Workhouse Celebration of Asian Art & Culture on April 6!

The signature pink that signals the start of cherry blossom season is once again blooming across the region. Celebrate the start of spring with Asian Art and Culture Day at the Workhouse from 11am-4pm on April 6. Now in its third year, the Workhouse celebration coincides with the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC.

The unique history of cherry blossoms in the area dates back to 1912, when 3,000 cherry trees were gifted to Washington, DC by Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki as a symbol of friendship between the United States and Japan. But the first true festival did not happen until 1927, when a group of American school children reenacted the initial tree planting and other activities. Today, the festival has become a five-week celebration, bringing 1.5 million visitors annually to view these beautiful blossoms and the festivities surrounding them. 

Here at the Workhouse, visitors can enjoy an afternoon of demonstrations, performances, participatory workshops, presentations and exhibitions in honor of Asian art and culture.

Artist Komelia Hongja Okim and Laurel Lukaszewki, artist and member of the National Cherry Blossom Festival Board of Directors, will host a Curator’s Talk. Their work is featured in the exhibition Ephemeral: Interpretations of the Cherry Blossom. The exhibition explores fleeting moments captured in art and celebrates the cherry blossom and Asian and American relations. Other artists included in this exhibition are Michael Janis, Robert Kincheloe, David Douglas, Sumita Kim, Jun Chul Kim, Akemi Maegawa, Dalya Luttwak and David Loren Gerlach.

Guest lecturer Dr. Svitlana Shiells will speak about The Influence of Asian Art on the Work of Gustav Klimt. She will provide a deep, personal look at the mysterious and controversial artist, known for using elements of Japanese aesthetics and art in his works.

Workhouse artist Darlene Kaplan invites guests to enjoy a cup of tea as she hosts Gong Fu tea ceremonies. Guests can sample and purchase international loose leaf estate teas from Sri Lanka, Japan, China, Tibet, India, Vietnam, Taiwan and more.

Featured artist demonstrations continue throughout the day, including Sume-e Japanese brush painting techniques with Workhouse artist Hsi-Mei Yates, and sashiko stitched and Asian style garment displays with fiber artist Gretchen Klimkoski. Blown, fused and stained glass blossoms will be displayed for the occasion in the W-7 gallery. The Workhouse Associate Artists’ Gallery 902 will also feature works by Kathy Naylor, Bonnie Ferguson Butler and Kathleen Best Gillmann. Other featured demonstrations include lingnan style oriental brush painting and Ikebana demonstrations.

The Japan-America Society of Washington, DC will be on hand to teach children about the games, dress and celebrations of Japan with “Japan in a Suitcase.” Workhouse art instructor E. Anne Cox invites the young and young-at-heart to enjoy “Asian Crafts, Stories and Games.” She will teach participants how to create Anesama dolls, as well as discuss oshie pictures and engage in origami sumo wrestling matches. Participants can also enjoy the traditional Japanese story of “The Wedding of the Rat” told with oshie puppets.

Origami art comes to life in the documentary Between the Folds, which shows how artists and scientists use modern-day paper folding to show a relationship between art and science. The film will run continuously in the origami-making studio throughout the day, along with a day-long participatory origami workshop.

For theater fans, the George Mason Japanese Studies program will present the Japanese play, The Magic Fan (mahoo no oogi). This 20-minute performance is followed by a question-and-answer session.

Join Workhouse for this unique celebration of Asian culture! More details on times and locations of your favorite events can be found at www.workhousearts.org.

THIS WEEK AT THE WORKHOUSE

• Ephemeral: Interpretations of the Cherry Blossom, March 2 – April 7 in the McGuireWoods Gallery.
• The Art of Surviving, March 6-April 7 in the Vulcan Gallery.
• Incarceration: Visions of Confinement, March 16-April 7 in the McGuireWoods Gallery.
• Summer Camp Open House, March 23, 11am-3pm in the W-3 Youth Arts Center.
• Workhouse Farmers Market, every Thursday 3-6pm on the Workhouse Quad.
• VCA Artist Nights: Tom Teasley, March 15 at 8pm in the W-3 Theatre.
• Fly Me to the Moon, March 23 at 8pm in the McGuireWoods Gallery.
• Concert-Style Reading of “Deeds Not Words,” March 24 in the W-3 Theatre.
• March exhibitions in all seven studio buildings, Vulcan Gallery.
• Workhouse Prison Museum in Building W-9.

Stop by and visit us! 

The Workhouse is open Wednesday – Saturday from 11am – 7pm and Sundays from 12 – 5pm.  TheWorkhouse Prison Museum is open Wednesday – Friday from 12 – 3pm and Saturday – Sunday from 12 – 4pm.  Visit www.WorkhouseArts.org for more information, to purchase tickets or to register for classes.