On Saturday October 19th, JANM members were invited to an exclusive opportunity with Lela Lee, the author and artist of the web comic book series Angry Little Girls, that explores stereotypes of genders and races.
Members were able to spend an hour talking to Lela Lee before joining her in a public discussion on her comics and their impact on Asian Americans and beyond. The Meet & Greet was an intimate event, where each member was able to spend quality time getting to know Lela Lee by conversing with her and asking her a variety of questions.
Lela Lee excitedly converses with JANM members in an exclusive Meet & Greet.
Both members and Lela had an enjoyable time discussing topics ranging from Lee’s college experiences, to her career today. It was also a great opportunity for JANM members to get to know each other over tea and delicious cupcakes from Hotcakes Bakes!
Check out these photos from the Meet & Greet and Lela Lee’s presentation on Angry Little Girls!
A pop-up shop, featuring all things “Angry Little Girls”, was set up by the JANM Store especially for the event.
Lela Lee mixes and mingles with JANM members at her Meet & Greet.
Members get to know Lela Lee and fellow JANM members over tea and delicious cupcakes from Hotcakes Bakes.
Lela Lee gives an exclusive and insightful presentation on “Angry Little Girls” in the Tateuchi Democracy Forum.
Lela Lee signs “Angry Little Girls” books for her fans.
If you don’t have any of Lela Lee’s books, they are available for sale at the Museum Store along with other “Angry Little Girls” merchandise!
Photo Credits: Tsuneo Takasugi and Vicky Murakami-Tsuda
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Don’t miss out on exclusive member events! Become a JANM member and you help ensure that the Museum continues its tradition of excellence in producing exhibitions, public programs, publications, and educational materials. Your support will also come with numerous benefits, such as invitations to exclusive membership events! To learn more about membership please visit: www.janm.org/membership/
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Coming up Thanksgiving weekend…
Member Appreciation Days
Friday-Sunday, November 29-30 & December 1, 2013
RECIPROCAL FREE ADMISSION AND 20% STORE DISCOUNTS AT 17 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INSTITUTIONS & JANMSTORE.COM!
Enjoy autumn-themed crafts and activities at our November Target Free Family Saturday!
Join us this weekend for our Target Free Family Saturdays event on November 9th from 11am to 4pm! The day will feature a variety of autumn-themed crafts and activities, in addition to celebrating Veterans Day with the Go For Broke National Education Center.
Assemble your own Festive Fall Salad with Kidding Around the Kitchen!
The day will start at 11am with Kidding Around the Kitchen, as they will lead a fabulous make-it-yourself Festive Fall Salad, using the best that fall harvest has to offer. Also beginning at 11am will be a Comic Book Lounge, where guests can relax and read comic books in celebration of the Marvels and Monsters exhibition.
At 1:30pm (and again at 2:30pm) you can join in on an energetic drum circle by playing on a drum (no experience necessary)! Then at 3pm, join us for a reading of Thanksgiving at Obaachan’s with author Janet Mitsui Brown. Then stick around to decorate your own furoshiki (wrapping cloth) complete with your own mini omanju (traditional confection) to snack on!
Meet Japanese American WWII veterans at the Go For Broke Monument!
Most importantly, don’t forget to visit Go For Broke at their Monument, just outside of the National Museum. Not only can you view the monument, but there will be lots of family-friendly activities. You can even get baseball-style cards signed by Japanese American WWII Veterans!
Have Japanese American WWII veterans sign their baseball cards for you at the Go For Broke monument!
This Saturday’s Target Free Family Saturday is not limited to these activities, but will feature even more FREE crafts and activities ALL DAY! Including a camoflouge-print jump house in honor of Veterans Day, Ruthie’s Origami Corner, coloring, and more!
Photo Credits: Russell Kitagawa, Richard Murakami, Tsuneo Takasugi, Caroline Jung, and Esther Shin
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Be sure to check out Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics: 1942-1986, on view through February 9, 2014. Marvels & Monsters illustrates how evolving racial and cultural archetypes defined America’s perceptions of Asians through a selection of images from comic books representing four turbulent decades. For more information please visit: janm.org/marvels-monsters
For the full schedule and updates on the November Target Free Family Saturday (or to see what’s coming up for the December event), visit: janm.org/target.
The night began with a Members Gallery Talk that took place half an hour before the exhibition’s Preview Reception. The Members Gallery Talk allowed JANM members to take an exciting and intimate gallery tour with curator Jeff Yang.
The Preview Reception was free and open to the public with delicious food from Esaan Thai and free drinks throughout the night.
