Growing Our Circles - "Portraiture Now - Asian American Portraits of Encounter" in the Smithsonian
"Only in America can I, an Oriental Beauty Jewess, whose father was a famous 100% Korean Presbyterian minister, mother the Korean Tammy Faye Bakker, handicapped since birth with a predominately Jewish physical handicap (Dystonia), born in Texas (the heart of the bible belt), grew up in the Catskills (the heart of the Borscht belt), gets out of the wheelchair to do stand up, teaches all the little children Hebrew for Bar/Bat Mitzvah, ran for Council as a Republican, does all sorts of community service and mitzvot...(gasp for air)...now hang as an exhibit in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC." (Esther Goodhart, APAWLI '00)
So relates Esther Goodhart which could be the monologue for one of her standup comedy gigs. The exhibit she speaks of is "Portraiture Now - Asian American Portraits of Encounter" in the National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC). Esther's portrait is one of more than two hundred by CYJO, a self-described Kyopo (the Korean term for ethnic Koreans living in other countries). CYJO is one of seven Asian American visual artists on display at the Smithsonian from August 12, 2011-October 14, 2012.
While the exhibition itself is groundbreaking, as in many projects, we only see the end product. Unknown to most is Gina Inocencio's role (APAWLI, '10) in this project. Gina is a program specialist at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program and on the artist selection review committee for the exhibition. The Smithsonian APA Program provides vision, leadership, and support for all APA activities at the Smithsonian, while serving as a liaison to APA communities. Gina manages and coordinates various projects such as public programs, curriculum development and exhibitions such as "Portraiture Now".
Earlier this year, Esther produced "Laughter is the Best Medicine" with National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association (NAAPIMHA, DJ Ida, APAWLI '00) and the Asian Pacific Islanders with Disabilities of California (APIDC, Daphne Kwok, APAWLI '00) to celebrate May as API Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness month by raising the awareness around mental health and disabilities.
Visit and encourage others to view "Portraiture Now - Asian American Portraits of Encounter" in the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian. The Smithsonian will review the popularity of this exhibit to determine future exhibits. Support our communities by personally or virtually visiting this exhibit. http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/encounter/
Esther and others will discuss what "it feels like to hang on the walls of a really big, famous museum" in: NEW YORK CITY, Wed October 12, 7:00 pm, 92Y Tribeca Mainstage, 200 Hudson Street, NY, NY NEW JERSEY, Thurs October 13, 7:00 pm, Books & Greetings, 271 Livingston Street, Northvale, NJ
