The Cultural Museum 2.0 Engaging Diverse Audiences in America a White Paper

The Cultural Museum 2.0 Engaging Diverse Audiences in America A White Paper

The Cultural Museum 2.0 Engaging Diverse Audiences in America

Prepared by the Japanese American National Museum

With support from The James Irvine Foundation

August 2009

Publication layout and design by Azusa Oda Audience research provided by Campbell Rinker

Publication available in PDF at www.janm.org/projects/ Contents 4 Introduction

5 Executive Summary

7 Diversity Within Diversity: Next-Generation Arts Audiences The Changing Face of America The Changing Face of a Community The Changing Face of a Museum

14 Innovation as Catalyst: Establishing an Organization-wide Audience Development Project Embracing Innovation Finding the Project Logic Expecting the Unexpected

18 Creating Cultural/Ethnic Audience Surveys: Challenges and Opportunities Deciding What to Measure Consulting Peer Organizations Other Things to Consider

24 Findings from the Field, Learning in the Organization Get the Word Out Enliven the Museum Create Active Programming Bring the Story to the Present Let Go of Fear

34 Key Observations and Future Directions Encouraging Organizational Growth Innovation During Times of Crisis Future Directions

38 Appendix I: Summary of Audience Research Methodology

41 Appendix II: Summary of Audience Research

49 Appendix III: “Imagined Futures: Opening Possibilities for the Construction of Culture and Community” Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles

54 Acknowledgments Introduction The Japanese American National We have gained valuable data and Museum explores how the insights into prevailing public atti- experiences of an American ethnic tudes, allowing us to learn what group enrich and contribute to more diverse audiences find relevant Akemi Kikumura Yano, PhD the socioeconomic, cultural, and in our mission and programming. President and Chief Executive Officer political traditions that define our Japanese American National Museum democracy and even the very Such information has helped the idea of what it means to be an Museum embrace changes both highly American. Our hope is that, in this visible—such as the installation of spirit, our stories are seen as a exhibitions by Giant Robot co-editor reflection of everyone’s stories. Eric Nakamura, musician Mike Shinoda of the band Linkin Park, and While exploring the intersec- photographer Kip Fulbeck—as well tions between art, history, cul- as shifts nearly invisible to the public ture, and community is not new in areas such as strategic planning to the Museum, the character- and organizational restructuring. istics and defining qualities of Americas ethnic groups are con- Equally as important, these changes stantly changing—and are always have allowed us to foster a new subject to new interpretation. dialogue about one of the fastest- growing audience sectors: people Using the arts to interpret issues who are multiethnic/multiracial. This surrounding culture, ethnicity, and dialogue also encompasses broader identity has long been our passion, changes in the way Americans see a special niche to which we strive themselves and others, access or to bring innovation, creativity, and exchange information, and commu- collaboration. As we near the twenty- nicate or identify with one another, fifth anniversary of our incorporation allowing us to consider how such as an institution, however, it is clear changes impact the ability of cul- that the Museum serves a very differ- turally specific museums and arts ent world today, a world transformed organizations to sustain themselves. by dramatic shifts in demographics, the impact of globalization, and As both our museum and the arts stunning advances in technology. field prepare to begin a new era, we hope that you will benefit from Thanks to a generous grant from this report, which shares the experi- The James Irvine Foundation’s ences and initial findings from our Arts Innovation Fund (AIF), the three-year Arts Innovation Fund Museum has had an opportunity project. We sincerely invite you to to holistically reassess itself and write to us with your feedback and its relationship with its audiences. to share your own perspectives.

4 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Executive Summary How does a culturally specific arts Specifically, the project: organization adapt to changing • Developed new prototypes for demographics in order to more culturally/ethnically sensitive survey effectively engage and serve tools, working in collaboration with contemporary audiences that an audience research firm specializing are increasingly multiethnic? in the nonprofit sector; • Consulted other ethnic/cultural insti- Witnessing dramatic shifts in its tutions from across the nation; audience demographics over the • Conducted extensive audience past 25 years, the Japanese American research over a three-year period; National Museum (JANM) has • Tested a strategic selection of grappled with this question. One out programming; and of every three Japanese Americans • Used research findings to inform is now multiracial, and increasingly decision-making about the future audiences are no longer identifying direction of the institution. themselves simply by ethnic or racial categories as they had in the past. These activities were driven by a set of core essential questions: At a time when self-identity is playing a • To what extent is the visitor experi- significant role not only in how people ence influenced by cultural/ethnic see themselves but also in how they self-identification? view their relationship with museums • What is the relevance of the Museum and cultural centers, there are no simple to younger, multiracial audiences? solutions for how organizations— • How can the Museum develop pro- regardless of institution size, focus, gramming to engage and sustain these budget, or geographic location—can audiences? ensure the relevancy of their program- • How can the Museum engage new ming and their long-term sustainability. audiences while sustaining its current constituency? In order to recalibrate itself to bet- • What impact does engaging these ter serve more diverse audiences, audiences have on the ability for the JANM launched the Re-visioning + Museum to sustain itself in the future? Engaging Multiethnic Audiences in America project, supported through Some key findings and observa- a major grant from The James tions during this project included: Irvine Foundation. This project has • Multiracial audience members tend impacted all levels of the Museum, to be younger. Younger audiences as a bringing about widespread modifica- whole want to see their interests, expe- tions to the institution’s organizational riences, and perspectives represented structure, economic logic, strategic in the programming being presented. planning, and programmatic models. • Art exhibitions tend to be more

5 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Visitors examine the work of street/graffiti artist David Choe, one of the young cutting-edge artists featured in the Museum’s new Salon Pop program.

Photo by Gary Ono

popular with multiracial audiences; These initial findings are in no way pop culture–themed programming intended as one-size-fits-all guidelines also resonated with younger and more for addressing the complex challenges diverse audiences. of serving diverse audiences. Rather, • Twenty-first-century audiences they are presented as a catalyst for are looking for efficient and active further discussion in the nonprofit arts museum experiences. field, which we hope will lead to new • The alignment of external and internal understandings and collaborations. perceptions is critical: how audiences perceive an institution can dramati- The changing face of America—the cally impact their desire to engage diversification of its population—has with the organization. been documented as a major trend, yet • Successful models of engagement can the full implications of this change for be developed that attract younger museums and other types of arts orga- and more diverse audiences as well nizations remain largely unknown. as address issues of institutional Through theRe-visioning project, the sustainability. Museum finds itself on the forefront • To fully engage younger and more of a movement that seeks to challenge diverse audiences, simple changes in culturally specific organizations, and programming or marketing were insuf- more broadly, museums of all variet- ficient. Museum leadership, staff, and ies, to reexamine how they engage volunteers had to embrace institution- new audiences and connect with wide change in order to create success- their next generation of supporters. ful models and new paradigms.

6 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Diversity Within Diversity: Next-Generation Arts Audiences

➤ Identity-based portraits give voice to the multiracial experience in the kip fulbeck: part asian, 100% hapa exhibition, shown at JANM in 2006 and currently traveling to venues around the country. © Kip Fulbeck

7 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Diversity Within Diversity

The Changing Face of America the ethnic studies movements of the 1970s and curriculum-based multi- For the first time in its 210-year cultural education of the 1980s and history, the U.S. Census Bureau 1990s, and with the election of the in 2000 allowed respondents to first biracial president in 2008, in the self-identify with more than one past four decades we have witnessed race. Of the 281.4 million people a widespread change in the way we in the United States at the time, see racial differences in America. 7.3 million reported more than one Today we are faced with a future race, although researchers esti- where Americans no longer fit neatly mate that the actual multiracial into easily hyphenated categories. population in America is closer to 20 million. This is in comparison This change has dramatic implications to the estimated 500,000 mul- for culturally specific arts organiza- tiracial Americans in 1970.1 tions such as museums. Increasingly these institutions must balance the People who reported While numbers vary depending on needs of their core constituency—the more than one race geographic location and racial group- ethnic or cultural communities out ings, interracial marriage and multi- of which they grew and who they were more likely to be racial/multiethnic offspring—most of are accustomed to serving—with under age 18 than those whom are under the age of 30—have a the needs of an expanding audience major effect on how individuals as well that no longer identifies itself based reporting only one race. as communities perceive themselves. solely on cultural or racial categories. —U.S. Census Bureau Take, for example, the Asian American The Japanese American National community: Of those 12 million Museum, with the support of people who identified themselves as The James Irvine Foundation, Asian/Pacific Islander, 2.1 million undertook a major three-year selected more than one race, making project to examine this issue. multiracial Asians the second largest subgroup of Asian/Pacific Islanders in How does a culturally specific the country, second only to Chinese arts organization adapt to chang- Americans. ing demographics in order to more effectively engage and serve With communities growing ever 1. Unless otherwise stated, census data contemporary audiences that more diverse, with the social activism cited in this paper was taken from the are increasingly multiethnic? U.S. Census Bureau. of the 1960s having set the stage for

8 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Diversity Within Diversity

Asian American performance artist Nobuko Miyamoto Betserai (center) with her husband Tarabu Betserai (left), granddaughter Asiyah Ayubbi, and son Kamau Ayubbi in Los Angeles, November 1998.

Gift of Nobuko Miyamoto. Japanese American National Museum [98.363.2]

The Changing Face The Issei—the first generation of of a Community Japanese immigrants who began arriving in America in 1885—had The Japanese American community an outmarriage rate of only 2 per- has seen an accelerated change in cent due to the antimiscegenation its demographics over the last 60 laws in California and many other years that has far outpaced other states which forbade interracial 2. For the purposes of this paper, interracial ethnic groups in America. These marriage. After World War II, this marriage or “outmarriage” is defined as mar- rapid changes are especially evident percentage jumped to 12 percent riage between partners of different racial or ethnic backgrounds. More precisely, however, when it comes to marriage and, with the Nisei, the second genera- 2 3 marriages between people of different racial more specifically, outmarriage : tion of American-born Japanese. backgrounds are “interracial marriages,” while marriages between people of different Outmarriage Rates With the Sansei—third-generation ethnic backgrounds but of the same race—for Among Japanese Americans Japanese Americans—the rate of example, a Chinese American marrying a outmarriage took a dramatic leap to Japanese American—are “intermarriages.” Generation since Rate of 60 percent.4 Not surprisingly, the 3. Akemi Kikumura and Harry H. L. Kitano, Immigration Outmarriage “Interracial Marriage: A Picture of the 2000 Census showed that while one Japanese Americans,” Journal of Social Issues First / Issei 2% out of every six Asian Americans 29, no. 2 (1973): 67–81. Second / Nisei 12% considered himself/herself multira- 4. Harry H. L. Kitano et al., “Asian-American cial, the rate doubled to one out of Interracial Marriage,” Journal of Marriage and Third / Sansei 60% every three for Japanese Americans. the Family 46, no. 1 (February 1984): 179–90.

9 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Diversity Within Diversity

More than 1,800 multiracial/ multiethnic visitors pondered the question “What are you?” during the run of the kip fulbeck: part asian, 100% hapa exhibition.

complexity of these changes, their ramifications for the community, and the ways scholars are looking at this phenomenon are further discussed in Photo by Nobuyuki Okada Appendix III in a short essay by Dr. Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, the George A community assessment conducted and Sakaye Aratani Professor of the One out of every three in 2000 by the Japanese American Japanese American Internment, Japanese Americans Consortium of Community Related Redress, and Community at the is multiracial. Organizations recorded a shifting University of California, Los Angeles. attitude within the Japanese American community toward being more The rapid diversification of the inclusive of multiracial/multiethnic Japanese American community issues. The report noted, however, has complex implications. If people that multiracial participants still felt no longer identify themselves solely isolated: “They feel strongly that they as Japanese Americans, what is the would always remain connected to future of the community as a whole? their Japanese heritage; however, if the Japanese American community does Some community members fear not embrace the Multiracial constitu- that the high outmarriage rates and ency, they will look elsewhere.”5 multiracial makeup of the younger generations spell the end of the com- The demographics of the Japanese munity’s integrity; however, many— American community have also including the Museum—choose to transformed over the last several see these trends as a way of increas- 5. From “Charting Course and Shifting decades due to geographic disper- ing the community’s size and reach, Direction for the Nikkei Community” sion, postwar immigration, and the with each outmarriage and birth (organized and published by the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center aging of the Nisei generation, the expanding the number of people of Northern California, San Francisco, primary stakeholders and founders connected to the community through April 2000). of community organizations. The affinity rather than ancestry alone.

