Wing Luke Asian Museum presents "Asian & Pacific Islander Adoptees: A Journey through Identity"

Wed Jan 5 17:48:03 PST 2005

News Release

For Immediate Release                                                                       Contact: 
Joann Natalia Aquino, Public Relations Manager
(206) 623-5124 ext. 106, jaquino at wingluke.org

MAJOR EXHIBITION

Asian & Pacific Islander Adoptees: 
A Journey through Identity
Opens January 7, 2005 through September 4, 2005

While many adoption trends are tied to specific historic events, such as war and poverty, Americans adopting children from Asia has grown in demand. As thousands of children and babies enter into the United States each year from Asia, many prospective parents face challenges in raising a child of another ethnicity from their own, as well as the general questions of identity adoptees acquire through adolescence. The adoption experience is complex and very personal.

The Wing Luke Asian Museum is proud to present its current major exhibition, Asian & Pacific Islander Adoptees:  A Journey through Identity.  This extraordinary exhibition captures the brave journey adoptees make in pursuit of self-identity.  This intimate exhibition is a unique melding of history, personal testimony, culture, and art from adoptees, adoptive parents, family members, and those involved in the adoption process.

Educational, provocative and inspiring, Asian & Pacific Islander Adoptees:  A Journey through Identity is an exhibition for all ages.

This exhibit would not be possible without the support of the following:  Prime Sponsor:  Comcast Cable Communications Inc.   Additional funding provided by:  Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Ford Foundation, PONCHO, Families with Children from China-Seattle Chapter, Vietnamese Adoptee Network, and World Association for Children and Parents.   Community Partners:  Asian Adult Adoptees of Washington, Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network, Mavin Foundation, Vietnamese Adoptee Network, and World Association for Children and Parents.

All exhibitions at the Wing Luke Asian Museum are based on first-hand interviews with community members who are the history-makers themselves, honoring and reflecting the insight and experience of our elders, youth, and active participants of the multigenerational Asian Pacific American community.  Our permanent exhibitions include One Song, Many Voices: The Asian Pacific American Experience, Camp Harmony D-4-44, and International District: Portrait of a Community.  Our centerpiece exhibition, One Song, Many Voices: The Asian Pacific American Experience, depicts the 200-year story of the immigration and settlement of Asians and Pacific Islanders in Washington State, from the first Hawaiian settlers to more recent refugees from Southeast Asia. This exhibition includes 10 Asian Pacific American groups - Cambodians, Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans, Laotians, Pacific Islanders, South Asians, 
Southeast Asian hill tribes and Vietnamese. The exhibition is the only one of its kind in the nation to integrate their many different experiences into a cohesive story of courage, determination and success.  Camp Harmony D-4-44 is a permanent exhibition featuring a replica of a portion of the assembly center in Puyallup, Washington where thousands of Seattle's American-born Japanese were incarcerated without justification during World War II. The Installation incorporates sound dramatizations of the desperate hours before families were forced to abandon their homes. The International District: Portrait of a Community is an outdoor exhibition introducing visitors to the International District neighborhood, capturing the history of the area from its origins in the early 1900s to the present-day.

The Wing Luke Asian Museum is located at the heart of Seattle's historic Chinatown/ International District at 407-7th Avenue South.  Founded in 1967, the Museum has a regional and national significance, and celebrates its namesake of the first Asian American elected to public office in the Pacific Northwest, Wing Luke.  The Wing Luke Asian Museum- an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the 1995 recipient of the National Award for Museum Service, and the 2004 recipient of the City of Seattle Distinguished Human Rights Award- is dedicated to engaging the public in exploring issues related to the culture, art and history of Asian Pacific Americans.

A museum like no other- The Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle, Washington is the only pan-Asian Pacific American museum in the country.  It is nationally recognized for its award-winning exhibitions and community-based model of exhibition and program development.  The Museum has embarked upon a remarkable journey to transform a building and a community by raising $24.7 million to rehabilitate the Kong Yick Building as its new permanent home in the heart of Seattle's Chinatown-International District.

GENERAL MUSEUM INFORMATION:

Museum Hours:  
Tuesday-Friday         11:00 am - 4:30 pm
Saturday-Sunday        12:00 pm - 4:00 pm
CLOSED Mondays and Holidays

General Admission:
Adults                 $ 4.00 per person
Students/ Seniors      $ 3.00
Children               $ 2.00
Children under 5 years old  FREE
FREE every First Thursday of the month to all.

For scheduling School Tours and Group Tours, please contact Laura Shapiro, Tour & Volunteer Coordinator, at lshapiro at wingluke.org or call (206) 623-5124 ext. 116.

For more information about the Wing Luke Asian Museum and our award-winning exhibitions and program development, contact Joann Natalia Aquino, Public Relations Manager, at jaquino at wingluke.org or call (206) 623-5124 ext. 106 or visit us online at www.wingluke.org.

**********************************
Joann Natalia Aquino
Public Relations Manager
Wing Luke Asian Museum
407-7th Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98104
phone: 206.623.5124 ext. 106
fax: 206.652.4963
www.wingluke.org
e-mail: jaquino at wingluke.org
joannnatalia_aquino at publicist.com

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Joann Natalia G. Aquino
Graduate Student, Department of Communication
University of Washington
E-mail: jnaquino at u.washington.edu, herstory at joannnataliaaquino.com

"Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and
social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest
must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation, and
publicly and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathy with despised and
persecuted ideas and their advocates, and bear the consequences." -S.B. Anthony