The evening continued with welcoming and opening remarks from the President & CEO of JANM, Dr. Greg Kimura; Chair of the JANM Board of Trustees, Mr. Gordon Yamate; YPN President, Kira Teshima; Office & Gallery Manager from NYU’sAsian Pacific American Institute, Ruby Gomez; and Marvels & Monsters curator, Jeff Yang.
The highlight of the night was Marvels & Monsters: Unbound—a showcase of short performances inspired by the new exhibition. The showcase commemorated the National Museum’s West Coast premiere of Marvels & Monsters by rethinking, subverting, deconstructing, or satirizing the eight Asian pop culture archetypes depicted in this exhibition.
Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986 is on display at JANM through February 9, 2014. For more information about the exhibition, visit janm.org/marvels-monsters.
Check out these photos from the Marvels & Monsters Preview Reception!
JANM President & CEO, Dr. Greg Kimura, welcomes guests to the “Marvels & Monsters” Preview Reception
Chair of the JANM Board of Trustees, Mr. Gordon Yamate, makes a few opening remarks.
Kira Teshima, President of the JANM Young Professionals Network Board, shares a few words about YPN, hosts for the Marvels & Monsters Preview Reception.
Office and Gallery Manager of NYU’s Asian Pacific American Institute, Ruby Gomez, shares a few words about Marvels & Monsters.
Monsters & Marvels curator Jeff Yang shares his excitement about the opening at JANM, and some insight into the exhibition itself.
Maritess Zurbano kicks off the showcase with “Magical Girl” – written and performed by Zurbano herself.
Carin Chea, Victor Chi, and Robert Covarrubias perform in “Jumper” – a performance written by Chea and inspired by the archetype, “The Alien”.
Written by Joey Damiano, and performed by Greg Watanabe, “The Audition” was inspired by the archetype, “The Brute”.
Marcus Choi and Jon Jon Briones perform the musical number, “Evil is a Yellow Face” – a song written by Mark Brown that portrays “The Manipulator” archetype.
Grace Li and Steven Chan perform in “Overwrite”, a performance written by Robert Allison and inspired by the archetype, “The Brain”.
Harrison Pak performs in “X-Wings of Defeat,” written by Raymond Hui.
“Cute Asian Girl” is written and performed by Deanna Myers. This performance is inspired by the archetype, “The Temptress”
Maritess Zurbana closes out the showcase with her performance of “Tommy the Adequate”
After the showcase, the writers of the winning pieces sit down with Jeff Yang for a Q&A session.
The actors and actresses join the writers for the Q&A session.
Photo credits: Tsuneo Takasugi
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Our next exhibition opens next week. Go For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts chronicles the history of Japanese American Nisei soldiers from the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and Military Intelligence Service who served during World War II to prove their loyalty to the nation that had disowned them.
The exhibition opens next Tuesday, November 12, but if you’re a current JANM member, join us for a special Member Preview this Sunday, November 10, 2PM – 4PM. See the exhibition before it opens to the public and hear remarks by Eric Saul, Director, Japanese American Wartime History Project. To RSVP, contact specialevents@janm.org or 213.625.0414 x2222.
Earlier this week, la.cityvoter.com announced that the Japanese American National Museum was voted “Best Museum” on the 2013 Los Angeles Hot List. JANM was runner up for Best Museum in 2011 and 2012, but this year, LA voters placed JANM on top of 38 other great museums—including institutions like the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the L.A. County Museum of Art—for the number one spot!
Public Programs, such as October’s comics-themed Target Free Family Saturday, helped JANM reach the #1 spot on LA’s HOTLIST!
JANM was voted not only for its unique exhibitions, but for it’s public programs and exceptional staff and volunteers as well!
To all of those who voted for JANM, thank you so much! Also, thank you to our visitors, Museum members, staff, and dedicated volunteers for making JANM an amazing and vibrant institution!
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Fall is a great time to check out the Museum, be sure to view our exciting exhibitions and upcoming public programs:
Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986 is now open! Come view a selection of images from comic books representing four turbulent decades. This exhibition illustrates how evolving racial and cultural archetypes defined America’s perceptions of Asians. For more information please visit: janm.org/marvels-monsters
Mark your calendars for the upcoming exhibition, Go For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts, opening on November 12, 2013. This exhibition chronicles the resilience and bravery of WWII Nisei soldiers both on and off the battlefield. For more information and updates please visit: janm.org/goforbroke
Stop by the Museum for November’s Target Free Family Saturdays: Awesome Autumn from 11AM – 4PM on November 9th! We’ll have a variety of FREE activities including crafts, origami, a bounce house, a reading of Thanksgiving atObaachan’s with author Janet Mitsui Brown, and more! For details, please visit: janm.org/target
The day was jam-packed with loads of entertainment and activities! From a guided Gallery Tour with curator Jeff Yang, to a Photo Booth that snapped photos of guests in their costumes, there were activities that took place all day for people of all ages and interests! Thanks to all the visitors who joined us, and a BIG “Thank you” to every staff member and volunteer for helping!
