Paper Mache
In one of the great ironies of my life, and there have been a few, this past month I have found myself working on two very special projects, one about veterans who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor and the other about Japanese Americans interned in the aftermath of the attack.
On Veterans Day, we celebrated the work of several veteran artists including Aaron Burks, a Navy and Army veteran, whose current YSAC grant-funded project is titled “Sleeping Giants, Pearl Harbor Survivors Then and Now.” Aaron has met with over 20 servicemen who were at the base when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Aaron’s paintings capture each veteran’s dignity and humanity.
The attack prompted the U.S. to enter WWII.
On February 19, 1942, FDR signed Executive Order 9066 ordering the internment of Japanese-americans. YSAC received another grant to memorialize the local experience of 2,500 Japanese Americans who were temporarily incarcerated at the Marysville Assembly
Center in 1942 while permanent concentration camps were built. The project is a collaboration between YSAC and the Marysville Japanese American
Citizens League.
Most of those held there were later moved to the camp at Tule Lake.
Our project will provide some sculptural elements and interpretive materials to explain the loss of basic civil liberties experienced by these individuals and their families.
As work progresses on the Pearl Harbor portraits and the Marysville memorial site, we are busy with plans for other arts programs. Our Applause Kids! Youth Theater group is busy rehearsing their holiday show, “Holiday Happiness.” On December 3rd, join Tom Galvin for a Virtual Poetry Open Mic session. We will have an art gallery show/reception called “COVID Stories - Making Art in A Pandemic” on December 5, 10am-2pm, followed by a “Corona Comedy Concert” featuring satire and music with Joe Moye and Tom Galvin on December 6, 7pm.
Yubasutterarts.org for details.
(Paper Mache is a weekly column about the arts community by David Read, director of Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture.)