10 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Thank you for helping this hapa know she’s not alone. —Visitor, kip fulbeck: part asian, 100% hapa exhibition

Program Profile: Kip Fulbeck

Multiracial Asian Americans helped to make kip fulbeck: part asian, 100% hapa one of JANM’s most successful exhibitions. Photo by Nobuyuki Okada

The exhibition kip fulbeck: part a complex perspective on the changing large numbers but deeply resonated asian, 100% hapa (June–October reality of contemporary America. with visitors and members to a degree 2006) was the Museum’s first that hasn’t been repeated since. The project to tackle the topic of Based upon Fulbeck’s Hapa Project respondents feel that the Museum still multiracial America head-on. and created in collaboration with delivers in these areas, but not to the the Museum, the exhibition focused degree they felt during that time or Originally a derogatory label derived not upon any technical discussion immediately after. Future exhibitions from the Hawaiian word for “half,” of race or multiracialism, but on the should seek to tap into the spirit of the word hapa has been embraced as a power of self-identification versus the Fulbeck exhibition: to reflect and term of pride by many whose mixed- imposed categorization. The more mirror the uniqueness of all of us.” race heritage includes Asian or Pacific than 1,800 Polaroid photos and state- Rim ancestry. The exhibition fea- ments created by visitors during the Because the subject continues to be tured photographic portraits by artist run of the exhibition overwhelmingly timely, the Museum is traveling the Kip Fulbeck, whose work addressed expressed how powerful multiracial exhibition nationally through 2012. in words and images the one ques- audiences found this concept. Fulbeck—an award-winning pho- tion that hapas are frequently asked: tographer, filmmaker, writer, spoken- “What are you?” By pairing portraits Audience research conducted more word artist, and professor/chair of of hapas—unadorned by makeup, than a year later found visitors still art at the University of California, jewelry, and clothing—along with recognizing and reflecting upon the Santa Barbara—will be return- their handwritten statements about exhibition. Audience research firm ing to partner with the Museum in who they are, Fulbeck’s powerful yet Campbell Rinker concluded: “Thekip 2010 on a new exhibition featuring intimate expressions of identity offered fulbeck exhibition not only drew in portraits of multiracial children.

11 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Diversity Within Diversity

[The Nikkei Student Union] when I was at UCLA looked different. NSU now has a total crossover thing going on. Not everyone is Japanese American. It’s a complete mix. And I think that’s an indicator of what it takes to be successful now or in the future. It’s all about being able to blend with Photo by Nobuyuki Okada the rest of the world, not just doing things on The Changing Face to closely question the wants and your own or with your of a Museum needs of this diverse audience.

own ethnic group. While the ethnic/racial back- In doing so, the Museum’s staff —Eric Nakamura ground of museum visitors may uncovered a set of questions that co-founder, Giant Robot Magazine be influenced by programmatic encapsulates the core ideas and Imagined Futures Conference, May 2009 offerings, time of year, marketing concerns surrounding any endeavor efforts, and organizational focus, to engage this new visitor and sup- over the past decade the Japanese porter base. The answers to any one American National Museum has of the “essential” questions would witnessed the accelerated diver- have a profound affect on the pro- sification of its audiences. grams the Museum presented and the exhibitions it chose to display. Presented with the opportunity to share its mission—to promote Essential Questions understanding and appreciation of • To what extent is the visitor experi- America’s cultural and ethnic diver- ence influenced by cultural or ethnic sity through the Japanese American self-identification? experience—with a significantly • What is the relevance of the larger potential pool of visitors and Museum to younger, multi- supporters, the Museum began ethnic audiences?

12 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Diversity Within Diversity

Ethnic Identity of JANM Visitors6

Ethnic Identity 1999 2007

Japanese/Japanese American 65% 41%

Non–Japanese Asian/Pacific Islander 4% 9%

White/European American 24% 34%

Hispanic/Latino 3% 9%

Black/African American 1% 3%

Unspecified 3% 4%

• How can the Museum develop pro- art or natural history—culturally gramming to engage and sustain these specific institutions must attempt audiences? to interest broader audiences in • How can the Museum engage new the history, art, culture, and iden- audiences while sustaining and satisfy- tity of a specific community. ing its current constituency? • What impact does engaging these Broader audiences pose an unusual audiences have on the ability for the challenge in that they possess a set Museum to sustain itself in the future? of complex and often conflicting wants, needs, and assumptions. Thus, 6. Audience research for 1999 was conducted While some museums turn to pro- in order to engage and serve its next- by People, Places, & Design Research dur- grams, exhibitions, and marketing generation visitors, the Museum’s ing the opening of the Museum’s Pavilion to diversify their audiences, JANM leadership and staff committed to building (overall sample=377). Figures for and other culturally specific museums undergoing a difficult process of 2007 were taken from an analysis of visitor surveys gathered throughout the year (overall must look to more complex solu- changing the fundamental beliefs sample=866). The Museum has since added tions. Instead of trying to attract a and assumptions that have guided the category “Multiracial (please specify)” to specific ethnic group to a broad area the institution for the past 25 years. its visitor surveys. of interest—for example, modern

13 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Innovation as How does an entire organization 2. Clarity in direction and long-range Catalyst: go about recalibrating itself in vision to more closely align the order to appeal to a more diverse Museum’s work and structure with Establishing an Organization-wide audience? sustainable target audiences Audience Development Project 3. Alignment among stakeholders around With a multitude of possible pro- this vision grammatic and organizational paths 4. Alignment in programming and emerging, the Japanese American organizational structure based on National Museum was at a crossroads, the vision a pivotal point of decision-making 5. Increased dialogue in the field around that had significant implications the challenges that organizations face Criteria for Innovation7 for its long-term sustainability. and the development of new strategies to address those challenges 1. Discontinuous and unpredictable It was during this time that The James change, not incremental change Irvine Foundation launched its Arts Embracing Innovation Unpredictable, disruptive altera- Innovation Fund (AIF), aimed at tions that lead to revolutionary increasing the ability of California arts The cornerstone of the newly formed rather than evolutionary change in institutions to innovate in three areas: project rested in fully embracing usually unproven ways. artistic capacity, constituency engage- innovation and change within the ment, and organizational management. organization. For the purposes of the 2. High impact on mission grant, the Irvine Foundation defined While unproven and often A core team of Museum staff “innovation” as organizational change viewed as risky endeavors, these developed a three-year, institution- that provides new pathways to fulfill- changes have an unusually high wide project entitled Re-visioning ing the mission, is not an extension of impact on the ability of the + Engaging Multiethnic Audiences “business as usual,” and results from organization to meet its mission, in America. This project sought to a shift in underlying organizational 7 ultimately making the risk worth- explore largely uncharted territory: assumptions. while to undertake. How can a culturally specific organization adapt to multiethnic and The Museum’s project goals pos- 3. A shift in fundamental organiza- diverse audiences in programming, sessed elements of all three criteria. tional assumptions fund-raising, marketing, communica- In order to recalibrate the organiza- Organizational assumptions are the tions, and organizational structure? tion, the Museum not only had to foundation on which every deci- experiment with innovative and sion is made within an institution. Project Goals untested approaches to audience When an organization questions 1. Creation of a significant body of engagement, but also develop its one or more of these assumptions, quantitative and qualitative research capacity to adapt to the changing innovation often results. about the Museum’s diverse stake- landscape of the arts and cultural holders to inform key insights for fields. This endeavor did not alter 7. Extract from a working paper by EmcArts on future priorities and practices for the the Museum’s original mission— innovation in the arts (October 2006). institution rather, it reinterpreted it for a twenty-first-century audience.

14 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Innovation as Catalyst

Finding the Project Logic project team was able to solidify the You know, people say project goals, identify resources, and “think outside of the Working with EmcArts, a New establish desired outcomes that spanned box.” Artists should not York–based firm engaged by the the entirety of the organization, from Irvine Foundation to work with its the contributions of volunteers to have boxes to worry AIF grantees, the project team cre- the roles of the Museum’s Board of about. We should not ated the project’s logic model by: Trustees and Board of Governors. have those limitations. • Setting goals Expecting the Unexpected Those boxes are created What are the broad long-term desired by us…We artists must results of your project? Despite the establishment of a project not have any limitations. • Identifying resources logic model, the innovative nature What resources—human, financial, of the project—to shift organiza- —George Takei, actor/activist organizational, and community—are tional assumptions—meant that the Imagined Futures Conference, May 2009 you investing in this innovation to Museum began by asking questions achieve your project goals? rather than proposing solutions. • Establishing steps Quantitative and qualitative data Using these resources, what activities were gathered first. The resulting are you carrying out to achieve your information about member, visitor, project goals? and public needs and perceptions • Stating desired outcomes drove the remaining two years of the What measurable benefits to your project, with the institution respond- internal and external stakeholders do ing to the data through program- you expect over time as a result of your matic, communication, marketing, project activities? and organizational means. In general, • Determining indicators the project fell into three phases: What are the indicators you will track Information Gathering; Strategic to measure the progress towards your Planning and Implementation; project outcomes?8 and Analysis and Evaluation. 8. Project logic model created by JANM with guidance from EmcArts, a partner with The James Irvine With the project logic model in hand, Foundation Arts Innovation Fund. a newly formed cross-departmental

15 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Program Profile: Salon Pop

➤ Visitors at the Giant Robot Biennale: 50 Issues exhibition create PIKA PIKA, an abstract ani- mated film made with flashlights. Photo by Gary Ono

In 2007 the Museum launched • Low overhead costs and maintain relationships with its Salon Pop, an experimental • Less staff time and fewer resources audiences. From the beginning, no program that provided short-term required than for typical exhibitions expectations were imposed that Salon opportunities for the Museum or programs Pop would increase membership, as to present the creative talents the Salon’s audiences are younger and of Japanese and/or Japanese Why Salon Pop? less inclined to be members/donors. Americans whose innovative work Salon Pop was created in direct The main focus was to change the gen- is currently having an impact response to audience research sug- eral perception of the Museum—the on American popular culture. In gesting that the Museum “break Museum as cold, elitist, or “uppity”— doing so, Salon Pop illustrated the exhibition mold.” Salon Pop and to begin to build a lasting rela- the relevance of Asian American provided the Museum with a forum tionship with a younger audience. youth culture and its place and framework in which to experi- within our everyday society. ment with new, “outside-of-the- How is Salon Pop funded? box” programming and enabled the Because the Salon’s target audience Salon Pop is characterized by: Museum to better respond to trends (ages 18–34) is a prime marketing • Topics that are “current” or part and changes in today’s culture that category, the Salon presented new of pop culture that would attract staff would otherwise be unable to opportunities for corporate spon- younger, more diverse audiences explore through traditional exhibi- sorship, easing reliance on more • Nontraditional partnerships with tion and programming means. restricted foundation grant funding. artists, organizations, entities, and/or corporations Who is the audience for Salon Pop? How is Salon Pop marketed? • Short runs for exhibitions on average The Salon challenged past thought Much of the Salon’s marketing is two to three months on how the Museum should engage done through the partnerships and

