“The stories I heard were compelling and vivid,” Samuel O. Regalado says.
During World War II, amateur photographer Bill Manbo had a camera with him while unjustly incarcerated in a Japanese American concentration camp.
“It was amazing,” Alexandra Chang of New York University (NYU) recalls. “My first reaction was the shock of the enormity of the collection. My second reaction was excitement to get this out to the public.”
Artist/photographer Satomi Shirai has found a successful creative path by exploring the feeling of being lost.
“It’s the best life in the world,” Roger Shimomura says, of being an artist.“It’s unpredictable. You can be lucky, unlucky, work hard or not, be crazy or sane, and you have an equal chance to make a lasting mark.”
For the artists and museum professionals behind the Smithsonian’s landmark exhibition, a portrait is much more than an artwork. It’s an encounter—an opportunity to meet someone and glimpse his or her world, through the eyes of an artist.
“One girl cried,” says Edwin Ushiro, recalling an audience member’s reaction to his art. “She said it touched her.”
“The opening was mind-blowing,” says Clement Hanami. “People came out of the woodwork to see this show. We had lines trying to get in and the galleries were packed.”
“When you walked into (my grandfather’s) house, you saw his paintings hanging like a gallery, you saw stained glass windows he created, you saw wood tables he built and you just smelled art,” says artist Timothy Teruo Watters.
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