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AnonymousI remember the two or three times I’ve been to this museum. The last was a few months ago for a free event. Before that I attended a Korean (KAFE) workshop. It’s a beautiful location, small, but it never stood out as a place to come back to again and again. From their website, I see that this museum has a lot to offer. Teacher resources and downloads, field trip opportunities, and daily classes in activities such as yoga, brush painting, and music. The website also has an online feature to explore their collection
There is always pros and cons to a change from an independent museum to one from a large private university. From the L.A. Times article I see that there is a lot of good things coming form retrofitting the building, better climate control rooms, and authenticity checks on artifacts. With the brand name from USC, the museum is already getting a lot of attention, and this publicity is a good thing. This year I went to the Chinese New Year’s celebration. It was a lot of fun for the family with crafts, food, and gifts. If the direction of the museum is to promote more visits with events such as that one, I can see myself going back.
As I was reading the Pasadena Star news article, I became very interesting in the type of artwork that we are going to see at the museum. I’m glad they are allowing these events to also be part of the Free Sundays, I know the goal is to get funding from members, it’s a business after all, but getting the word out to the public and generating interest, such as with Manga art classes, dances, and music, will get people in the door and hopefully coming back as paying customers.
AnonymousI have to admit this is a hidden gem of a museum. For such a small place I was impressed with the variety and quality of pieces on display.
AnonymousThe use of the traditional Japanese Crest to crete brand identity was a creative way to incorporate traditional Japanese Art into contemporary style. This has really impacted the west because there is a game app in which you have to identify the crest/symbols popular brands/companies.
AnonymousThis exhibit gave insight into a talented artist who not only used typography (not topography, I misheard that explanation), but also served as a government commissioned artist whose work helped streamline Japanese literacy post WWII.
As with all our sessions, we continuously look to tailor our experiences to our particular grade level and subject matter. In my U.S. history curriculum we cover government commissioned artists who seek to capture the human suffering of the Great Depression through photography. We also observe the use of government commissioned artists with the New Deal in an effort to reinvigorate the economy.
I believe I can use this cultural comparison to open up a discussion of what role artists play in our society, but primarily what role the government has in ensuring that a society is literate (reference to Ikko Tanaka) and revitalizing the economy (New Deal, etc.) through the use of artwork. HELLO, common core!
AnonymousThis is my first time at the museum and even though I read about the history of the building prior to my visit words do not do the tranquility justice. That being said, I was drawn to the Ikko Tanaka exhibit, particularly Cathy's discussion about Tanaka's role in the standardization of the Japanese text to create a literate populace in post-WWII modern Japan. My first unit is an adaptation of Linda Christensen's unit called Power and Language published in Teaching for Joy and Justice (Rethinking Schools). This unit is under construction to become part of our 10th grade service learning project, which is an interdisciplinary semester long project that each grade level participates in at our school. The World History teacher and I are primary collaborator's for this service learning project and I'm looking for resources to introduce students to different cultural experiences with language. Right now I have short narrative pieces about native Hawaiian experiences with pidgin, Spanglish experiences in Texas, and Bantu Swahili experiences in Kenya (to name a few) taken directly from Christensen's compilation of stories in her unit. Now that I've worked with the unit for two years, I want to integrate texts and images to represent the Asian perspective. Prior to today I was limiting myself to narrative, but now I'm thinking about visual images. Another aspect of today that struck me was when Cathy spoke of the artist's brushstroke in traditional Japanese and Chinese landscapes being distinct to the artist. I'm just thinking right now so any suggestion are welcome! Originally I was contemplating an essential question to the unit about standardized language. The unit challenges standardization of a living language, so it would be interesting to inquire why institutions would promote literacy by standardizing language. Examining the push pull factors of how standardization spreads literacy, but hierarchical (racial) thinking of the people that have spread standardized languages of power have historically used language to colonize and assimilate "others". In this unit students have viewed the short film Immersion to explore the motivations behind English Only policies. Students find personal connections at this point in the unit because many have personal experience with immersion because we have a very high ELD population (all levels). Tanaka's role in standardizing Japanese could fit into this part of the unit; I just have to figure out how. Thoughts?
edited by lbernard on 8/3/2015
AnonymousI was instantly drawn to Tanaka Ikko's artwork, and could see my students finding it similarly accessible. His use of traditional images and clean, geometric shapes to convey messages could serve as a good discussion starter for the class, leading into a lesson discussing the relevance of standard English in class (he creates a common typography to combine three different dialects, and uses that to impart his message). I would be interested in the class comparing this to the code-switching they do between texting with peers, speaking with others (not peers), and formal essay writing where their written words are the only form of communication.