16 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum ➤ Visitors used their cell phones and digital cameras to capture the Giant Robot exhibition and posted their photos to dozens of blogs, Web sites, and social networks the next day. Photo by Gary Ono

sponsorships created through this What programs and exhibitions process. The Museum has also found are considered part of Salon Pop? success in viral marketing techniques • Giant Robot Biennale: 50 Issues and through social networking sites See Salon Pop Case Study 1 on page 23 such as Facebook and Twitter. • “Eyes and Ears: A Night of Asian American Hip-Hop” How did we explain Salon Pop to A night of music and fashion featuring the Museum’s core constituents? internationally known hip-hop artist It was important for the Museum’s Jin the MC core constituents to understand that • Mike Shinoda Glorious Excess Salon Pop represented an opportunity See Salon Pop Case Study 2 on page 30 to engage their children and grandchil- • “Secret Identities: The Asian American dren in a meaningful dialogue about Superhero Anthology” their place within the community; The Los Angeles premiere of Secret in turn the Salon helped older gen- Identities, a collection of original erations understand the impact these stories by top Asian American writers, trends, artists, and thoughts have on artists, and comics professionals not only the Japanese American and • Imagined Futures Conference 9. The term “professional amateur” or “Pro-Am” Asian American communities, but See Salon Pop Case Study 3 on page 33 was coined by Charles Leadbeater to describe on American culture as a whole. • “Salon Pop: Thursday Nights at the innovative, committed, and networked ama- Museum” teurs working to professional standards. For An open and experimental Salon, show- further information, see Leadbeater’s article “The Pro-Am Revolution: How Enthusiasts casing art, performance, and music by 9 Are Changing Our Economy and Society” professionals and professional amateurs (Demos, 2004). 17 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Creating The information-gathering Qualitative Research Cultural/Ethnic phase of the project focused on • Depth Interviews: In-depth interviews conducting extensive quantitative conducted with 15 community and Audience Surveys: and qualitative audience research Museum leaders Challenges and Opportunities in order to create a compilation • Focus Groups: Six focus groups of concrete and accessible data Museum members; on ethnic identity, both within Japanese American nonmembers; the setting of a culturally specific Non–Japanese Americans organization and outside of it. (30 years or older); Non–Japanese Americans At the heart of the audience research (younger than 30); was the need to establish a baseline Multiracial; and against which later progress could be Japanese speakers (sessions measured. It was also important to conducted with a translator) clarify key issues, including whether I think it’s great that people who do not identify them- Quantitative Research you have this survey. selves as Japanese Americans could • Staff and Volunteer Survey: Online It opened my eyes to identify with the mission and content survey of 139 Museum staff and of a Japanese American institution. volunteers venture out and learn • Visitor and Member Survey: more about my culture A full discussion on the methodology Responses taken from an online and others. I didn’t utilized for the project’s research— survey of 1,000 visitors, members, or facilitated by Los Angeles–based supporters know until this survey Campbell Rinker, a veteran audience • Trending Survey: Follow-up con- that I know very little and marketing research company ducted with 1,200 visitors, members, about my own culture as specializing in the nonprofit sector or supporters (selected through a competitive • Cultural Survey: Responses taken well as others…Thank process)—is available in Appendix through a national survey panel of you, great survey! I. The challenges and opportunities 1,500 respondents involved in the development of new —Research participant survey tools to track, record, and The research components were devel- quantify how audiences perceive their oped in partnership with Campbell cultural identity and the impact this Rinker, based upon the established information has on a culturally specific essential questions and project goals. museum bear additional attention. Initially, much effort was spent in an attempt to focus on “new” audiences Deciding What to Measure only; however, it quickly became evident that before finding out where The audience research included both the Museum could go, it must first external and internal constituencies, know from where it was starting. This studied through a variety of means. realization led to the establishment of

18 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Creating Cultural/Ethnic Audience Surveys

research that tracked current Museum • Museum of Chinese in America Working with the supporters, members, and visitors in (New York) Japanese American addition to research that recorded • National Hispanic Cultural Center National Museum the perceptions of nonvisitors. (Albuquerque) • National Museum of American Jewish as part of the Irvine Consulting with Peer History (Philadelphia) initiative has been eye Organizations: Creating • The National Underground Railroad opening, especially in a Feedback Loop Freedom Center (Cincinnati) • Skirball Cultural Center (Los Angeles) highlighting the issues we The information-gathering phase also • Wing Luke Asian Museum (Seattle) share—explorations into involved collecting input through a series of peer and community The rich and candid discussion dur- relevance, engagement convenings. These convenings rep- ing the daylong meeting allowed of young leadership, resented a tremendous opportunity participants to share concerns, ideas, and interdisciplinary for the Museum, allowing project and suggestions around the topic staff to confirm and/or challenge the of engaging the next generation of art practice as cultural findings of the professional audi- audiences. The main issue on many instigator… ence research while simultaneously professionals’ minds was sustainabil- This has been an informing stakeholders about the ity, a topic that proved even timelier changes they hoped to implement. with the major economic downturn in amazing experience late 2008. The feedback provided by for me—transforming Representatives from 11 peer institu- these colleagues informed the cultural my understanding tions—selected based upon similarity study survey and helped to deepen in size and content—arrived in Los the thinking behind the project. of innovation and Angeles on August 4, 2007, to discuss leadership in museum the most pressing challenges facing Additional input was gathered via culturally specific arts organizations and a series of three community forums professionals. to ensure that the project design yielded focused on different segments of —James G. Leventhal, Director results relevant to other institutions. the Japanese American community: of Development and Marketing Participating organizations included: leadership, non-California core Judah L. Magnes Museum (Berkeley, California) supporters, and younger genera- • Arab American National Museum tions. Partnering with the California (Dearborn, Michigan) Japanese American Community • California African American Museum Leadership Council (CJACLC), the (Los Angeles) Museum conducted a one-day confer- • Charles H. Wright Museum of African ence in Los Angeles on September American History (Detroit) 21, 2007, to discuss the future of the • Chinese American Museum Japanese American community in (Los Angeles) an increasingly multiracial America. • Judah L. Magnes Museum (Berkeley, Members of CJACLC include repre- California) sentatives from organizations such as:

19 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Creating Cultural/Ethnic Audience Surveys

➤ College students take part in a facilitated discussion at JANM, examining their future role in the Japanese American community and the Museum. Photo by Richard Murakami

• Hapa Issues Forum audiences, and engagement of the next • Intercollegiate Nikkei Council of generation of leaders and supporters. Southern California • Japanese American Citizens League Another community forum was held • Japanese American Cultural & in Denver, Colorado, on July 5, 2008, Community Center, Los Angeles during the Museum’s national confer- • Japanese Cultural & Community ence entitled Whose America? Who’s Center of Northern California American? Diversity, Social Justice, and • Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Civil Liberties, which allowed the proj- Southern California ect team to solicit feedback and opin- • Little Tokyo Service Center, ions from national constituents in a Los Angeles series of two focus group–like settings. • Nikkei Federation The final forum occurred on January 25, 2009, in partnership with the The conference, facilitated in part Japanese American Citizens League by Dr. Mitchell Maki, Dean of and UCLA’s Nikkei Student Union. the College of Health and Human Entitled “LT [Little Tokyo] and Me: A Services at California State University, Survey of Youth,” the forum brought Dominguez Hills, vividly high- together students and community lighted the fact that the leaders of leaders to discuss the students’ role community-based organizations were in the future of Los Angeles’ Little also wrestling with similar issues Tokyo district, the Japanese American of sustainability, diversity of future community, and the Museum.

20 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Creating Cultural/Ethnic Audience Surveys

New technology, such as JANM’s photo “booth” which uploaded digital images to a flickr site, allows younger audiences to connect with museums in new ways.

Photo by Gary Ono

Other Things to Consider: respondents were between the ages of The Impacts of Technology, 45 and 64, and 25 percent were older Terminology, and Timing than 65. In fact, Campbell Rinker uncovered a larger issue when trying Technology to contact members via phone—the Recent advancements in technology advent of caller ID, call blocking, and have greatly expanded the options— voice mail made it difficult for call some of which, such as Internet centers to get people on the phone to surveys and PDA-assisted data record- answer initial questions or invite them ing, are more affordable than ever to attend focus groups. Anecdotal before—available to museums and evidence showed members to be more 38% of Americans age nonprofit organization when collect- skeptical of phone requests than those 65+ go online or use ing information from visitors and received via email, which ultimately computers, compared non-visitors alike. These technologies, led to the decision to completely however, can pose both an oppor- eliminate the phone interview com- with 74% of 50–64- tunity and a challenge depending ponent of the audience research. year-olds, 86% of on the type of technology used. 30–49-year-olds, Terminology With an older member constituency, Project staff found another challenge and 91% of 18–29- the project team wondered if the use when debates arose regarding survey year-olds (and about of Internet surveys would mean that language, especially during the these members would be left voice- creation of the cultural survey. With 95% of teenagers). less. Contrary to this assumption, many Americans using words such —Pew Internet and American Life Project approximately 50 percent of survey as “race,” “ethnicity,” “nationality,”

21 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Creating Cultural/Ethnic Audience Surveys

and “culture” interchangeably, much Timing discussion went into how to best Even current events—such as the phrase questions. In the end, surveys historic election of the nation’s first generally used the phrase “ethnicity African American president and or cultural background.” “Race,” on an international economic crisis— the other hand, was only utilized showed their impacts upon the survey. when asking respondents to define While all efforts were made to either themselves, and even then it was used note and/or mitigate the effects of in conjunction with “ethnicity.” these various socioeconomic influences, in the end only the collec- While issues with language and tion of additional data will provide technology were anticipated from the a clearer picture of how Americans start, what was completely unexpected truly view their cultural affiliations. was the discovery that respondents to the cultural survey were up to three Unfortunately, while the Museum times more likely to have completed was able to compile a diverse and college and/or hold advanced degrees rich portfolio of information about across all racial and ethnic groups. audience expectations, needs, and The current hypothesis is that the well- desires, the time between Year 1 educated respondents were more inter- and Year 3 of the project was not ested in the survey topic and therefore long enough to track significant more likely to complete it compared to and ongoing changes in audience those with less education. As a result, perceptions. Despite this challenge, the cultural survey was redeployed Campbell Rinker identified several to 300 participants with high school key areas where change occurred. diplomas (or a lower level of education) in order to balance the data.

22 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Salon Pop Case Study 1: Collaboration with a Maven (Giant Robot)

TheLos Angeles Downtown News described the audience at the Giant Robot Biennale: 50 Issues as “an eclectic mix of ages and cultures with plenty of young, hip and tattooed types.” Photo by Gary Ono

During the research process— Oh, Pryor Praczukowski, Souther The exhibition was well attended whether in the focus groups or the Salazar, Sashie Masakatsu, Eishi throughout its run, in part because online survey—visitors expressed Takaoka, and Adrian Tomine—who of collaborative programming with a desire for programming relating had been featured in the magazine’s MOCA, publicity through the Giant to American and Japanese past issues. As a “maven”—the term, Robot site and blog, and a viral—and pop culture. In Fall 2007 JANM whose widespread use is based upon inexpensive—marketing campaign. approached Eric Nakamura, the Malcolm Gladwell’s 2000 book The The simple act of allowing visitors co-founder and co-editor of Tipping Point, describes those who to take photos in the galleries using Giant Robot magazine, to help are intense gatherers of information/ their cell phones and digital cameras create an exhibition that would impressions and are the first to pick equaled unprecedented exposure have a short run during the same up on new or emerging trends— for the exhibition through blogs, period that ©MURAKAMI was within the area of Asian American Facebook, and other Web sites. on display at the neighboring pop culture, Giant Robot highlights Geffen Contemporary at MOCA the talents of up-and-coming art- In total, the exhibition took a little (Museum of Contemporary Art). ists, often launching their careers and more than two months of planning exposing a national audience to the and $25,000 to create, a fraction The result wasGiant Robot Biennale: contributions of Asian Americans. of the time and resources that the 50 Issues (November 3, 2007–January Museum normally spent on exhibi- 13, 2008), which celebrated the maga- The public opening on November tion development. The exhibition also zine’s fiftieth issue with artwork by an 3, 2007, was the largest in Museum attracted new sponsorship opportuni- ethnically diverse group of 10 cutting- history, with more than 2,700 ties from companies such as Scion and edge artists—APAK, Gary Baseman, people attending; many more were interTrend Communications, Inc. David Choe, Seonna Hong, Saelee turned away at the door at closing.

23 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Findings from the Once the data was gathered—or its programs and exhibitions. In fact, Field, Learning in was in the process of being gath- the Japanese American nonmember ered—the findings were shared focus group listed some programs— the Organization with Museum staff, leadership, such as a free summer concert series and volunteers as the first stage on its Plaza or an exhibition on taiko of the implementation phase. (Japanese drumming)—as things Next the data was used to test they would like the Museum to pres- new programmatic models— ent, not realizing the Museum had such as Salon Pop (see page already done those exact things. 16 for model description)—and inform a three-year institutional Even more unsettling was the dis- strategic plan, which identi- covery that a number of Japanese fied target audiences, planned Americans also viewed the Museum for programmatic changes, and as aloof—using words like “uppity” implemented findings in organi- and “elitist”—and removed from the zational and budgetary areas. Japanese American community.

This project phase was the most dif- Acknowledge ficult because the directions suggested external perceptions. by the findings challenged previously held assumptions and encouraged What does the public the exploration of new engagement really think about you? possibilities in programs, marketing, communications, and development. The actions suggested by the While the research data provided data and their strategic implications several communication and market- are further described in Appendix II: ing suggestions—such as converting Summary of Audience Research. printed materials into PDF formats to increase the ease of distribution In July 2007 Campbell Rinker pre- online—perhaps the most important Before they had the sented the following four emergent realization that arose out of it was that themes summarized below to the the Museum needed to first under- new building they were Museum’s Board of Trustees. These stand the unintended consequences in the old Buddhist four themes in turn led to five key of its past communication strategies. temple. And there I felt areas of institutional learning. Previous strategies promoted the this closeness…But I Get the Word Out Museum as “world-class,” leading to the don’t feel that sense in misconception that the Museum had Every focus group and a major- left behind its grassroots and commu- the big place anymore. ity of online surveys noted that the nity-based origins. While the Museum —Research participant Museum needed to better publicize could buy more ads, print more

24 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Findings from the Field, Learning in the Organization

Museum staff discuss programmatic offerings with the public via social networking sites such as Facebook.

