PRESS RELEASE

‘Experience Asia’ in the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art’s Interactive Discovery Gallery

EUGENE—Touch a crane’s feather. Smell the scent of pine. See organic bamboo. Visitors are invited to use all of their senses to investigate “The Ten Symbols of Longevity,” a reproduction of a 19th- century Korean screen currently on display at the University of Oregon’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, 1430 Johnson Lane.

The reproduction is part of “Experience Asia,” a new exhibit in the family-centered Interactive Discovery Gallery (IDG). The exhibit features three stations designed to enhance visitors’ experiences. Visitors can interact with the exhibit and then view the original artworks on display in the museum’s Korean, Chinese and Japanese galleries.

“The exhibit mirrors the museum’s family-centered learning approach where caregivers and children can explore works of art together,” explains Lisa Abia-Smith, the museum’s director of education. “The Interactive Discovery Gallery represents the ways museums now appeal to diverse learning styles. It inspires visitors and makes art an interactive, fun experience.”

The Korean screen reproduction was designed by Redmond-Jones Associates in collaboration with Abia-Smith, fabricated by Pacific Studios in Seattle, Wash. and made possible by a grant from the Korea Foundation.

Other stations in “Experience Asia” include a story-telling display about Asian ceramics that uses laser technology and audio, and an exploration of how Japanese prints are made. More typically found in history museums or visitor centers, the ceramics display was designed as a prototype for art museums by a Eugene-based media company InterVision.

Additional support for the Interactive Discovery Gallery comes from Lisa and David DeHaas.

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is open Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Thursdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admissions fees are adults, $5; seniors (62 and older) and students (high school and non-UO college with ID), $3. Admission is free to museum members; UO students, faculty and staff members with ID; and children 13 and under. The museum offers “pay-as-you-wish MusEvenings!” every Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and free admission to everyone the first Friday of each month.

The IDG, Campbell Memorial Courtyard, Marché Museum Café and Museum Store are part of the art museum’s “free zone” and are open the public at no cost. The café and store are open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, with extended hours on Wednesday to 7:30 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

For more information about “Experience Asia” and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, contact public relations and marketing coordinator Katie Sproles at (541) 346-0942 or ksproles@uoregon.edu.

Contact: Katie Sproles, (541) 346-0942, ksproles@uoregon.edu

Source: Lisa Abia-Smith, (541) 346-0966, abia@uoregon.edu

Link: http://jsma.uoregon.edu

###