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Guide to the Leland Wong papers
CEMA 128
CEMA 128
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Table of contents
Title: Leland Wong papers
Identifier/Call Number: CEMA 128
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
3.0 linear feet
(37 posters)
Date (inclusive): 1976-2003
Abstract: Leland Wong is a San Francisco-based illustrator, photographer, and screen printer renowned for his documentation of the Asian
American experience. This collection consists of 37 of his posters.
This collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
[Identification of Item], Leland Wong papers, CEMA 128. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library,
University of California, Santa Barbara.
Donated by Leland Wong, April 2013.
Processed by Suzanne Im, 2013. Additional posters processed by Mari Khasmanyan and Husna Sayedi, 2015.
Leland Wong is a San Francisco-based illustrator, photographer, and screen printer renowned for his documentation of the Asian
American experience. Early on he became involved with Kearny Street Workshop, teaching photography classes and organizing
exhibits at the Jackson Street Gallery. Since 1974, he has designed posters and t-shirts for the Nihonmachi Street Fair, a
pan-Asian celebration of heritage held annually in August in San Francisco's Japantown. These posters have progressed from
having two colors in the first year, to over ten different colors.
Wong's artwork is inspired by his background as a Chinese American raised in San Francisco's Chinatown. He studied old Asian
prints and drawings and has included elements such as waves, the sun, the moon, clouds, dragons and other animals in his Street
Fair posters. The iconography used in his work is a testament to the influence of Asian art combined with his own unique experiences
of being American-born Chinese.
His work has been shown in many galleries, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington,
D.C.
Wong has said of his work, "I want people to appreciate their heritage. People can look at the poster and identify with it.
It's kind of a community feeling for me."
Wong was the primary illustrator for the children's book
Exploring Chinatown: A Children's Guide to Chinese Culture, published in 2002 by Pacific View Press. He also provided illustrations for
I- Hotel, a novel by Karen Tei Yamashita, which was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2010.
The collection documents the life and artwork of illustrator, photographer, and screen printer Leland Wong. It contains posters
created between 1976 and 2003 for the annual Nihonmachi Street Fair in San Francisco, as well as an array of various artwork.
This collection contains one series with contains 37 lithograph and silkscreen posters that are in alphabetical order.
Kearny Street Workshop Archives (CEMA 33)
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Wong, Leland
Asian American artists--California--20th century
Asian Americans--California--San Francisco--Social life and customs
Festivals
Kearny Street Workshop