Our November Target Free Family Saturdays: Awesome Autumn is next weekend! It’s FREE all day and will take place on November 9th from 11AM – 4PM. For details: janm.org/target
Check out these photos from the October Target Free Family Saturdays event!
[Click on the photos to see full images]
Kidding Around the Kitchen inspired guests to choose and cut up their own trail mix.
Kidding Around the Kitchen leads children, teens, and adults in making their own healthy popcorn trail mix.
Carefully decorating a butterfly-shaped mask.
Showing off a one-of-a-kind mask!
JANM’s School Programs Developer, Lynn, busily assists and leads guests in creating their own superhero capes.
“Superboy” decorates his personal cape.
Even toddlers can decorate their own capes with the help of their parents!
Children pose as a superhero with their masks and capes, and can have their photo captured and printed.
WWII veteran and JANM docent, Hitoshi, transforms himself into a superhero!
Jeff Yang worked with artist Jeremy Arambulo in an interactive activity where they lead the audience in collaboratively creating an original comic-book superhero character!
Artist A.L. Baroza joined Jeff Yang in collaborating with the audience to “Build a Villain”.
Jeff Yang signs copies of the “Secret Identities” anthology.
A group of buddies team up to take down villains in superhero video games brought to JANM by GameTruck.
A caricature artist from Cartoon Slinger is busy at work turning children into comic-book characters!
Siblings mask their identities with their customized masks and capes, and pose with their caricatures.
“Supergirl” and “Superboy” pose for the camera with their caricatures.
Meet Lela Lee, author and artist of the web comic book series Angry Little Girls, at the Japanese American National Museum!
Lela Lee, cultural phenom and entrepreneur, was just an undergraduate at UC Berkeley when she decided to let off some steam by creating the character of Kim, a no-nonsense, surly, and vocal Asian American female.
Through her characters of Kim, Deborah, Maria, Wanda, Xyla, Pat, and Bruce, Lela delivers biting comebacks from the mouths of those who are usually on the receiving end of sexist or racist comments.
Meet the author who skewers pop culture and stereotypes in all her books, short films, comic book series, and merchandise. Take advantage of your chance to hear her in person.
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EXCLUSIVE FOR JANM MEMBERS ONLY!
Meet and Greet with Lela Lee
Saturday, October 19th • 1 PM
Intimate dessert reception with Lela Lee for JANM members. Please RSVP at specialevents@janm.org or 213.830.5657.
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FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
A Conversation with Lela Lee
Saturday, October 19th • 2 PM
The author and artist will discuss her comics. Free with paid Museum admission.
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Kim, the original Angry Asian Girl, is available in a plush doll!
Need a gift for a special angry girl?
Lela Lee’s Angry Little Girls books are available through our award-winning Museum Store—Angry Little Girls, Still Angry Little Girls, Angry Little Girls in Love, and Fairy Tales for Angry Little Girls are sure to strike a humorous chord!
These programs are presented in conjunction with Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986 on view at JANM through February 9, 2014. For more information about this exhibition and related public programs, visit janm.org/marvels-monsters.
What happens when a Museum changes exhibitions? Why is the area cordoned off so we can’t see what is going on inside? Common questions posed by National Museum visitors when they meet the Collections Management team and realize we are part of the select group that is behind the blacked out door during exhibition changes.
Here are a few images to help you glimpse behind the door!
(click to see the full images)
Exhibitions arrive in large wooden crates. We receive them, open and inventory them, and prepare them for the gallery.
Artifacts are unpacked carefully after they acclimate to the Museum. Collections Staff do detailed reports as to their condition and take photographs before they can be exhibited.
Artifacts are selected and installed carefully in the exhibition cases. Here, a Collections Staff member is installing a Li’l Neebo cartoon from America’s concentration camps.
Special mounts are created for individual artifacts before installation.
Every inch is measured and artifact secured
And staff never stop to take a break and mess around with the props…
Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986
October 12, 2013 – February 9, 2014
Through a selection of images from comic books representing four turbulent decades, Marvels & Monsters illustrates how evolving racial and cultural archetypes defined America’s perceptions of Asians. For more information >>
Comics from the William Wu Collection at the Fales Library at NYU. Collections staff are preparing them for display.
In preparation for the opening of Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986, Collections staff received 38 special collections comic books from the Fales Library at NYU. The comics have arrived!