With 75 percent of adults ages 18 to 24 using social networking sites and with older adults also log- ging in (the number of adult users has more than quadrupled in the last four years), the Museum, like many nonprofits, turned to Web 2.0 techniques to connect with younger audiences.10 Museum staff have since developed a Facebook group, a Twitter account (jamuseum), and a YouTube channel (janmdotorg). Instead of encountering a cold or elitist organization, visitors meet Koji, the Museum’s Public Programs Manager, or Clement, its Art Director, who invite them to events, ask for their suggestions, and offer newsletters, and send more emails, special discounts or opportunities. none of this would be effective without first addressing these perceptions. Enliven the Museum

Today the Museum has focused on Focus groups and surveys both connecting—and reconnecting—with noted a lack of warmth or feeling audiences through networking, much of welcome based on the outward 10. Internet statistics from the Pew Internet and as the Museum did 25 years ago when appearance of the Museum. Some American Life Project, a part of the Pew Research Center. Additional statistics on it was first created. The main differ- even thought that the Museum Internet usage by generation is available at ence, however, lies in the many social was closed or not incorporated http://www.pewinternet.org/. networking sites that exist today. into the rest of Little Tokyo.

25 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Findings from the Field, Learning in the Organization

Food fans line up outside of the Museum for fusion delights such as kimchi quesadillas and Korean tacos.

Photo by Clement Hanami

Furthermore, it became apparent will be spent at museums. Previously, You go in and it’s like that most of the key competitors for museums were places to visit. Today super quiet and there’s people’s leisure time were not necessar- they are places to experience—with just this big, empty space. ily amusement parks or other art insti- the definition of “experience” evolving tutions, but typical everyday activities to include more and more activities —Research participant such as going to the movies, dining, or in less time. This idea of “leisure at hanging out with friends. Participants efficient scale” is described by David noted that the Museum could tap into Touve and Steven Tepper from the these interests by creating an area— Curb Center of Art, Enterprise and free space or green space—and an Public Policy, Vanderbilt University, atmosphere that encouraged visitors to in this way: “People are seeking more come and gather, not necessarily to see flexible affiliations—where they can the exhibitions but just to hang out. move in and out of groups to fit their busy schedules and spontaneous Learn the landscape. leisure impulses. They are also patron- izing those entities that can more 11. “Leisure in America: Searching for the How is the twenty-first-century efficiently provide services and a range Forest amongst the Trees” by David Touve museum visitor different? of cultural activities—mega churches, and Steven Tepper, commissioned by the Borders Books, theme parks, casinos— Getty Leadership Institute and National Arts what sociologist George Ritzer calls Strategies for the “Cultural Organizations One of the numerous differences 11 And Changing Leisure Trends” convening, ‘cathedrals of consumption.’” May 10–11, 2007, at the Getty Center in between twenty-first-century visi- Los Angeles. Copyright © 2007 J. Paul tors and the visitors of years past is While the Museum has no plans to Getty Trust. their expectations of how their time become a “cathedral of consumption,”

26 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Findings from the Field, Learning in the Organization

➤ TheSecret Identities program highlighted parallels between Asian Americans and comic book heroes, describing superheroes as “the ulti- mate immigrants” in their migra- tion from other planets to Earth. Photo by Richard Murakami

it has reexamined the use of its space, Create Active Programming activating it in ways that provide visitors with more leisure activities— Research participants frequently such as shopping and eating—while brought up program ideas that still remaining true to its mission. On related to their day-to-day interests an average Thursday evening—when and/or were more active in nature. the Museum offers free admission to These topics included: food, popu- the public—a visitor to the Museum’s lar culture, music, gardening, and ...Develop programs that Plaza will find a line snaking around film. In other words, they wanted to relate to...pop culture. the corner for the Kogi Truck, a Los be able to interact with exhibitions, Angeles food phenomenon housed not just look at them; they wanted For example, [display] in a taco truck and serving fusion the exhibitions to be relevant to ethnically diverse young Asian and Mexican food. A visit to the them, not just about the past. artists that exhibit Asian Museum’s Lobby in December 2008 would have revealed a display of cus- Multiracial and younger respon- art style in their work or tom vinyl Daruma dolls—a futuristic dents (under age 35) were much are simply of Japanese version of a traditional Japanese New more likely than Japanese American ancestry themselves. Year’s folk toy—presented in a collabo- respondents to have attended an ration between the Museum Store and art event or exhibition. Specifically, —Research participant Dacosta Bayley of Chocolate Soop. participants desired exhibitions that

27 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Findings from the Field, Learning in the Organization

featured up-and-coming artists instead vetted, approved, planned, researched, of older, more traditional artists and funded, and implemented. For this programs that explored elements of reason, the Museum created a program Japanese culture that are popular model in Salon Pop, which incorpo- today among youth, such as anime, rates a quicker turnaround time and manga, technology, and music. utilizes fewer funds (which means less fund-raising). Thanks to the Irvine Discover the good hook. Foundation’s AIF grant, the Museum also had a small pool of risk capital …They want to call us What are visitors truly inter- available, which provided seed money the MTV generation I ested in and how can that be for projects and enabled staff to move used to draw them to you? quickly when opportunities presented guess but we tend to feed themselves. More importantly, how- more into things if we ever, the organization as a whole began The Museum quickly discovered to acquire the skills necessary to build can relate to what’s going that while these types of exhibi- its innovative capacity, such as devel- on. And I feel like what tions would indeed entice younger oping the Board’s capability to support gets lost a lot of times and more diverse audiences to new thinking and increasing the visit, visitors often stayed to view Museum’s tolerance for ambiguity.12 for young adults is that the Museum’s permanent exhibi- we’re part of history too. tion Common Ground: The Heart Bring the Story to the Present of Community, which happened to —Research participant be the route they had to take in Participants were especially eager to order to leave the temporary gal- know how the Museum was relevant lery space. During the Giant Robot to them. They indicated that they Biennale: 50 Issues exhibition (see would be more interested in the infor- Salon Pop Case Study 1), there were mation if they could somehow see more visitors in Common Ground themselves reflected in the story being than in the temporary exhibition told. This statement held true for both galleries by the end of the opening younger and multiracial research par- night, with staff leading impromptu ticipants. Specifically, the Museum’s tours of the exhibition due to the Common Ground exhibition, an over- high interest level of new visitors. view of the Japanese American experience from early immigration in the 12. Characteristics of innovation capacity The main issue surrounding the 1880s through the redress movement building adapted from “New Frills or Deep creation of exhibitions and program- in the 1980s, ended abruptly and did Change? Innovation and the Performing Arts Organization” (a presentation by EmcArts to ming that are “current” or “in” is that not include events recognizable to the National Performing Arts Convention, they are often “yesterday’s news” and more recent generations. Denver, Colorado, June 12, 2008). “out” by the time they have been

28 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Findings from the Field, Learning in the Organization

➤ Visitors are confronted with a montage of tabloid images, challenging them to question how the mainstream media impacts popular culture at the most recent Glorious Excess exhibition. Photo by Shane Sato

be utilized in the development of the Establish relevance. exhibitions. This is the next challenge for the Museum’s staff: to see if it can Can your visitor see apply the lessons from this project themselves in the story? to another long-term endeavor.

Aware of this deficiency—which has In the meanwhile, the Museum’s been highlighted to an even greater staff continues to look for ways to degree because of the success of the find points of intersection between kip fulbeck: part asian, 100% hapa the history, art, and culture of and Giant Robot Biennale: 50 Issues Japanese Americans and the lives of exhibitions—the Museum plans to young Americans in interesting and decommission Common Ground and unexpected ways. For an example, replace it in stages with two new see Salon Pop Case Study 2 for more permanent exhibitions set to open in information on the Museum’s partner- 2011 and 2012. The data gathered ship with Mike Shinoda of the band and innovative processes learned will Linkin Park.

29 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Salon Pop Case Study 2: The Intersection of Interests (Mike Shinoda)

Musician and artist Mike Shinoda talks about his artwork, which explores society’s obsession with celebrity culture, consumer addic- tion, and fascination with excess. Photo by Shane Sato

➤ The day following the exhi- On February 4, 2006, the Museum bition opening, DC Shoes, one the honored artist and producer Mike exhibition sponsors, distributed Shinoda at its Annual Gala Dinner Museum passes at the X Games. with the Award of Excellence. A member of the band Linkin Park and lead for his solo project Fort Minor, Shinoda utilized his father’s and aunt’s experiences during World War II in his song “Kenji” (which is Shinoda’s Japanese middle name) on the Fort Minor Rising Tides album.

In 2008 Shinoda’s second public art show debuted at JANM. An exhibition of digital work and original paintings, Mike Shinoda’s Glorious Excess was a two-part interpretation of the classic “vanitas” (a type of still life painting commonly created by Northern European painters in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries).

30 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Photos by Shane Sato

A graduate of the Art Center College fans stood in line for hours outside of of Design in Pasadena, California, the Museum for the openings), tap Shinoda is involved in Linkin Park’s into new revenue sources (approxi- album artwork, band merchandise, mately $22,000 in merchandise sales Web design, and on-stage produc- were recorded during the first two- tion in addition to collaborating hour public opening), and explore with brands such as DC Shoes new marketing opportunities (DC and creating his own artwork. Shoes distributed Museum passes I don’t think many people at their booth at the X Games). Glorious Excess (Born) was displayed know he’s of Japanese in the George T. and Sakaye Aratani Much as the song “Kenji” raised main- American decent…It’s a Central Hall (July 12–August 3, stream awareness about the incarcera- 2008), with proceeds from the sale tion of Japanese Americans and its great way to show that of the art and merchandise going impacts, the Glorious Excess exhibitions there are artists of that to support both Shinoda’s scholar- introduced a wide range of people sort from the community. ship at Art Center and the Museum. to the Museum and its programs, The expanded continuation of the creating a natural point of intersec- —Visitor, Glorious Excess (Born) opening series, Glorious Excess (Dies), was tion between the Museum’s mission displayed in the Weingart Gallery and the work of a music superstar. (August 29–October 4, 2009).

Working with Shinoda allowed the Museum to connect to new and younger audiences (more than 800

31 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Findings from the Field, Learning in the Organization

Let Go of Fear Find the right balance. The final area of learning was not necessarily an emergent theme among Does attracting new audiences our audiences, but it addresses a automatically mean losing major concern expressed by Museum touch with your core? staff and leadership throughout the Re-visioning project: Will providing In the future, as the Museum explores new types of programming mean that the boundary where tolerance gives the Museum will lose the support of way to alienation, it is important its core supporters and donors? to find a balance. The Museum will continue to research, preserve, and The qualitative audience research present the experiences of Japanese showed that the Museum’s members Americans; however, it is now our task believe that researching and sharing to help members and nonmembers the Japanese American experience is alike understand that the definition JANM’s most important function. of “Japanese American” is evolving, These members, who are primarily just as the definition of what it means Japanese American, were the least to be American is also changing. I believe that it’s likely to have visited any other cultural While pivotal moments (such as the museums in the past year and were incarceration of Japanese Americans extremely important less likely than nonmembers to see the during World War II) in history, art, to document Japanese Museum’s role as promoting ethnic and culture will continue to be of American history so and cultural diversity. primary focus, there is still room to explore, expand, and enhance what we we can educate future On the other hand, the qualitative once believed to be finite definitions generations. However, data—including depth interviews, and perceptions. Equally as impor- it’s equally important to focus groups, and community con- tant, the Museum can play a crucial venings—indicated that the Museum’s role in facilitating these discussions, address current issues so members are supportive of program- as it did during the 2009 Imagined that we don’t alienate ming that can capture the interest of Futures Conference (Salon Pop Case their children and grandchildren, who Study 3), which connected students younger generations. they fear are losing their connection and young people with established —Research participant with their Japanese American heritage. professionals in their fields.

