Review

5 Minutes/5 Questions: An interview with associate curator at Manhattan's Beach Museum of Art

From June 18 to December 19, the Beach Museum of Art in Manhattan, Kansas, features ink drawings by Yoonmi Nam, who is an associate professor of visual art at the University of Kansas and 2010 Friends of the Beach Museum of Art gift print artist. Liz Seaton, the museum's associate curator, organized the exhibition and took the time to answer a few questions on the gift print program, the exhibition, and the museum's role in the Kansas State University community.

Yoonmi Nam, "Untitled," Sumi ink on mulberry paper, 38 in. x 25 in., 2008, from the collection of Marjorie Swann and Bill Tsutsui. Image: courtesy of the gallery

JS: Can you tell me about the Beach Museum of Art gift print program? How long has it existed?

LS: The Friends of the Beach Museum of Art commissions a printmaker or photographer to produce a limited-edition print for sale to Friends and the public each year. Kansas State University’s “Friends of Art” started the gift print program in 1934 as a reward for members. The program still serves this purpose and recognizes outstanding contemporary printmakers associated with Kansas. Among the artists who have produced our gift prints are William Dickerson, John Talleur, Margo Kren, Terry Evans, Dan Kirchhefer, Robert Sudlow, and Michael Krueger.

JS: How did you go about choosing Yoonmi Nam for this year’s gift print and accompanying exhibition?

LS: We were enamored of Nam’s recent work and felt she deserved such recognition. As a printmaking and drawing instructor, Nam has established herself as an important member of KU’s art faculty.

Yoonmi Nam, "Untitled," color lithograph on paper, 16 1/8 in. x 9 in., 2010, Friends of the Beach Museum of Art gift print. Image: courtesy of the gallery

JS: What can visitors to the exhibition expect?

LS: They will see Nam’s gift print and related large-scale ink drawings. This body of work deals with the artist’s emerging identity as a Kansan. Nam was born in Korea, raised for three years in Canada, and has lived in several other parts of North America. As she describes, she has experienced a sense of estrangement as she has moved between Eastern and Western cultures. She notes that her art education in South Korea and the US emphasized Western art. Only recently has she come to study Asian cultural traditions and begun to consider how they might be incorporated into her work. Nam has been teaching herself traditional Chinese painting techniques and has used these to develop what she calls “transient landscapes” inspired by Kansas subjects. The works in this exhibition show man-made structures in Lawrence and other parts of Kansas, including tornado-swept Greensburg, being torn down or built up — in some state of change. Nam’s FOBMA gift print, for example, a small, color lithograph, shows a damaged structure with an empty wall which might be interpreted as a theater space. (The artist says the print’s vertical format is designed to evoke a Japanese screen.) Nam describes this imagery as “a metaphor for myself as a person and an artist.” But anyone who has lived in different social environments — for example, small-town and urban America — might connect with her notion of feeling “in between” cultures.

JS: The Beach Museum of Art is at Kansas State University. In what ways are students involved at the museum?

LS: There are several ways K-State students can be involved with the Beach Museum of Art. They can join the Student Friends of the Beach Museum of Art, which promotes the visual arts on campus. Employment opportunities, which have been recently reduced due to State of Kansas budget cuts, include receptionist, gallery attendant, registrar/collections manager intern, and exhibitions designer intern. Volunteer internships are available in education, curatorial, and public relations. Numerous K-State classes pass through for tours and other programs. The museum hosts a variety of events. Most are open to students.

JS: Do you have anything else you’d like to promote?

LS: We hope people will join us for Nam’s lecture at 4:30 p.m. September 22 at the museum. The museum’s website has more information about the Yoonmi Nam: Transient Landscapes exhibition, the Friends of the Beach Museum of Art gift print program, and other happenings at the museum. We are keen to make people aware of that we are the only institution in the state dedicated to collecting, caring for, and interpreting the visual arts of Kansas.

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