Roger Shimomura papers
name: label: Creator
content: Shimomura, Roger, 1939-
label: Names
content: Chin, Frank, 1940-
label: Names
content: Day, Akiko
label: Names
content: Hughes, Jonathan R. T.
label: Names
content: Miller, Wayne
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Kansas -- Lawrence
label: Topic
content: Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- United States
label: Topic
content: Japanese American painting
label: Topic
content: Asian American art
label: Topic
content: Asian American artists
label: Topic
content: Japanese American art
label: Topic
content: Japanese American artists
label: Topic
content: Asian American painters
label: Topic
content: Asian American printmakers
label: Topic
content: Asian American performance artists
label: Topic
content: Performance artists -- Kansas -- Lawrence
label: Topic
content: Printmakers -- Kansas -- Lawrence
label: Topic
content: Art -- Study and teaching -- Kansas -- Lawrence
label: Topic
content: Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment -- 1942-1945
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Roger Shimomura donated a portion of his papers in 1990, as part of the Archives of American Art's Northwest Asian-American project in Seattle. Shimomura donated the bulk of the material in 2019.
creator: label: Creator
content: Shimomura, Roger, 1939-
setName: label: See more items in
content: Roger Shimomura papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of painter, printmaker, performance artist, and teacher Roger Shimomura measure 13.6 linear feet and date from 1959 to 2014. Found within the papers are biographical materials, correspondence, writings, notes, printed material, one scrapbook, and photographs.

There is a 11.0 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2019 that includes comprehensive project files with initial sketches, technical diagrams, budgets, materials lists, collaborator correspondence, communications with gallerists, curators and venues, and related press clippings; professional correspondence; writings including notebooks related to performance and painting developments, diaristic dated entries, and two experimental notebooks with "diary entries" for 'An American Diary' project; personal business records containing loan records and budgets for projects and exhibitions, and contracts for performance and film commissions; printed material; scrapbooks; and photographs of installations and events. Also included are 17 videocassettes (U-matic) concerning Kabuki theater performances and other perfomances. Materials date from circa 1959-2014.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Roger Shimomura (b. 1939) is a Japanese American painter, printmaker, performance artist, and teacher who has worked primarily in Kansas since 1969.

Roger Shimomura was born in 1939 in Seattle, Washington. He was a third generation Japanese-American and received his B.A. in Graphic Design from the University of Washington in 1961, and a M.F.A. in Painting from Syracuse University in 1969. Shimomura spent two childhood years in one of 10 concentration camps for Japanese-Americans during WWII, and later served as an officer in the United States Army from 1962 to 1965. He was active in the Japanese-American redress movement in the 1970s. Since the 1970s, Shimomura's work has combined American popular imagery with the Japanese ukiyo-e tradition.

He has had over 125 solo exhibitions of paintings and prints, as well as presented his experimental theater pieces at such venues as the Franklin Furnace, New York City, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Shimomura has been a visiting artist and lectured on his work at more than 200 universities, art schools, and museums across the country. Shimomura began teaching at the University of Kansas' Department of Art in 1969 and worked there until his retirement in 2004. At that time he started the Shimomura Faculty Research Support Fund, an endowment to foster faculty research in the Department of Art. Throughout his career, Shimomura has had numerous exhibitions and experimental theater pieces on a national level. In 1999, the Seattle Urban League designated a scholarship in his name that has been awarded annually to a Seattle resident pursuing a career in art. In 2002, the College Art Association presented him with the "Artist Award for Most Distinguished Body of Work," for his 4 year, 12-museum national tour of the painting exhibition, "An American Diary." Shimomura continues to live and work in Kansas.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 13.6 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1959-2014
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.shimroge
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Scripts (documents)
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 7 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1989-1990 (Box 1; 1 folder)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1969-1990 (Boxes 1-3; 2.3 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1984, 1987-1989 (Box 3; 5 folders)

Series 4: Printed Material, 1975-1990 (Box 4; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 5: Scrapbook, 1975-1989 (Box 4; 1 folder)

Series 6: Photographs, circa 1970s (Box 4; 1 folder)

Series 7: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1959-2014 (Boxes 5-15; 11.0 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The Roger Shimomura papers were processed by Jean Fitzgerald in 2001. A finding aid for the collection was created by Eden Orelove in 2011.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Scripts (documents)
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: The papers of painter, printmaker, performance artist, and teacher Roger Shimomura measure 13.6 linear feet and date from 1965 to 1990. Found within the papers are biographical materials, correspondence, writings, notes, printed material, one scrapbook, and photographs.

Biographical materials include a photograph of Shimomura and a resume. The bulk of the papers consist of correspondence files about exhibitions, grants, performances, lectures, and the Japanese-American redress movement. Correspondence is with friends, colleagues, galleries, and with universities and colleges. Correspondents include Frank Chin, Akiko Day, Jonathan R. T. Hughes, and Wayne Miller. Writings and notes include Shimomura's artist's statement, scripts to four plays, and one folder of miscellaneous notes. The papers also include clippings, exhibition announcements, catalogs and miscellaneous printed material. A scrapbook contains clippings of articles that document Shimomura's career. Photographs are of artwork by other artists.

There is a 11.0 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2019 that includes comprehensive project files with initial sketches, technical diagrams, budgets, materials lists, collaborator correspondence, communications with gallerists, curators and venues, and related press clippings; professional correspondence; writings including notebooks related to performance and painting developments, diaristic dated entries, and two experimental notebooks with "diary entries" for 'An American Diary' project; personal business records containing loan records and budgets for projects and exhibitions, and contracts for performance and film commissions; printed material; scrapbooks; and photographs of installations and events. Also included are 17 video cassettes (U-matic) concerning Kabuki theater performances and other perfomances. Materials date from circa 1959-2014.