32 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Salon Pop Case Study 3: Connecting to the Future (Imagined Futures Conference)

➤ Director Quentin Lee talks to budding filmmakers about the business behind making movies. Photo by Richard Murakami

What does the future hold for the Imagined Futures, a free one-day The Asian American Superhero Anthology Japanese American and Asian conference, was designed to help • Blogs & New Media with Phil Yu of Pacific American communities? up-and-coming artists of all disci- the Angry Asian Man blog What is the role of the young plines start to think about these and • Spoken Word & Hip-Hop with hip- artist in defining our community’s other pertinent questions. Sponsored hop artist and MC Shin-B future? What opportunities and in part by UCLA’s Asian American • Fiction with Naomi Hirahara, award- challenges do young artists face? Studies Center, the conference winning author of the Mas Arai provided college students, young Mysteries professionals, and professional ama- • The Art & Business of Clothing teurs with the opportunity to learn with Ryan Suda, owner of Blacklava from already established and suc- T-Shirts While a lot of places cessful artists and to network with talk about doing other Asian Pacific American artists The entire conference, from pub- in the Los Angeles community. licity to registration, was done programs for the new through the social networking site generation, Imagined Keynote speakers included Giant Facebook. The two conference Futures was one of Robot’s Eric Nakamura and actor facilitators, UCLA graduate stu- George Takei. Following the plenary dent Emily Morishima and JANM the first times I saw a session, participants broke out into Public Programs Manager Koji Sakai, community organization two-hour workshops of their choice: communicated with participants actually trying to do via Facebook, solicited input, and • Filmmaking with director/writer/pro- provided networking opportunities programs for them. ducer Quentin Lee between people with similar interests. —Imagined Futures • Anime & Comics with Jeff Yang and conference participant Parry Shen, editors of Secret Identities: 33 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Key Observations and Encouraging making the shift to a paradigm of Future Directions Organizational Growth innovation and change a smoother experience for staff, volunteers, and This project profoundly changed the board members: way the Museum operates, plans, and presents its programming. By • Be mission-driven embracing innovation, the Museum’s Ensure that any change does in fact leadership and staff have asked advance the organization’s mission. questions, challenged assumptions, It is easy to let enthusiasm take hold, opened themselves up to possibili- which can lead to conflict if others ties, and embraced experimentation. do not see a clear connection to an agreed-upon institutional vision and This process, however, was not an mission. easy one. Over the last three years, • Determine what is strategy and what countless hours went into encourag- is merely a tactic ing organizational growth, including: Similarly, it can be easy to lose sight of the bigger picture when experiment- • Quarterly updates given to all volun- ing with new models and methods of teers and staff detailing project goals, engagement. Having a series of unre- findings, and progress; lated tactics is not the same as having • Professional facilitation of board and a strategy, even if that strategy fails to staff meetings by Dr. Ronald Stewart, work over time. a consultant specializing in nonprofit • Use data to get buy-in and public sector organizational Too often staff will gather audience capacity building, which helped with research and evaluations but then leave the internal alignment of institutional the information in a filing cabinet or expectations, goals, and priorities; desk drawer. Sharing supporting data • The formation of a new volunteer with staff, volunteers, the board, and training and management structure to the community will ensure greater encourage the recruitment of younger buy-in for the need and/or process of volunteers; any changes. • The establishment of a three-year • Utilize facilitators if necessary strategic plan through a series Change can expose underlying organi- of facilitated and non-facilitated zational imbalance or areas of disagree- board and staff retreats; and ment. An outside perspective or an • Management training for senior impartial third party can encourage level staff dialogue, synthesize ideas, and facili- tate compromise. As the Museum underwent these • Invest in risk capital changes, the project team noted some Setting aside an amount of money key observations centered around earmarked for experimentation and

34 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Key Observations and Future Directions

innovation will allow staff to act cost cutting mentality‥‥ If the patient more quickly—and, in some cases, is bleeding, you need to stop that more freely—when presented with first. Then, however, a phase starts opportunities. where leaders ask which parts of their business model are weak (and perhaps Innovation During unsustainable) and that, in turn, can Times of Crisis lead to restructuring and reinvention.” The article goes on to detail how a It cannot be ignored that the finan- “sticking to our knitting” mentality cial downturn of 2008 had seri- can adversely impact a business: “Old- ous and long-term implications for fashioned, linear approaches that rely the nonprofit field. When looking on standard measurement schemes are at instituting change during these often outdated if relied upon solely.”13 tough economic times, the question that many arts organizations The Museum found these lessons to be will ask is this: How can we start particularly true. By challenging old innovative programming, change assumptions—many based upon infor- our organizational structure, and mation collected a decade earlier— still manage to survive—especially if and encouraging the Museum’s staff, we are unsure whether audiences are volunteers, and leadership to stretch willing to pay for “the unknown”? their ways of thinking, this project revealed more efficient models of pro- The answer to this question can be duction, created collaborations with found, in part, in the for-profit sec- new partners, and pointed us toward tor, where major corporations have “blue oceans,” a term used by the turned to innovation in response Wharton article to describe unrealized, to increased competition from for- and therefore uncontested, markets. eign markets, rapid advancements in technology, and the current eco- Specific examples of these imple- nomic downturn. Google Inc., for mented measures and how they example, has instituted Innovation addressed issues of sustainability— Time Off, which encourages their through, for instance, sponsorships engineers to spend 20 percent of their and revenue generation—are further time on projects that interest them. discussed in the various case studies in this paper. Overall, however, A 2008 article from the Wharton one important lesson enabled the 13. “Why an Economic Crisis Could Be the School of the University of Museum to be innovative despite Right Time for Companies to Engage in Pennsylvania noted that an economic economic stress: By dedicating both ‘Disruptive Innovation’” (Knowledge@ Wharton, http://knowledge.wharton.upenn. crisis can, in fact, provide the perfect resources—specifically a small pool edu, the Wharton School of the University of birthplace for innovation: “Loss of of risk capital—and staff time to Pennsylvania, November 12, 2008). revenue and profit will at first instill a innovation, the Museum’s investment

35 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Key Observations and Future Directions

Visitors contemplate Sashie Masakatsu’s “orb paintings” at the Giant Robot Biennale: 50 Issues exhibition.

At its most basic level, this project forced the Museum to reexamine its relationship with its audiences, in particular the institution’s next generation of visitors and supporters. The Museum is no longer just a “place” to visit, but an “entity” worth getting to know. Much as our earliest members supported the Museum’s mission—before there was

Photo by Gary Ono even a physical building—we must now show younger and more diverse was returned multiple times over, audiences their connection to the not only in terms of revenue, but same mission. Efforts must be made also in the opportunity to develop to invite them to come in—into the long-term relationships with its Museum, into a Web site, or into a next generation of audiences. social network—and stay a while, letting them get to know each other in Future Directions addition to the Museum and creating new communities in the process. While the last three years have allowed us to answer one set of Now that the Museum better under- questions, they have also opened up stands how to engage younger and another set of equally important ques- more diverse audiences, how does it tions for us to consider in the future. retain these audiences over time?

To fully engage younger and more The questions have now changed diverse audiences and ensure from “doing” to “maintaining.” that the Museum’s work is reflec- With successful exhibitions and tive of their experiences, what programs demonstrating that new additional changes need to be audiences can indeed find relevancy made within the organization? in its programming, the Museum is inclined to accept innovative ideas

36 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Key Observations and Future Directions

and proposals—what was consid- change throughout its organizational ered “risky” three years ago is now structure, leveraging these changes “comfortable.”Is this then a moment into opportunities to address issues of to repeat the established model sustainability? (more Shinoda, more Giant Robot, more pop culture) or can this inno- How do JANM’s experiences vation be pushed further to look compare to other culturally at how we can engage these audi- specific institutions? ences and retain them over time? The Japanese American National With this in mind, the project team Museum’s experiences throughout this has begun to formulate an additional project have proven unique, due in set of essential questions: part to the solutions that the institution chose to implement. The complex • How can the Museum sustain the nature of the questions being posed implemented changes over the long and the identity issues being explored, term? What is the return on invest- however, are shared among many arts ment over time when working to and cultural organizations. Therefore, retain these audiences? despite the novelty of this project, many • How can the Museum ensure that these institutions are currently or will soon audiences become a viable means of be challenged to reevaluate the needs future and long-lasting support? If the of their rapidly changing audiences. old measures of success (attendance, membership, etc.) are no longer com- If other arts organizations are willing to pletely valid, then what new measures conduct similar analyses of their audi- must be accepted by the organization ences, the results yielded will illuminate (revenue generation, sponsorship and new directions and possible solutions, promotion opportunities, etc.)? fostering an ongoing dialogue to address • Now that we are aware of how we the vital needs of our institutions. are perceived externally, how can the Museum efficiently change these per- The Museum’s staff and leadership ceptions about itself and its programs? remain committed to providing • How can the Museum transfer a sense ongoing information and updates on of ownership in the institution to the their progress to engage new audi- next generation, creating a greater con- ences in innovative ways. We welcome nection and commitment to its mission? the opportunity to work with like- • How can the organization effectively minded organizations on this topic change its organizational culture to in the future, and we appreciate the allow for ongoing innovation over support and intellectual partnership time? How does the Museum con- offered by many institutions and col- tinue to embrace innovation and leagues throughout this process.

37 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Appendix I: In 2006 the Japanese American following types of participants: National Museum (JANM) sought • Members of the Museum, any age Summary of Audience and received a multiyear grant Research Methodology • Japanese American nonmembers, from The James Irvine Foundation any age to conduct a multifaceted • General population, non–Japanese study that sought to: American, 30 years of age or older • General population, non–Japanese • Research and assess techniques of American, under 30 years of age audience engagement; • Multiethnic group with Asian ances- • Identify best practices that will benefit try, any age other cultural organizations adapting • Japanese-speaking group (conducted to shifting audience demographics; in Japanese with a translator) and • Examine findings and implement Other than the member group, recommendations for organizational respondents were recruited through development. the focus group facilities’ lists of local residents and were not informed that To help achieve these goals, JANM the group was conducted for the ben- partnered with Campbell Rinker, efit of the Japanese American National a marketing research firm that Museum. specializes in nonprofit organizations, to conduct qualitative and It was challenging to recruit partici- quantitative research among sev- pants for the member group. Initial eral targeted audiences, including response to telephone calls from the Museum members, staff, volunteers, focus group facilities was low, and board members, community lead- response remained low even after ers, and the general population. members were mailed a postcard from the Museum notifying them of the Qualitative Research opportunity to participate. Members were then sent an email invitation to The qualitative portion of the participate in the group. Those who study consisted of 6 focus groups, responded were officially recruited 15 depth interviews, and 139 after being screened to ensure they online qualitative surveys. met the group requirements.

Focus Groups Campbell Rinker worked closely The six focus groups were con- with staff at the Museum to create a ducted at three different facili- discussion guide to gain feedback from ties in the Los Angeles area and participants on topics of interest in an consisted of eleven participants unbiased, open manner. each. The groups contained the

38 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Appendix I: Summary of Audience Research Methodology

Staff and Volunteer Survey Constituent Online Survey to help ensure respondents’ confi- To help ensure confidentiality and Given the goals of the research and dentiality. A total of 1,000 survey to provide the opportunity for open, the difficulty in engaging members via responses were gathered, represent- unguarded feedback, the seventh phone during the qualitative phase, ing a 10 percent response rate. focus group, intended for staff mem- Campbell Rinker and key members of bers and volunteers, was converted the Museum’s staff determined that an Trending Survey into an online qualitative survey. online study would be the best course To track changes in visitor and mem- of action to reach members, visitors, ber behavior and attitudes, Campbell All JANM staff members and volun- and other constituents, despite the fact Rinker and the Museum conducted a teers were invited to participate in that online participants might skew follow-up study in May 2009 among the online survey, which consisted slightly younger than the Museum’s the same constituent population of a handful of multiple-choice and actual membership and visitor popula- surveyed in 2007 through 2008. rating questions along with sev- tion. The actual age of the Museum’s eral open-ended questions. Only a membership is not known, so the The same email invitation methodol- summary of the overall results was researchers were not able to weight the ogy was employed, and the initial shared with the Museum. Actual data to reflect membership. Still, the 10,000 constituents were invited to quotes were not shared in order to researchers feel confident that this data the 2009 follow-up study, along with ensure participants’ confidentiality. is reflective of the Museum’s member- an additional 3,100 new names added ship and visitor population as a whole. to the Constant Contact list after the Board Members and Community Further, the analysis notes any signifi- initial survey closed in 2008. Out of Leaders Depth Interviews cant or important differences between 13,232 invitations, 1,215 respondents Fifteen depth interviews were conducted younger and older respondents. completed the follow-up study, repre- with board members and community senting a 9.2 percent response rate. leaders at various locations in Los Names for the survey research were Angeles and Orange counties, with gathered from onsite raffle forms, Only key questions from the initial the majority of them occurring at the exhibition forms, and short visi- study were including in the trending Museum. The interviews also included tor intercept surveys conducted by study, namely visitation and per- board members from out of state as Museum volunteers, as well as the ception questions. The results were well. The interviews, which lasted Museum’s own database. Constituents presented to show any differences approximately one hour, were conducted included members, visitors, and between three key groups: All 2009 using a discussion guide developed those who signed onto the Museum’s respondents; 2009 respondents who with the assistance of Museum staff. Constant Contact list, who were were not invited to the initial survey; potentially neither members nor and those who were invited to both Quantitative Research visitors. Over a 12-month period— surveys. Trends were presented only from February 2007 to February between the 2008 and 2009 respon- The quantitative portion of the study 2008—approximately 10,000 invi- dents who were invited to both surveys. consisted of an online survey among tations were sent from Campbell Museum constituents, a follow-up Rinker; these were crafted to appear Cultural Identity Online Survey trend study among the same popula- as if they came directly from JANM. As part of an ongoing study regard- tion, and a cultural identity study Campbell Rinker was prominently ing audience engagement in an among the general U.S. population. mentioned as a partner in the research increasingly diverse America, the

