites you to join in her love of music.  Suggested donation: $55/session, or $8 drop-in. RSVP to karol@j-sei.org

New Beginning Ukulele Class

New Beginning Ukulele Class

by | Dec 30, 2023 | Classes & Events

Beginning Ukulele

Tuesdays, 12:45-1:45

The joy of music is good for the soul. Learn and practice the basics of ukulele, from chords to strumming, and fine-tuning rhythm and voice. We offer this beginning class in 8-week sessions. Susan Sullivan has been teaching ukulele at J-Sei for many years. She invites you to join in her love of music.  Suggested donation: $28/for 4 classes, or $8 drop-in. RSVP to jill@j-sei.org

Long-Overdue Reparations for African Americans

Long-Overdue Reparations for African Americans

by | Dec 28, 2023 | Classes & Events

Long-Overdue Reparations for African Americans: Why Japanese Americans and AAPI’s Should Care – Saturday, Feb 10, 2 to 4 pm (Hybrid)

 Don Tamaki, who served on the 9-member California Reparations Task Force, will make the case that the racial pathology that resulted in the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans has its origins in the cultural values, policies, and laws that propped up slavery and its aftermath. Four months after the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, which triggered the largest protests in U.S. history, the California Legislature passed AB 3121 creating the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans.

 The Task Force convened in June of 2021, and on June 29, 2023 its ground-breaking 1,100 page Final Report was presented to the Legislature.  The Final Report traces the harm of 246 years of slavery, 90 years of racial segregation after slavery ended, and decades more of continuing discrimination—resulting in today’s outcomes.  

 “California’s history is rife with instances of how anti-Black animus so easily morphed to target other people of color too. Decades after California passed Fugitive Slave Laws and adopted Jim Crow policies, the rounding up of Japanese American families was so normal as to be beyond question.”  Don Tamaki is a Senior Counsel at Minami Tamaki LLP, and participated on the legal team that reopened Korematsu v. the United States. 

Co-presented by Friends of Topaz Museum. RSVP at http://tinyurl.com/long-overdue