jeffbadger News/Updates

Maine artists display prints in Japan

Prints by ten Maine artists were exhibited in Aomori, Japan, through the MAPS project in March, 2015. This project is a partnership between the Munakata Shiko Memorial Museum of Art and Friends of Aomori. Learn more about MAPS here.

An article about the print exhibition in the local Aomori paper.
Pictured are works by Lisa Pixley, Colleen Kinsella, and Judy Allen.
Japanese partners in MAPS:
Mr. Tsujii, Display Chief; Mrs. Takebayashi, artist;
Mr. Jiro Ono, Museum Director; (left to right)
jeffbadger News/Updates

Maine-Aomori Printmaking Society launches with exhibition in Japan

The Maine Aomori Printmaking Society – or MAPS — is an exchange program of art and artists developed by Friends of Aomori in partnership with the Munakata Shiko Memorial Museum of Art.
Lisa Pixley, Untitled, woodcut, 2015
MAPS is a multi-stage project, beginning with an exhibition of
ten prints by ten Maine artists in the Aomori Municipal Art Pavilion during the Autumn Citizen’s Celebration in the prefecture.
In March of 2016, Friends of Aomori and Pickwick Independent Press will host a group of four Japanese printmakers for a
week-long residency in Portland, which will coincide with a reciprocal gallery exhibition.
This visit is supported by a grant

Colleen Kinsella,
Leviathan I, Octopus

from the Japanese Consulate in Boston to support cultural exchange between Japan and the US.

Throughout the project, both Friends of Aomori and the
Munakata Shiko Memorial Museum will build two matching collections of MAPS
prints in Maine and Japan for future exhibitions of local contemporary artists to support education about the sister-state relationship. The long term goal of MAPS is a regular exchange of art exhibitions, exchanges, and residencies between the US and Japan.

This project was initiated by Jeff Badger – Director of Tetra Projects and Friends of Aomori board member – and developed in collaboration with Jiro Ono, Director of the Munakata Shiko Memorial Museum in Aomori City.

Artists included in the premier exhibition include Judith Allen, Kyle Bryant, Clint Fulkerson, Colleen Kinsella, Lisa Pixley, Michael Marks,
Pilar Nadal, Carter Shappy, Carrie Scanga, and David Wolfe.
Check the back here for updates about MAPS and other Friends of Aomori initiatives.
jeffbadger News/Updates

Walk in U.S., Talk On Japan

Austin, Sacramento, Memphis St. Paul, Cambridge and now Portland.  On October 15th, Maine’s urban center becomes one of several American cities to host five Japanese delegates sent by the Japanese government to enhance mutual understanding between Japan and the U.S. as part of the WALK IN U.S., TALK ON JAPAN Program.

The delegates are headed by former Japanese Ambassador to the U.S., Ichiro Fujisaki.  Other delegates include Keizo Iijima, a retired CEO of the New York branch of Tokyo Mitsubishi Bank, and three young women:  Akiko Takahashi and Karuko Yuda, who work for Japanese companies, and Mai Iida, a graduate student at the University of Tokyo, researching domestic migration. The delegates will each conduct a brief presentation on aspects of the Japanese economy, society, politics or culture from their unique perspectives.  The group will take questions and hold an open discussion at the end of the presentations. One topic of interest in many cities has been the status of women in Japan today.

The program is hosted by the Consulate General of Japan in Boston, the Friends of Aomori, and the University of Southern Maine and will be held on Thursday, October 15th from 2:45 to 4:15 in Luther Bonney Hall on the Portland Campus of the University of Southern Maine. The program is open to the public and is free. For more information contact Pat Parker at patriciaparker@mac.com.