Current Exhibits

Current Exhibits

Echoes of Buncheong Ceramics

Korean Pottery exhibit in collaboration with the Muckenthaler Cultural Center
Exhibition Dates are August 5th - August 26th.
Open Thursday-Sunday, 10 am-4pm

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Before they were Heroes

Exhibition Dates are 9/10/17 - 10/29/17.
Open Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays 12p-4p

Born in California in 1919 to a family of immigrant tenant farmers, Sus Ito was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1940. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he was switched to civilian duty while his family was sent to live at Rohwer concentration camp in Arkansas. In the spring of 1943, Ito was selected to join the 442nd's 522nd Field Artillery Battalion. He went on to serve in all of the 442nd's campaigns in Italy, France, and Germany, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant. Ito's tour of duty included such high-profile historic events as the rescue of the Lost Battalion and the liberation of a subcamp of Dachau. .

During his time in Europe, Ito kept three things with him: a small bible, a senninbari (Japanese thousand-stitch cloth belt traditionally given to soldiers who are going to war, made for Ito by his mother and the other women at Rohwer), and a 35mm Agfa camera. With the camera, he took thousands of photographs documenting his life on the road; the young soldiers are seen posing next to their jeeps, walking in the snow, swimming in a river, playing chess, and even visiting tourist destinations while on leave. Unseen for decades, these images are remarkable for their detail and their humble, day-to-day quality, providing a fascinating contrast to the heroic images typically found in history books. Ito went to great lengths to preserve the negatives, even having some of them developed at villages along the way.

Exhibition Dates are 9/10/17 - 10/29/17. Open Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays 12p-4p