Source: Martha Scott, 785-532-7718, marthas@k-state.edu
Web site: http://www.k-state.edu/bma
Pronouncer: Tsutsui is Toot-suey.
News release prepared by: Caitlin Muret, 785-532-7718, cmuret@k-state.edu

Friday, Jan. 16, 2009

K-STATE'S BEACH MUSEUM TO HOST LECTURE ABOUT 'KANSASIANS' JAN. 29

MANHATTAN -- To accompany its exhibition on Japanese-American artist Roger Shimomura, Kansas State University's Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art will offer a lecture on the historical experiences of Asian-Americans in Kansas at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29.

William Tsutsui, associate dean of international studies and professor of history at the University of Kansas, will present "KansAsians: The Asian-American Experience in Kansas from Race Riots to Roger Shimomura." The lecture is free and open to the public.

Tsutsui's talk is in conjunction with the Beach Museum exhibition "The Return of the Yellow Peril: A Survey of the Work of Roger Shimomura, 1969-2007," a thematic review of 63 works by Shimomura, including paintings, prints, performance photographs and found art sculptures. The exhibition is on display in the Pelton Gallery through Feb. 1.

"I'll discuss how Kansas has sometimes been a hostile environment for Americans of Asian descent, but has more often -- and especially since World War II -- provided opportunity and a welcoming environment for immigrants from Asia," Tsutsui said. "My talk will be a survey of the heritage of Asian-Americans in Kansas, with particular attention to how Roger Shimomura, the most celebrated Asian-American resident of Kansas in the state's history, reflects this larger experience."

The Shimomura exhibition is a program of ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance, with funding support from the Kansas Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information, call the Beach Museum of Art at 785-532-7718 or drop by the museum on the southeast corner of the K-State campus at 14th Street and Anderson Avenue. Free visitor parking is available next to the building. Normal museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays; and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. The museum is closed Mondays.