39 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Appendix I: Summary of Audience Research Methodology

Museum chose to conduct a study U.S. population). Respondents were Respondents were two to three times regarding cultural identity, expres- allowed to self-identify their racial and more likely to have completed col- sion, and engagement among the ethnic backgrounds. These verbatim lege and/or hold advanced degrees general national population rather responses were then categorized, and across all racial and ethnic groups. than pursue more research among for reporting purposes, grouped based The current hypothesis is that the local populations. It was felt that the on standard U.S. Census categories: well-educated respondents were more qualitative research provided a wealth Non-Hispanic White, Black, interested in the survey topic and of information specifically for the Hispanic, Asian, and Other, which therefore more likely to complete it Japanese American National Museum includes Mixed Race, Pacific Islander, compared to those with less education. and that further survey research in Hawaiian and Native American. the Los Angeles area would not be The survey was redeployed, and an as effective in meeting the project Throughout the survey, respondents additional 300 respondents with only goals as would a national survey. were asked about their awareness and high school diplomas (or a lower level expression of their ethnic or cultural of education) were captured in order to The goals of this study included: identities as well as their engagement balance out the sample. Consequently, • Identifying best practices that will with their ethnic or cultural groups. 300 well-educated respondents who benefit other cultural organizations Although there are distinct differences reflected a similar gender and racial/ adapting to shifting audience demo- behind the concepts of race, ethnic- ethnic background as the newly graphics; and ity, and culture, a review of secondary acquired group were dropped from the • Examining findings and implementing research suggests that typical Americans sample, allowing the overall sample recommendations for organizational do not dwell on these differences or goal of 1,500 to remain intact. The development to accommodate this are even aware of their true sociologi- data was then weighted based on new audience. cal definitions. Therefore, for ease of key demographics (e.g., education deployment, the survey generally used and age) within each racial group to Initially, a total of 1,498 responses the phrase “ethnicity or cultural back- reflect current U.S. census data. were collected from online Internet ground”; those two concepts were used panels. Roughly 750 respondents each together throughout the survey. “Race,” Additionally, Museum constituents were collected using two different on the other hand, was only utilized who were invited to the trend study panel sources to help minimize bias. as a way to ask participants to define were also invited to participate in Given the large sample parameters themselves, and even then it was used the cultural identity study as a com- (general population), the likelihood of in conjunction with “ethnicity.” parison group. Overall, 1,205 JANM overlapping respondents was minimal. constituents chose to complete the After analyzing the initial respondent study. The difference between the In order to capture enough responses pool, the data revealed an extremely Museum’s constituents and the general from minority populations—whose well-educated respondent set. Internet population was noted in Campbell population size would render samples tend to be populated with Rinker’s report to the institution. insignificant—a quota was established well-educated respondents, and to limit the number of Caucasian/ the plan was to weight the sample Copies of specific discussion guides European American respondents to to be more reflective of the general and surveys from the quantitative 350 (representing 23 percent of the population. However, this skew was and qualitative components of this sample vs. 80 percent as found in the more than even a typical panel sees: project are available upon request.

40 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Appendix II: Qualitative Findings 2. Enliven the Museum It’s kind of always dead…there’s Summary of Audience Research Four common themes emerged nothing really going on there. from the six focus groups, the depth interviews, and the online You go in and it’s like super quiet and staff and member survey: there’s…just this big, empty space.

1. Get the Word Out …the Japanese museum to me has I would say the first thing they need to always been kind of an elitist group do is get the message out, because I’ve and they’ve always kind of been like probably frequented a couple of museums “Well, we’re here…and when you guys a year and I’ve never even heard of it. are ready you can come in and see us.”

Sponsor something…like a con- Participants who were aware of the cert series in the summertime. Museum described it as cold, dark, or even closed. When asked to list what I think advertising and PR is huge, they liked about museums in general, and I think that…like, what grabs many described museums that had a my attention a lot of times is if they more active, lively presence. Several put the banners on the light poles. All participants discussed museums as the time I’ll see that and I’ll be like a “destination,” a place to hang out “Cool, that’s interesting” at the Getty or to gather with friends, rather or whatever. They should use that. than simply a place to see artifacts.

Comments from participants suggest Further, most of the key competi- that awareness of the Museum and tors for people’s leisure time are not its mission—let alone recent exhibi- necessarily amusement parks or other tions—is rather low among the general art institutions, but rather typical non–Japanese American population. everyday activities such as going to the beach, reading, dining, or hanging Additionally, comments from the out with friends. The Museum has an nonmember Japanese American opportunity to tap into these areas of participants suggest a potentially interests by creating a space and an intentional alienation from the atmosphere that encourage visitors Museum. This group views the to come and gather, not necessar- Museum as aloof and removed from ily to see the exhibitions, but to just the Japanese American community, hang out. Throughout the groups, and they are largely unaware of its several participants made reference current efforts within the community. to an “open space” or “free space”

41 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Appendix II: Summary of Audience Research

where they could relax and meet up 4. Bring the Story to the Present nonmember will be used throughout with friends. This may prove a strong …it would have to be relatable. I feel this section unless otherwise specified. draw for the younger generation. like, I don’t know…in my age group between like 18 and about 26 … Members and Nonmembers 3. Create Active Programming they want to call us the MTV gen- The online constituent survey revealed …develop exhibits and programs that eration, I guess, but we tend to feed key differences between member and relate to…pop culture. For example, more into things if we can relate to nonmember respondents. The typical an ethnically diverse group of young what’s going on. And I feel like what Museum member is a third-generation artists that exhibit Asian art style in gets lost a lot of times for young adults Japanese American and is likely to their work or are simply of Japanese is that we’re part of history too. be married. The typical nonmember American ancestry themselves. respondent, on the other hand, is Improve the Common Ground exhibi- more likely to be ethnically diverse; I love going to shows where they have tion to make it a much more interactive if Japanese American, most are either interactive screens…you can get more gallery for multiple learning styles. third or fourth generation. In contrast information right there. And you don’t to members, nonmembers are signifi- have to…walk around and find out if As touched upon earlier, partici- cantly younger and less likely to be anyone’s there [to answer questions]. pants want to see exhibitions that are married. Yet, like members, they are relevant to them. They want to see highly educated. …have anime or have something themselves in some way in the exhi- modern that would draw young bitions, and they are expecting that For members, the most influential people. Something interesting and connection when they visit a museum. factor in their decision to purchase a different, something different than Because younger audiences want to Museum membership is to support we’re used to seeing every day, that’s see relevance and to relate to objects the Museum’s mission. This mindset how you get people in there. in a museum, include their story. represents that of the current membership base—an older, more loyal Participants noted that a key attri- Quantitative Findings generation. Although they still value bute of a great museum is inter- the Museum’s mission, former mem- active exhibitions. Increasingly, Upon analysis of the quantitative data, bers and nonmembers tend to place visitors to museums are expecting it was determined that the overall more emphasis on tangible benefits an “all-encompassing experience.” member and nonmember profiles of membership such as saving money They want all of their senses to be did conform to the theory that the on frequent visits, the location of the affected, not just sight. They want “member” category was made up of museum, exhibitions offered, and to be able to interact with exhibi- the Museum’s original core support- specific membership benefits. This tions, not just look at them. They ers—primarily Japanese American may indicate a shift in ideology from want the exhibit to be relevant and older—while the “nonmember” one where members joined solely to to them, not just about the past. category represented younger, more support the Museum’s mission to one In short, they want a more active diverse audiences. For ease of report- focused more on frequency of use and role in their learning experience. ing, the general terms of member/ personal enjoyment. The Museum’s

42 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Appendix II: Summary of Audience Research

mission is important, but it alone Membership by Age may not be enough to justify a year’s 100 membership for these nonmembers. Under 35 (n=194)

35–54 (n=450)

The Role of Art at a 75 78 55+ (n=326)

Culturally Specific Museum 70 Members and nonmembers agree that the Museum’s most important 50 role is that of a cultural institution, 46 followed by its role as an educa- 40 tional and community resource. The 25 Museum’s role as an art museum was 22 14 considered most important by only 13 8 8 a small fraction of the respondents. 0 Yes, I’m currently No, I have never I’m not currently a However, the initial constituent study a member been a member member, but I was revealed that art exhibitions are a main one in the past draw for visitors, and they rate highly on a list of new museum offerings The Most Important Function of the Museum that constituents would be interested 100 Member (n=574) in. In fact, their stated activities and Non-Member (n=417) preferences indicate that they are more likely to have attended an art exhibi- 75 tion in the past and to attend one in the future rather than an educational 58 or community event. When asked 50 about the likelihood of their visiting 47 the Museum again to see an exhibition that was not similar to one they 25 attended, respondents who visited 19 13 14 14 a pop culture exhibition or an art 11 12 exhibition were more likely to say they 0 would return to visit another type of Researching and Promoting ethnic Providing educational Collecting and exhibition compared to those who sharing the Japanese and cultural diversity opportunities for a housing historical American experience younger generation records and artifacts visited a cultural history exhibition.

Preserving Culture and sharing the Japanese American more necessary to acknowledge and While Promoting Diversity experience. For nonmembers, promot- explore the multicultural nature of A strong majority of members and ing ethnic and cultural diversity is American society than members do. nonmembers say the Museum’s most perceived as the second-most impor- Museum members—largely Japanese important function is researching tant function—and they deem it Americans—were the least likely to

43 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Appendix II: Summary of Audience Research

have visited any other cultural muse- to have learned about the Museum for maintaining relevance to current ums in the past year. The Museum can from walking by it, the Internet or events, allowing the visitor to relate reach out to other cultures, promote email, or a teacher, and less likely to to exhibition content, and provok- diversity, and provide education, but have learned about it from family or ing thought. Multiracial visitors were these must be grounded in or relate friends, newspapers, or direct mail. more likely than Japanese Americans to the Japanese American experience to want to see similar exhibitions. so as not to alienate its core sup- Younger respondents (under the age port group of current members. of 35) showed a stronger preference The trending study revealed a slight for hands-on interactive exhibitions, decline in respondents’ perceptions of Society and Culture in enhanced public programs, music, the Museum’s ability to help people a Changing World and theatre or dance performances. understand America’s cultural and The Museum’s response to society and Multiracial respondents were much ethnic diversity, although the overall culture in a changing world is viewed more likely than Japanese American rating of the Museum in this area somewhat differently among older respondents to have attended an art remains high. The decline was seen respondents. Almost two in three event or exhibition and were more among almost all age groups and respondents aged 35 and older feel likely to say they go to museums among members and nonmembers. people can maintain traditions and when they have some free time. Digging deeper into the survey data cultural identity, even as the world However, they were also less likely revealed that respondents acquired changes. Although the majority of to have shopped at the store, con- during the Polaroid activity held younger respondents agree with this tributed money or products, or in conjunction with the kip fulbeck as well, they are significantly more contributed their time. The same exhibition, as well as names gathered likely to say that while traditions holds true for younger respondents. around that time show the sharpest are important, they can be adjusted declines in these ratings from 2007 to reflect changes in the world. A Successful Exhibition: to 2009. Thekip fulbeck exhibition Multiracial and Interactive not only drew large numbers, but it Trends Relating to Younger With its emphasis on a multiracial also deeply resonated with visitors and Multiracial Audiences society, kip fulbeck: part asian, 100% and members to a degree that hasn’t Specifically, multiracial respondents hapa was seen by a higher proportion been repeated since. Respondents were less likely to have learned about of nonmember respondents than any believe that the Museum still deliv- the Museum from friends or family other exhibition referenced during ers in helping visitors appreciate (38 percent vs. 45 percent) or from the fielding duration. The exhibition America’s diversity, but not to the direct mail (4 percent vs. 17 percent) had an interactive component, which degree they felt during or imme- compared to Japanese American younger nonmembers found appeal- diately after that exhibition. respondents. Multiracial respondents ing: Visitors could take Polaroid snap- were more likely to have learned shots of themselves and place them Addendum to Appendix II about the Museum from teachers on the wall alongside the artwork (6 percent vs. 1 percent), Internet included in the exhibition. Multiracial Cultural Study or email (10 percent vs. 4 percent), respondents, females, and those under The Museum also commissioned and just walking by the Museum 35 were most likely to have seen Campbell Rinker to conduct a study (15 percent vs. 4 percent). Similarly, this exhibition compared to other regarding cultural identity, expression, younger respondents are more likely groups. It received its highest ratings and engagement among the general

