The Art of Survival exhibit @ Chandler Museum

The Art of Survival exhibit @ Chandler Museum 

The Chandler Museum just premiered a special exhibit of The Art of Survival: Enduring the Turmoil of Tule Lake. Tule Lake was a Japanese American internment camp / "segregation center" in Northern California where over 120,000 Japanese Americans - many who were American citizens - were forcibly relocated from their homes along the West Coast after the February 1942 Executive Order #9066 from President Franklin D Roosevelt. The exhibit was a glimpse into a very dark and embarrassing era of American history where people were incarcerated en-masse for several years (without being charged or convicted of any crimes) based on what a 1981 Federal Commission stated was due to "wartime hysteria, racism, and a failure of political leadership."

The exhibit features the evocative artwork from individuals who were in the camps as well as video interviews of the individuals who survived the camps. Throughout the exhibit are drawings, paintings, placards and posters focusing on specific aspects of the camps, what life was life for those living in them for 4 years, and what it was like for the families afterwards to attempt to rebuild their lives in a mostly unwelcoming society. The exhibit is honest and moving and worth the effort to find and attend. If you cannot attend in person, research Tule Lake on Google because if we do not learn from the past we are doomed to repeat it.