Landscaping America: Japanese American Gardeners and Their Gardens

FAIN: GM-50452-05

Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, CA 90012-3911)
Daniel Lee (Project Director: September 2004 to August 2006)
Sojin Kim (Project Director: August 2006 to May 2007)

Planning for a traveling exhibition of artifacts, photos, films, oral histories, and artwork about the roles that Japanese American gardeners and Japanese-style gardens have played in shaping the physical and cultural landscapes of the U.S. from the 19th century to the present.

“Landscaping America: Japanese American Gardeners and Their Gardens” is an innovative exhibition that explores the roles of Japanese American gardeners and Japanese-style gardens played in shaping both the physical and cultural landscapes of the nation. The exhibition will connect the study of labor with that of aesthetics by demonstrating how these gardeners were instrumental in the popularization of a non-Western art form in the United States while also creating an economically viable vocational niche that allowed for self-expression.