Comics featured include a Green Hornet from 1944, Yellow Claw from 1956, Wonder Woman from 1956, Justice League of America from 1967, Iron Man from 1969, Captain America from 1970, Batman from 1972, and many, many more!
The comics were carried by Art Handlers from New York to Los Angeles.
Don’t miss out on the exhibition opening on Thursday, October 10th at 6 p.m. or the FREE fun-filled Target FREE Family Saturdays event on Saturday, October 12th from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Comic from the Tulean Dispatch. This First Person Narrative of Americas Concentration Camps is highlighted in Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986
As the incoming Collections Manager at the Japanese American National Museum, I am amazed by the sheer depth of artifacts and artworks that comprise the Japanese American experience. Having admired the institution’s mission and values from an outside perspective, I am happy to become part of the thriving community that is “behind the house” in the collections at JANM.
It is the goal of the Collections Management and Access Unit (CMA) to preserve the collections for future generations and to utilize them to their fullest potential as ambassadors and storytellers for the Museum—for the collections are the cornerstone of the Museum. One wonderful way to achieve this potential is to use our temporary exhibitions as an entryway into exploring our own collections.
We are excited to have the opportunity to share some of JANM’s collection alongside the traveling exhibition, Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986, which comes to us from the NYU Fales Library & Special Collections. CMA and Education Staff realized the potential of pairing our collection of historical artifacts to enhance the exhibition in an unexpected way.
Chris Ishii’s Li’l Neebo (Little Nisei Boy) reading a Superman comic inside his book. Ishii, who once was an artist for Disney, started Li’l Neebo while at the Santa Anita Pacemaker newspaper, and continued at the Granada Pioneer. His first person narratives provide a glimpse into America’s Concentration Camps.
It is interesting to contemplate the idea that artist Chris Ishii never imagined Li’l Neebo sharing gallery space with Wonder Woman! A Miss Breed letter and Mine Okubo drawing in conversation with each other about the shared theme of comic books… who would’ve guessed?
Marvels & Monsters illustrates Asians and Asian Americans through racial and cultural archetypes and when paired with first person Japanese American narratives of concentration camp life told through comics, a differing perspective is shared. Through the cartoons of artist Chris Ishii’s Li’l Neebo and George Akimoto’s Lil Dan’l, artwork by Mine Okubo, and letters from young inmates to librarian Clara Breed, Museum visitors will glimpse how comics were used to express emotion and to retain a sense of normalcy in a less than ideal situation. These images, juxtaposed with the stereotypical Asian themes in U.S. comics, provide a place for reflection on the impact and power of storytelling through comics and the way in which this popular medium has shaped perceptions of history.
It is through collaborations such as these that the importance of the collections at JANM, through the stories and first person experiences of the Issei and Nisei generation, are linked to contemporary society.
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Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986 will be on display at the Japanese American National Museum from October 12, 2013 – February 9, 2014. For more information about the exhibition and related public programs, visit: janm.org/marvels-monsters
Margaret Zachow Wetherbee is the new Collections Manager at the Japanese American National Museum.
Zap! Pow! Bam! Sounds like our comics-themed Target Free Family Saturday is coming up!
Visit JANM on October 12th from 11AM – 4PM to celebrate the opening of the exhibition, Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986, with comics-themed crafts and activities!
Make your own superhero cape and mask!
JANM has planned an action packed day!
From assembling your own popcorn snack with Kidding Around the Kitchen, to making your own superhero costume and capturing it in a photo booth, there are activities planned for kids of all ages and interests. You’ll even be able to watch vintage Japanese anime at its earliest roots from the 1920s and 1930s!
Make sure to catch a special Marvels & MonstersGallery Talk at 11:30am by Jeff Yang, the curator of the exhibition. You won’t want to miss Jeff Yang share special insight into the creation of Marvels & Monsters!
Join curator, Jeff Yang, for a special Gallery Talk on the exhibition, Marvels & Monsters!
There will be an interactive activity shortly after the Gallery Talk where you can “Build a Hero” at 12PM, or “Build a Villain” at 2:30PM.
Jeff Yang will lead the audience in collaboratively creating an ORIGINAL comic book super-character who’ll be drawn in real time by comic artists from the Secret Identities and Shattered anthologies! There will also be a book signing after each of these sessions!
Batman Caricature by Cartoon Slinger
Don’t leave the Museum before getting a chance to turn yourself into a comic-book character with a caricature drawn by Cartoon Slinger! (*for children only, line ends at 2:30pm)
Make sure you top off your day by teaming up with your buddies to take down villains in superhero video games brought to you by Game Truck!
On Saturday October 19th, JANM members were invited to an exclusive opportunity with Lela Lee, the author and artist of the web comic book series Angry Little Girls, that explores stereotypes of genders and races.
