Over a hundred thousand Japanese-Americans were held in ten remote camps in the 1940s. These Americans were not convicted or charged with any crime, yet were incarcerated for up to four years in prison camps surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards.
Japanese-Americans interned in the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah brought with them the skills from their interrupted lives. Among their number was University of California-Berkeley art instructor Chiura Obata who founded an art school at Topaz that grew to 16 instructors teaching 23 subjects to over 600 students.
This exhibit will feature artworks created during internment at the Topaz War Relocation Center near Delta, Utah, on loan from the Topaz Museum. Artists include Chiura Obata, Setsu Nagata Kanehara, Charles Erabu Mikami and Miné Okubo.
The exhibited artworks are collected and cared for by the Topaz Museum, a non-profit, volunteer organization whose purpose is to preserve the history of Topaz.
The exhibit will travel to three locations in 2012: The Rio Gallery in Salt Lake City, The San Leandro Public Library and the San Francisco Public Library.
The traveling exhibit is made possible by funding from the Western States Arts Federation, Utah Arts & Museums, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
