The ASU Art Museum is currently featuring the exhibit, The Echoes of Japan, which includes seven different female artists and 25 pieces of art. (Photo by Mario Mendez)During the late 1800s a number of brave and adventurous women traveled from the West to Japan to learn the art and culture. The ASU Art Museum will now feature art from some of those travels.
These women often traveled alone to Japan. After nearly 250 years without contact with the Western world, Japan opened their borders to foreigners. These women traveled individually and would sometimes make groups once in Japan, though that was not always the case, curator Jean Makin said.
“While they were there they enjoyed looking at the Japanese prints, and they studied with some of the traditional wood carvers and artists,” Makin said.
The Echoes of Japan exhibition includes seven different artists (all women) and 25 pieces of art.
Laurie Petrie Rogers and Waynor Rogers from Tucson own most of the pieces. They have been acquiring art for almost 20 years, Waynor Rogers said.
“These were brave, brave women to go over there at the time alone,” Waynor Rogers said.
Waynor Rogers will be giving a lecture on the exhibit on Feb. 14. Ph.D. candidate Shiloh Blair McMurtrey will be giving a lecture on Feb. 21.
McMutrey does extensive research on the artists and co-curated the exhibit. She researches Helen Hyde, an artist featured in this exhibit, for her Ph.D. research, Makin said.
The exhibit created a buzz around the ASU arts community. Alumna Spring Eselgroth said she loves Japanese art and is looking forward to going to the exhibit.
The Japan Foundation, the Evelyn Smith Exhibition Fund, and the Friends of the ASU Art Museum also support the Echoes of Japan.
This exhibition is now open at the ASU Art Museum until May 17, 2014. Admission is free. The museum is open Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Reach the reporter at Mercedes.Santana@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @MercedesMS17