44 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Appendix II: Summary of Audience Research

population. The goals of the study Views of Own Identity were to identify best practices that 100

will benefit other cultural organiza- Asian (n=308)

tions’ adaptation to shifting audience Black (n=363)

demographics and to examine find- 75 Hispanic (n=293) ings and implement recommenda- White (n=357) tions for organizational development Other (n=170) 64 to accommodate new audiences. 50

45 43 In order to quantify personal percep- 39 tions of identity and cultural affiliations, 37 25 respondents from a national panel were 25 25 25 22 22 19 asked about of their awareness and 16 14 16 15 17 16 15 9 11 expression of their ethnic or cultural 0 identities as well as their engagement I find ways I tend to express I only think about I don’t generally with their ethnic or cultural groups. of exploring/ my ethnic identity my ethnic identity think about my Respondents were allowed to self-iden- expressing my ethnic primarily during occasionally, but I ethnic identity. identity daily. specific times of want to explore or tify their racial and ethnic backgrounds. the year or during learn more about my These verbatim responses were then specific occasions. ethnic background. categorized, and for reporting purposes, grouped based on standard U.S. Census categories: Non-Hispanic White, Black, generally think about their ethnic • Respondents also strongly agree that Hispanic, Asian, and Other, which identity. At two-thirds, Whites are their cultural or ethnic identity has included Mixed Race, Pacific Islander, the most likely to say they do not influenced their sense of value, par- Hawaiian, and Native American. think about their ethnic identity. ticularly Asian respondents. Blacks are Only a quarter of Asians feel this way. more likely than other group to say Although the younger generation is • Asians are significantly more likely that their heritage makes them proud, more likely to express their culture and to express their cultural identity enhances their sense of who they ethnicity on a daily basis, a major- during specific times of the year are, and makes them feel connected ity of respondents do not find ways than are other groups. Hispanics and to those around them. In contrast, to express it on a daily basis. For the Blacks are the most likely groups to Whites have the least connection to most part, focusing on one’s ethnic- find ways of expressing their cultural their culture and ethnic identity. They ity is not an everyday occurrence identity daily. Generally, younger are significantly more likely than any for people. Respondents are most respondents (under age 35), particu- other group to feel that their ethnic likely to experience their culture and larly younger White respondents, are identity has little impact on how they other cultures through food, which is more likely than older respondents think of themselves, and they tend to consistent with past project findings. to say they find ways of express- agree less often with the other state- ing their identity on a daily basis ments in general. Additional findings include: and wish to learn more about their • Asians are significantly more likely to • Aside from Asians and Whites, four background. have agreed that their ethnic iden- in ten respondents say they do not tity influences their lifestyle choices

45 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Appendix II: Summary of Audience Research

Effect of Ethnicity on Identity and Values 100

Asian (n=308)

Black (n=363) 84 75 Hispanic (n=293) 74 74 74 71 71 71 70 White (n=357)

66 65 Other (n=170) 63 63 59 58 50 53 50 51 51 48 47 42 41 41 41 39

0 Has influenced my Makes me proud Enhances my sense Makes me feel Has little impact on sense of values of who I am connected to those how I think of myself around me

Influence of Ethnicity or Cultural Heritage 100

Asian (n=308)

Black (n=363)

75 Hispanic (n=293)

White (n=357)

Other (n=170)

44 42 40 38 37 35 33 25 32 30 32 32 30 26 26 25 27 27 22 21 21 21 22 22 18 20 19 17 17 15 13

0 Influences where Has a bearing on the Impacts my choice of Impacts how I spend Impacts where I shop Influences my choices I travel causes I support those with whom I my leisure time about what I buy network and socialize

46 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Appendix II: Summary of Audience Research

Effect of Ethnicity on Identity and Values 100

Asian (n=308)

Black (n=363)

75 78 Hispanic (n=293)

72 72 White (n=357)

66 64 Other (n=170) 61 62 60 57 57 50 54 55 48 48 48 49 45 46 47 35 34 32 39

25 29 24

0 I enjoy being in an I look for I look for I actively seek I seek ways to environment with opportunities opportunities to opportunities to pass express my pride others who share to learn about learn about my along my cultural in my ethnic and my values and/or other ethnicities heritage and culture heritage to the cultural heritage life experiences and cultures next generation

(where they shop, travel, spend lei- higher ratings than other questions opera, ballet, community events) at sure time, etc.). Whites, on the other about the influence and importance of least once a year. Among all respon- hand, were much less likely than ethnic and cultural identity. dents, local community events are the other groups to state that their • For every group, parents are most attended most frequently, while the bal- ethnicity or culture influences their influential in developing an under- let and opera are visited least frequently. various lifestyle activities. standing of one’s cultural heritage. • Respondents were asked to share the • Blacks are significantly more likely This is followed by other relatives and first thoughts that come to mind than other group to enjoy being in an friends as influences. when they hear the phrase “ethnic environment with others who share or cultural museum.” There was no their values or life experiences, seek Findings regarding participant atti- major thought that dominated this ways to express their pride, look for tudes towards museums and cultural list. About one in seven respondents opportunities to learn about their heri- centers echo comments made in other said “history” or “museum for a single tage, and actively seek opportunities to stages of research. Namely, museum culture.” Whites are more likely than pass their cultural heritage to the next visitors want to be able to see them- any other group to say that “nothing generation. selves in the exhibitions and they comes to mind,” while Blacks are more • For parents, passing along their cul- want to be able to interact with the likely than those of other groups to tural and ethnic identity is important. exhibition on a meaningful level. have mentioned a particular racial or Statements regarding the importance • At most, a third of the respondents ethnic group. of passing along their culture and the attend various art and cultural venues • About four in ten respondents are extent to which they do so received (e.g., art museums, history museums, likely to visit cultural museums in the

47 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Appendix II: Summary of Audience Research

Views of Own Identity 100

Asian (n=308)

Black (n=363)

75 Hispanic (n=293)

White (n=357)

Other (n=170)

36 25 25 27 22 21 15 19 17 17 15 12

0 I interact with arts I interact with arts and culture specific and culture specific to to my own cultural an ethnic background background that I don’t share

next 12 months. The likelihood of vis- • The majority of respondents had iting is generally similar whether it is visited a cultural museum of their own a museum focusing on their culture or cultural or ethnic group more than another culture. Whites are least likely once. Although still a majority, slightly to visit such museums, while Blacks fewer respondents had visited cultural are most likely to visit them. museums dedicated to other groups • A quarter to half of all respondents more than once. have visited a museum dedicated • A strong majority of all respondents to their ethnic or cultural group. has visited a museum dedicated to Blacks are most likely to have visited their own cultural or ethnic group or a museum dedicated to their cultural of another culture or ethnicity with group, while Whites are least likely to family and/or friends. have done so.

48 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Appendix III: “Is Japanese America still out In this essay, I’d like to propose philo- there?” Everywhere we look sophical perspectives that reject the Imagined Futures: today, the key characteristics that Opening Possibilities tenet that either modernism or post- framed the prewar and immediate for the Construction of modernism offer an alternative way to Culture and Community postwar Japanese American envision imagined futures. In particu- (JA) experience have become lar, I’d like to demonstrate how the increasingly fragmented. For French philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s example, the once seemingly stable concept of assemblage casts new light Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, Ph.D. generational designations—Issei, on current transformations of cultures George and Sakaye Aratani Nisei, Kibei, Sansei—have been that are not easily encompassed within Professor of the Japanese markedly transformed by the ordinary theories of ethnic experi- American Internment, arrival of new Japanese immigrants ence.3 My foci here are the evolution Redress, and Community and sojourners, by transnational of Nikkei space/place in Southern UCLA Department of Asian movements of individuals and California and the well-known Asian American Studies families between Japan and the American pop culture magazine Giant United States, and by a relatively Robot. Let’s start with space and place. large proportion of intermarriages on the U.S. mainland, among Because its territorial base was dimin- other developments. ished by World War II, and because it is vulnerable to the fluctuations of Evidence of fragmentation, in turn, the real estate market, a good deal of has allowed critics to raise challenges attention has been devoted recently about the coherence of concepts to L.A.’s Little Tokyo. Although such as “identity” and “community,” it remains a (if not the) center of especially when ethnicity is seen as Southern California’s Japanese the matrix of these collective levels American community, the district has of solidarity.1 While these challenges suffered a series of setbacks beginning may be annoying to anyone who in the 1940s and continuing today. belongs to a viable or vibrant Japanese The mass removal and incarceration of American community organization, Japanese Americans precipitated the perhaps there are some benefits that transformation of the area; when other accrue if we heed such rhetoric. If people of color moved into the build- we take seriously critics’ dictums that ings vacated by JAs, Little Tokyo was there is no such entity as “Japanese transformed into what was euphemis- America” or that these words pro- tically termed “Bronzeville.”4 Those vide only a fragmented understand- Japanese Americans who returned ing of the world around us, then, if after the war were only able to reclaim nothing else, this impels us to ask about a quarter of Little Tokyo’s what alternative conceptual tools original space. In the 1960s and are at hand for describing the kinds 1970s, Nisei and Sansei progressives of things we see and experience.2 fought a war of position against both

49 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Appendix III: “Imagined Futures: Opening Possibilities for the Construction of Culture and Community”

the city’s Community Redevelopment both to the north and to the south nomenclature I mention above—ap- Agency and an influx of Japanese of L.A. proper are apparent. If we peared to be definable and seemingly capital.5 The local community was take the South Bay area, for example, discrete: San Francisco’s J-Town, San eroded, piece by piece, as corpora- while the different communities there Jose’s Nihonmachi, L.A.’s Little Tokyo. tions displaced affordable housing are certainly linked to Little Tokyo, By contrast, like Nikkei generations, and small businesses alike in favor they are not wholly dependent upon Nikkei communities today in places of hotels, boutiques, and shopping this key urban site. How can we best such as the South Bay are unbound; malls catering primarily to tourists.6 understand the features and functions they are shifting even as they are Concomitantly, as housing covenants of the JA enclaves and main streets more visibly and concomitantly local, were abolished beginning in the in the suburban hinterlands, espe- national, international, and global.11 1960s, those who experienced upward cially in contrast to the major com- occupational mobility during the munity formation in Little Tokyo? In any case, instead of fixed boundar- postwar period moved into a variety ies that position various social actors of Los Angeles neighborhoods rang- If we consider the prewar and imme- as in, out, or “liminal” to the commu- ing from the Westside to Gardena.7 diate postwar South Bay JA communi- nity, South Bay JA manifestations of ties, their social ecologies, economic space and place may appear and then My point here is that, despite the bases, daily rhythms, and other fea- recede depending on the moment as exigencies of history, Little Tokyo tures seem distinct from those of Little well as the needs of the individual or remains the premiere territorially Tokyo. Whether we are discussing JA network defining the situation. The bounded space for Japanese Americans clusters in Gardena, Lomita, or the florescence of JA political networks in in southern California. If not able Palos Verdes peninsula, their boundar- Gardena during the 1970s and 1980s, to fulfill every essential urban func- ies are debatable; social relations in and their intersection with other tion, the area does have a plethora of these places seem more porous vis-à- power networks in that city, followed organizations that span educational, vis non-Nikkei than those in Little by their gradual erosion as many JA media and the arts, religious institu- Tokyo.9 Generally speaking, these families moved away in the 1990s, tions, service centers, and a wide range communities are characterized by illustrates the kind of flux I am think- of businesses. Nonetheless, concerns fluidity, at least compared to a seem- ing about here. In any case, it is the about the immediate future of this ingly stable Little Tokyo—if Little creative appropriation of the idea of a community—especially in terms of Tokyo has a defined territorial base, territorial assemblage that enables us how the city’s plans for rapid transpor- Nikkei community formations in the to go beyond the limitations of mod- tation lines could impact everything South Bay area may not. At this level, ernist concepts such as “community” from historical buildings to day-to-day Japanese Americans in the South Bay and postmodern critiques, alike.12 thoroughfares—are fully justified. This seem perpetually involved in creating is because so many resources critical “place” out of space. Over the period To sketch another example, let’s to the JA community, most especially of a decade or two, that “place” may consider a project such as Giant Robot political resources, revolve around net- also be dramatically transformed.10 (GR). Rather than identifying a spe- works that are rooted in Little Tokyo.8 cific person associated with the proj- These, of course, are broad general- ect—for example, Eric Nakamura, one Once our attention turns from down- izations. My point, however, is that of the founding editors of this influen- town Los Angeles, other historical pro- in retrospect, the prewar JA space tial Asian/Asian American pop culture cesses of Nikkei community formation and place—like the generational magazine—we’d begin by imagining

