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Oral history interview with Frank S. Okada, 1990 Aug. 16-17

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Johns, Barbara Bunce, Louis Charles, Ray Chin, Frank Davis, Sammy Derbyshire, Leon Dusanne, Zoe Horiuchi, Paul Inada, Lawson Fusao Ivey, William Jones, Quincy Kusama, Yayoi Martin, David Stone Nomura, Kenjiro Okada, John Peck, James Edward Shahn, Ben Tobey, Mark Tsutakawa, George Cornish School of Allied Arts (Seattle, Wash.) University of Oregon Cranbrook Academy of Art

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Washington (State)87 Pages, TranscriptOriginally recorded on 5 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 38 min.Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.An interview of Frank Okada conducted 1990 Aug. 16-17, in Seattle, Wash., by Barbara Johns, for the Archives of American Art Northwest Asian American Project. Okada discusses his parents' background; his family including his brothers, John, author of "No-No Boy," and Charlie, a graphic designer; traveling to Japan for the Pacific Northwest Artists and Japan exhibition; being in an internment camp; painting in Eugene, Ore. and Seattle, Wash.; his painting techniques; studying under Leon Derbyshire; his connection with the jazz scene in Seattle in the late 1940s and 1950s including musicians Sammy Davis, Ray Charles, and Quincy Jones; attending Cornish School of Art, Seattle; meeting Mark Tobey; comparision of his painting style to Tobey's; his stint in the Army; attending Cranbrook Academy of Art and studying with painter Fred Mitchell; his Whitney fellowship in New York; study of Japanese, Chinese, and Zen paintings; working for Boeings in the early 1960s; traveling to France on a Guggenheim; teaching at University of Oregon in Eugene; his minimalist work; influence of Japanese art in his painting. Okada mentions Lawson Inada (Asian American poet), Frank Chin (Asian American playwright), artists David Stone Martin, James Edward Peck, Yayoi Kusama, George Tsutakawa, Paul Horiuchi, Ben Shahn, Kenjiro Nomura, Louis Bunce, Bill Ivey, and art gallery owner Zoe Dusanne.Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral...

Record Contributed By

Archives of American Art

Record Harvested From

Smithsonian Institution

Keywords

  1. Art
  2. Art, Japanese American Influences
  3. Artists
  4. Asian American Art
  5. Asian American Artists
  6. Asian American Painters
  7. Asian American Sculptors
  8. Asian Americans
  9. Bunce, Louis
  10. Charles, Ray
  11. Chin, Frank
  12. Cornish School Of Allied Arts (Seattle, Wash.)
  13. Cranbrook Academy Of Art
  14. Davis, Sammy
  15. Derbyshire, Leon
  16. Dusanne, Zoe
  17. Evacuation And Relocation, 1942 1945
  18. Horiuchi, Paul
  19. Inada, Lawson Fusao
  20. Ivey, William
  21. Japanese American Art
  22. Japanese American Artists
  23. Japanese Americans
  24. Johns, Barbara
  25. Jones, Quincy
  26. Judaism
  27. Kusama, Yayoi
  28. Martin, David Stone
  29. Nomura, Kenjiro
  30. Okada, Frank S. (Frank Sumio)
  31. Okada, John
  32. Painting, Chinese
  33. Painting, Japanese
  34. Painting, Modern
  35. Painting, Zen
  36. Peck, James Edward
  37. Seattle
  38. Shahn, Ben
  39. Tobey, Mark
  40. Tsutakawa, George
  41. Universities
  42. University Of Oregon
  43. Washington (State)
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