AnonymousCathy was incredible. She has a genuine passion for the subject matter. I truly appreciate the nuances that she pointed out.
AnonymousI truly enjoyed the museum tour by Kathy. It was the first time I had heard about the different aspects of East Asia theater/plays. I thought it extremely interesting that in the Japanese culture only men were allowed to be the actors. In the Korean culture, it was the Shamans who used their ceremonial dance as a village skit as a way to express the commoners' view on society. I also found it eye-opening that in some of the East Asia cultures there were only a certain number of plays that could be performed. I would be interested in having my classes compare the different plays between the Korean, Japanese, and Chinese cultures and then have a classroom discussion on the themes in our society that could be used as plays. This introduction would lead into creating an art piece inspired by the theater posters of Ikko Tanaka and based upon these themes.
AnonymousIkko Tanaka-great to get to know this artist's work and it corresponds so well to the Corita Kent show at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, that it would be fun to go over there on a lunch to see the correlations. The Buddhist iconography show was lovely, and Cathy's overall introduction to the collections was exciting. I see potential for my students.
AnonymousI have never been to this museum and I used to live in Pasadena! It is on the small side but I was impressed with the pieces in both the permanent and exhibition collections. I felt very fortunate to see the large Buddha and the Ikko Tanaka prints. When I visited India and Nepal earlier this year, I became more familiar with Buddhism and Hinduism and it was nice to see the pieces here dedicated to these religions, as well as others. It was wonderful to have Cathy walk us through the exhibits and explain the meaning behind some pieces and the history behind others; it is the kind of information that one normally would not know unless being guided by a docent. I was interested to learn that although there are similarities between the Asian countries, there are tell-tale differences that mark each country/culture/religion. The courtyard is beautiful and peaceful and the meaning behind the Chinese garden was fascinating. I'm looking forward to learning more and see more within the museum throughout the week, if possible.
AnonymousThe tour of the museum was very informative and interesting. I liked how Kathy took her time to explain the differences between Japanese, Chinese, and Korean artwork.
AnonymousThe tour with Kathy today shows the impact and growth of Buddhism throughout Asia. PAM does an amazing job of addressing this topic with exhibits representing the major countries in which Buddhism flourished; the artwork which reflects Buddhism's impact would be a great resource for students who may visit the museum.
AnonymousI have never been to this museum before. I was pleasantly surprised and excited to walk through the exhibits and see what was going on. I loved that it was an art museum that has ties with history and explains the trends of art and how this art came to be. I enjoyed the conceptual make up of each exhibit. You can really see that they are trying to portray key ideas and concepts instead of dates, countries, or region. The art really showed the trends that were going on in Asia and how the art was an extension of people's lives, beliefs, and religion. The concept and art really show what was important in Asia at the time. I liked that they had hands on exhibits like the Silk Road that the people could interact with. It goes right with common core standards. I am looking forward to coming back and seeing the next temporary exhibit, recommending it to my friends, students, and colleagues. Also, taking advantage of their resources for my class and students.
AnonymousI found many aspects to the morning session interesting and engaging; however, I was pleased to see a book about Issey Miyake photographed by Irving Penn on display once we got to the room for Ikko Tanaka. The partnership between Ikko Tanaka and Issey Miyake makes sense because they both employed geometric shapes and a modernist aesthetic. I never knew they collaborated on Issey Miyake's ad campaigns!
AnonymousI was very impressed with the museum. The background and information the docent gave was very interesting and informative. I really learned a lot about the various religions and the art. I think my students would really learn a lot by visiting this museum.