PRESS RELEASE

May 28, 2004

Contact: Pauline Austin, (541) 346-3129, paustin@uoregon.edu
Contact Katie Sproles (541) 346-0942 ksproles@darkwing.uoregon.edu


UO's Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art receives $100,000 grant
The Korea Foundation funds gallery installation, cultural programs

EDITOR'S NOTE: For more information about The Korea Foundation,
www.kofo.or.kr/english/index.html. To download photos of works in the UO's
Korean art collection, go to http://duckhenge.uoregon.edu/galleries/koreangalleries/.

EUGENE, Ore.-The Korea Foundation has awarded a $100,000 grant to the University of Oregon's Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, the only university art museum in the United States to receive funding to establish Korean galleries from the Seoul foundation.

The grant will help fund the installation of exhibits and increased public programming for the UO museum's new Wan Koo and Young Ja Huh Wing of Korean Art, including the Jin Joo Gallery, according to David Turner, museum director.

"We are honored to be among the 20 prestigious American art museums that have received grants from The Korea Foundation over the past 40 years," Turner says. "Their support of our new Korean galleries illustrates the international significance of our museum."

The foundation's grant recognizes the museum's strong collection of Korean artworks that, over the years, has expanded to 380 items through private gifts and select acquisitions, Turner said.

"This grant already is making possible the addition of new Korean artworks to our collections," he said.

Museum visitors will experience Korean art and culture through special exhibitions and programs in the new galleries when the museum reopens soon following a 21-month remodeling and expansion project.

"This grant makes possible significant programming throughout the year, including performances, lectures and visiting artists," said UO art history professor Charles Lachman, the museum's curator of Asian art.

Lisa Abia-Smith, the museum's education director, said the grant opens up exciting new opportunities to make the museum's extensive Korean collection come alive for visitors.
"Bringing an important contemporary Korean artist who draws upon Korea's strong cultural history, for example, will make our traditional collection more accessible and relevant to today's audience," Abia-Smith said.

The mission of The Korea Foundation is to promote understanding of Korea in the international community. As part of a wide range of activities, the foundation provides grants to support the establishment of independent Korean galleries and implementation of Korean cultural programs in overseas museums.

In 2003, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., each opened Korean galleries supported by the foundation. Other museums with Korean galleries made possible by the foundation include the Guimet Museum, widely known for having the chief expertise on Asian art in France; the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; London's British Museum; and the Seattle Art Museum.

The new Korean wing is named for the principal owners of LG Group, Korea's second largest conglomerate, who also are majority owners of Eugene-based Farwest Steel Corp. In 2002, a gift by Yongsoo Huh (young-sue huh) established the new Wan Koo (wahn coo) and Young Ja Huh (young jah huh) Wing of Korean Art to honor his parents' life-long commitment to education and their Korean heritage.

A gift from Ginevra (jen EHV rah) and James Ralph of Eugene established the Jin Joo Gallery, named for the Ralph's granddaughter.

The $14.4 million project is partially financed by $6.36 million in bonds issued by the State of Oregon. The university was required to match the state's contribution. The balance of the tab for the project is being funded by grants from federal and private foundations, several estate gifts and more than 750 individual donations.

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