50 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Appendix III: “Imagined Futures: Opening Possibilities for the Construction of Culture and Community”

lines of flight (deterritorialization) manifestation of Japanese America entail a reterritorialization of lines that link a series of bodies and things would be a mischaracterization. From of flight that once freely moved together. Giant Robot magazine started such roots one can discern lines of outward. For a given moment, lines as a very rough-and-ready Kinko’s- flight, machinic linkages of the mate- of flight that crisscross the globe produced publication that found its rial and the virtual. Elements both reconsolidate and manifest them- inspiration in the disparate intersec- real and virtual melded and mutated selves in spaces such as a Giant Robot tion of punk rock, Japanese B-thriller into a wonderful new entity, fusing exhibition at the Japanese American monster movies such as Gidra, and a disparate influences and entities— National Museum or in the form of nascent designer toy market. As GR human and nonhuman—in ways gr/eats, the Giant Robot restaurant began to take off, other intersections that intensified, reverberated, built, on Sawtelle Boulevard, one of the emerged as the staff began inhabiting until ultimately they mutated again locales where all of the above began the new worlds of ‘zines and other in an explosion of creative energy. and where lines of flight have landed such publications, the “new” media momentarily in new manifestations. arts (including indie movies and What I’m proposing can be reca- manga), Asian/As Am pop and fusion pitulated as follows: Attacks may be So instead of capitulating to decon- music, fashion, cuisine, etc., as these launched by postmodern critics in struction, it is far more interesting to were evolving on the two coasts as well regard to the legitimacy of “identity” explore how amodernism allows the as in Japan.13 Out of this swirl of peo- politics and the status of “ethnicity” revisioning of contemporary experi- ple, networks, companies, products, and individual “subjects” as part- ences that have lines of flight emanat- ideas, art, and technologies, different and-parcel of the former. The fact is ing from what was once thought of as inchoate linkages began to consoli- that Nikkei culture and community strictly Japanese America. The benefit date and take form. They were knit do persist today, albeit in sometimes is that without denying what we see together via signs (e.g., Giant Robot fractured and unstable forms. Other around us, we can always eschew the itself) and energized by desire (in manifestations such as Giant Robot, notion of fixed subjects, identities, or particular the desire of As Am youth directly (although not solely) related ethnicity per se, if and when such con- to have products and a lifestyle reflec- to Japanese America, continue to cepts disguise more than they reveal. tive of their interests and experiences). percolate through the cracks even though their contemporary mani- In the end, we are led to a working So rather than a traditional subject, festations are flexible, evolving, and hypothesis that promises to be fruit- what emerges in focus here is another inherently linked to non-Nikkei ful: that “Japanese America,” wherever kind of assemblage, but this time one persons, networks, ideas, and things. and whatever that may be, has always that is more heavily oriented toward This is fascinating: these phenom- been a matter of intersections and signs, symbols, and language reflect- ena can’t be encompassed within the assemblage. Once we acknowledge this ing these.14 This assemblage has a realm of modernist thought, let alone point, then a wealth of new insights foundation of sorts in a Japanese postmodern deconstructions—at about the past and future of Japanese American experience—via Nakamura least not so far as I’ve read or seen. American and American ethnic and his evolving interests—but to culture in general become possible. see it solely as either Nakamura’s But things don’t stop here. Giant personal creation or as a simple Robot and all its manifestations

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Notes 1. See Diana Fuss, Essentially Speaking: Feminism, Nature, and Difference(New York: Routledge, 1989). Although it has been almost twenty years since Fuss wrote this classic book, it remains one of the clearest texts illustrating how postmodern critics apply the techniques of deconstruction in order to indicate that the foci of feminism and ethnic studies are mis- construed. To wit, postmodern critics who have followed in footsteps of the debates Fuss outlines have argued that the very concepts of “woman/women” or of “race” are illusion- ary. Once this is supposedly demonstrated, it becomes relatively easy to dismiss either a sense of identity or community that is based on these foundations as essentialist. 2. Specifically, if “identity,” “ethnicity,” and “community” have modernist intellectual gene- alogies, postmodernism became a kind of cottage industry for academics in the 1990s who used linguistic analysis (deconstruction) to argue that these concepts were essentialized and thus false. For one example of how postmodern currents were seen by a number of theo- rists in the 1990s in Asian American Studies—both pro and con—see “Thinking Theory,” ed. Michael Omi and Dana Takagi, special issue, Amerasia Journal 21, no. 1 (1995). 3. In a nutshell, if modernism posits entities like “the subject,” postmodernism attempts to dismiss and dissolve them; Deleuze provides a way to transcend both positions via the concept of assemblage. A useful short overview of the concept can be found in J. Macgregor Wise, “Assemblage,” in Gilles Deleuze: Key Concepts, ed. Charles J. Stivale (Montreal and Ithaca, N.Y.: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2005), pp. 77–87. Wise notes that assemblage “shows us how institutions, organizations, bodies, practices, and habits make and unmake each other, intersect- ing and transforming: creating territories and then unmaking them, deterritorializing, opening lines of flight as a possibility of any assemblage, but also shutting them down” (p. 86). A more extensive discussion of assemblage, which is key to Deleuze’s thought, appears in Ian Buchanan, Deleuzism: A Metacommentary (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000), 117–142. 4. See Ichiro Mike Murase, Little Tokyo: One Hundred Years in Pictures (Los Angeles: Visual Communications/Asian American Studies Central, 1983). 5. Jim H. Matsuoka, “Little Tokyo: Searching the Past and Analyzing the Future,” in Roots: An Asian American Studies Reader, ed. Amy Tachiki et al. (Los Angeles: UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 1971). 6. A very insightful account is available in Dean S. Toji and Karen Umemoto, “The Paradox of Dispersal: Ethnic Continuity and Community Among Japanese Americans in Little Tokyo,” AAPI Nexus 1, no. 1 (summer/fall 2003): 21–46. 7. See my brief overview of the postwar history of Japanese Americans in Gardena. Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, “Community Lost,” in Asians in America: A Reader, ed. Malcolm Collier (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall-Hunt Publishing, 1993), pp. 169–83. 8. To get a picture of how development issues have impacted the relatively large Japanese American communities in San Francisco and downtown Los Angeles, one can review articles and op-ed discussions in the Nichi Bei Times, a vernacular newspaper published weekly in San Francisco. Additional articles on San Francisco’s Japantown appear in the Hokubei Mainichi, another vernacular published in San Francisco. 9. A good example of how smaller Japanese American communities and families were fairly closely tied, economically speaking, to their surrounding neighborhoods is available in a monograph by Mark H. Rawitsch, No Other Place: Japanese American Pioneers in a Southern California Neighborhood (Riverside, Calif.: Department of History, University of California, Riverside, 1988).

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10. For example, perhaps because I was not able to visit there very often over a period of twenty years, the Gardena that I remember from the early 1980s seems surprisingly transformed today, if not erased. 11. It is apparent that these levels are actually interlinked in complicated ways that have escaped previous notice, even in terms of scholarly accounts of Little Tokyo. Takashi Machimura has written an interesting essay that underscores this point in terms of contemporary Little Tokyo. See Takashi Machimura, “Living in a Transnational Community Within a Multi- Ethnic City: Making a Localized ‘Japan’ in Los Angeles,” in Global Japan: The Experience of Japan’s New Immigrants and Overseas Communities, ed. Roger Goodman et al. (London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003). Paradoxically, some elements of the Japanese American experience and its physical manifestations remain particular (think of relatively unusual JA Christian agricultural collectives such as the Yamato Colony in California), even as others become increasingly universal (e.g., fusion “sushi” restaurants that may be owned by Korean Americans who have Mexican Americans working as chefs). See Kesa Noda, Yamato Colony: 1906–1960 (Merced, Calif.: Livingston-Merced Japanese American Citizens League, 1981). 12. For an examination of the concept of territorial assemblage, see Wise, “Assemblage.” 13. Much of this account is drawn from a keynote address given by Eric Nakamura about the evolution of Giant Robot at “Imagined Futures,” a one-day conference that I helped organize at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles on May 2, 2009. An online site about Giant Robot with a number of links to interviews and stories that describe how GR evolved is available at Wikipedia under the subject category “Giant Robot (magazine)”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Robot_magazine. 14. In A Thousand Plateaus, Deleuze and Guattari refer to “a collective assemblage of enun- ciation.” In other words, this is a form of assemblage that is related to but distinctive from a territorial assemblage. For a commentary, see Wise, “Assemblage,” p. 80.

53 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Acknowledgments The Japanese American National Museum would like to acknowledge the contributions of the following people in the development and implementation of this project:

The James Irvine Foundation:John McGuirk, Helen Wills

Project Director: Lisa Sasaki

Project Core Team: John Esaki, Clement Hanami, Vicky Murakami-Tsuda, Miyoko Oshima, Lisa Sasaki, Janis Wong, Akemi Kikumura Yano

Contributing Museum Staff:La-Tanya Alexander, Nancy Araki, Akira Boch, Sarah Carle, Irene Hirano, Karin Higa, Lloyd Inui, Carol Komatsuka, Maria Kwong, Valerie Lawrence, Adrienne Lee, Darryl Mori, Sabrina Lynn Motley, Koji Sakai

Campbell Rinker: Dirk Rinker, Jennifer Spencer, Duncan Millar

EmcArts: Richard Evans, Melissa Dibble, John Shibley, Janis Auster

Community Convening Participants: Chris Aihara, Japanese American Cultural and Community Center Wayne Doiguchi, Japanese American Chamber of Commerce of Silicon Valley Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, University of California, Los Angeles Jerry Hiura, Japantown Community Congress of San Jose Tom Ikeda, Denshō Charles Igawa, California Association of Japanese Language Schools Aya Ino, Nikkei Community Internship Alumni Northern California Richard Katsuda, Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress Jeff Kuwano, Japanese American Museum of San Jose Mitch Maki, California State University, Dominguez Hills Kaz Maniwa, Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California Wes Mukoyama, Yu-Ai Kai Alan Nishio, California Japantowns Preservation Committee Tamon Norimoto, Japantown Community Congress of San Jose Kay Ochi, Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress Mickie Okomoto, Intercollegiate Nikkei Council of Southern California Courtney Okuhara, Nikkei Community Internship Alumni Southern California Jon Osaki, Japanese Community Youth Council Paul Osaki, Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California Amy Phillips, Little Tokyo Service Center

54 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum Acknowledgments Curtiss Rooks, Hapa Issues Forum Miko Sawamura, Japanese American Citizens League, Sacramento Grace Shiba, Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Southern California Bryan Takeda, Nikkei Federation Laura Takeuchi, Japanese American Services of the East Bay Rosalyn Tonai, National Japanese American Historical Society Bill Watanabe, Little Tokyo Service Center Christine Yamazaki, Go For Broke Education Center

Peer Convening Participants: Anan Ameri, Arab American National Museum Ernest Britton, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Eduardo Diaz, National Hispanic Cultural Center Kathryn Girard, Skirball Cultural Center Gwen Goodman, National Museum of American Jewish History Charmaine Jefferson, California African American Museum Robert Kirschner, Skirball Cultural Center Michelle Kumata, The Wing Luke Asian Museum Cynthia Lee, Museum of Chinese in America James G. Leventhal, Judah L. Magnes Museum Danny López, National Hispanic Cultural Center Juanita Moore, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Pauline Wong, Chinese American Museum

Dr. Ronald Stewart

Dr. Lane Ryo Hirabayashi

The Board of Trustees and the Board of Governors of the Japanese American National Museum

55 The Cultural Museum 2.0 Japanese American National Museum