Artist Talk with Mayumi Tsutakawa

Join us for an Artist Talk with Mayumi Tsutakawa on August 9, at 6 pm, at the San Juan Island Grange in Friday Harbor

Mayumi Tsutakawa, a Seattle writer and curator, will give a talk about her father, the artist George Tsutakawa (1997-2010), at 6 pm on August 9. 2024, at the San Juan Island Grange, Friday Harbor.

Mayumi will present her father's history as a Japanese American artist, his influences within the growth of Pacific Northwest modern art, and his accomplishments as one of the most prolific sculptors of public art in America. Mayumi also will speak about her brother, the sculptor Gerard Tsutakawa, and her son, light art maker Kenzan Tsutakawa-Chinn. All three artists are highlighted in the exhibition "Tsutakawa: Generations" at the SJIMA until September 16. 

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Mayumi Tsutakawa is an independent curator and writer, born in Seattle.

She has selected and managed artwork by Asian/Pacific Islander American and other artists of color in exhibitions or collections for Wing Luke Asian Museum, Asian Counseling & Referral Service, Seattle Center, International Community Health Services, Bumbershoot, Lumen Field/Paul G. Allen Foundation (football and soccer stadium art program), and San Francisco State University Gallery.

Mayumi often writes about arts and heritage subjects and is currently researching her parents’ Japanese American family histories. Her recent articles appeared in the exhibition catalog for Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, University of Washington Magazine, South Seattle Emerald, International Examiner, and Earshot Jazz Magazine.

She was formerly the manager of grants to organizations and manager of the Wallace Foundation Initiative at the Washington State Arts Commission. Prior to that, she was executive director of the King County Arts Commission (now called 4Culture).

Mayumi was a scholar with the Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau for four years and presented talks statewide about Japanese American history and her family’s artistic heritage, as well as women of color leaders and feminism in our state.

She also serves on the film selection panel for Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF).

Mayumi co-edited several multicultural literary and art anthologies, including The Forbidden Stitch: Asian American Women's Literary Anthology which received the Before Columbus Foundation’s American Book Award. She has edited two books about Asian/Pacific Islander American pioneer artists.

She received her bachelor’s degree in East Asian History and her master’s degree in Communications at the University of Washington.

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The museum is open Thursday through Monday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free for members, $10 for non-members, and Mondays are "pay as you like" admission.

Private and group docent tours are free, please schedule in advance. https://www.sjima.org/docent-tours

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San Juan Islands Museum of Art | 540 Spring Street | Friday Harbor, WA 98250 US