Guide to the Jim Dong papers CEMA 193
Finding aid prepared by Calli Force, 2019.
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara 93106-9010
special@library.ucsb.edu
2019 October 2
Title: Jim Dong papers
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Physical Description:
5.59 linear feet
3 document boxes, 1 flat-oversize container, 1 flat-file drawer
Large-format graphic prints, black and white photographs, digital photographs, and publications
Creator:
Dong, Jim
Date (inclusive): 1972-1986
Identifier/Call Number: CEMA 193
Abstract: This mixed-media collection consists of Jim Dong's graphic artwork, photographs, and slides of the Asian American Theater
Company, Kearny Street Workshop, Asian American Dance Collective, and the Asian American Jazz Festival. Other ephemera in
the collection includes newspaper clippings, pamphlets, brochures, and flyers.
Physical Location: Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research 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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of Item], Jim Dong papers, CEMA 193. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library,
University of California, Santa Barbara.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Jim Dong, 2019.
Biographical Note
James Gong Fu Dong, or Jim Dong, is a renowned printmaker, muralist, illustrator, and photographer who has exhibited widely
in major museums and galleries around the San Francisco Bay Area. His mural paintings have been reproduced in national and
international publications.
Born in 1949 in San Francisco's Chinatown, Jim Dong was raised at the Ping Yuen Federal Housing Projects. He attended San
Francisco State University where he studied printmaking in 1967, earning his undergraduate degree, followed by a master's
degree in drawing and printmaking in 1973. He has taught studio art at UC Berkeley and at San Francisco State University.
He was a founding member of the Jackson Street Gallery (San Francisco, 1974-1978) and was the gallery's chief curator and
artistic director.
Since 1990 Jim Dong has been an instructor in drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, design, illustration, and art history
at the Kamehameha Secondary School's Kapālama Campus's Visual Arts Department in Hawaii. He and his family are residents of
Kaneohe on Oahu Island since September of 1989.
Jim Dong applied his skills in printmaking by bringing to public attention many pressing national and international social
and political issues and local concerns about his community. He founded the Kearny Street Workshop in San Francisco that became
the most influential Asian American cultural arts center in the country and a model for grassroots community arts centers
nationally during the mid-1970s. He served as the Workshop's director for its first 15 years.
Scope and Content
The Jim Dong Papers were established in CEMA in 2018 and presently consist of his graphic art work, photographs, and slides
of the Asian American Theater Company, Kearny Street Workshop, Asian American Dance Collective, and the Asian American Jazz
Festival.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into seven series; however, large-format graphic materials such as silkscreen prints, photographs,
and other large-print items are arranged by size, shape, and storage needs in oversize boxes or flat-file poster drawers.
Series I, Slides: Contains color slides of various activities carried out by the Asian American Theater Company, Asian American
Dance company, and the Chinese Cultural Center, inlcuding dance rehearsals, set designs from various plays, and outtakes.
Series II, Photographs: Contains mostly black and white and some color photographic prints of Asian American Dance Collective
and Asian American Theater Company productions and performances, Kearny Street Workshop events such as the Asian American
Jazz Festival, portraits of Asian American performers, and other events.
Series III, Ephemera: Contains flyers, announcements, and posters.
Series IV, Publications: Contains an illustrated children's book, various foundation and organization publications, a photograpic
anthology, and articles.
Series V, Artwork: Contains graphic materials such as greeting cards, posters, and screen prints designed by Dong. A calendar
from 1985, which compiles works from various Asian American artists from the Kearney Street Workshop, includes designs by
Rich Tokeshi, Wes Aoki, Wes Senzaki, Mitsu Yashima, Nancy Hom, Stephanie Lowe, Barabra Jee Burgess, Leon Sun, Lena Chow, Gail
Aratani, Chester Yoshida and Jim Dong.
Series VI, Audio-Visual Material: Contains two LPs for which Dong provided the cover art.
Series VII, Born-digital Material: Contains digital folders arranged chronologically that include digital portraits of Jim
Dong, photographs and scans of Dong's artwork, and some duplicate records of analog items from previous series in the collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Artists -- California -- San Francisco
Asian American Artists -- California -- San Francisco
Audiovisual materials
Born digital
Photographs
Posters
Printed ephemera
Publications (documents)
Screen prints
Slides (photographs)
Dong, Jim -- Archives
Asian American Theater Company
Kearny Street Workshop
Asian American Dance Collective
Asian American Jazz Festival
box 1, folder 1
Food Dance Outtakes
circa 1977
box 1, folder 2
Asian American Theater Company
circa 1980
box 1, folder 3
Asian American Dance Company
1978, 1979, 1982
box 1, folder 4
Philip Gotanda's Avocado Kid at the Chinese Cultural Center
circa 1980
box 1, folder 5
Philip Gotanda's Avocado Kid at the Chinese Cultural Center
circa 1980
box 1, folder 6
Philip Gotanda's Avocado Kid at the Chinese Cultural Center
circa 1980
box 2, folder 1-14
Asian American Dance Collective
undated
box 2, folder 15-26
Asian American Theater Company
undated
box 3, folder 1-17
Jazz in Japan town: Kearny Street Workshop and Asian American Jazz Festival
1975-1984
General
Folder 1 of Box 4 contains a black and white photograph that inspired Jim Dong's silkscreen print depicted in the 1985 JAM
Workshop Calendar for the month of December, which is located in Box 5, folder 4.
box 3, folder 18-22
Portraits of "Paper Angels," Angel Island Genny Lim
undated
box 3, folder 30
Opening of New Chinese for Affirmative Action's Office with Exhibit by Kearny Street Workshop
undated
flat-oversize 4, folder 4
Artwork on the I Hotel
circa 1977
General
Photographic print of mural by Jim Dong and Nancy Hom.
flat-oversize 4, folder 4
Mounted black and white photograph of mural in progress
undated
box 3, folder 27
Celebrating Two New Murals for Chinatown flyer
1986
box 3, folder 29
Chinatown Playground Spafford Mural
1982-1986
flat-oversize 4, folder 3
Images from Rejoice poster
1983
box 3, folder 23
Vanguard Public Foundation. San Francisco, Calif: The Foundation.
1981
box 3, folder 24
Kearny Street Workshop.
Texas long grain: photographs. San Francisco: Kearny Street Workshop Press.
1982
box 3, folder 25
Robles, Al, and Jim Dong.
Looking for Ifugao Mountain = Paghahanap sa Bundok ng Ifugao.
San Francisco: Children's Book Press.
1977
box 3, folder 26
Koret Foundation.
Serving elders in our community. San Francisco, Ca: Koret Foundation, Koret Fund.
1987
flat-oversize 4, folder 2
San Francisco Tenants Union.
Tenant times: newsletter of the San Francisco Tenants Union. San Francisco, Calif: The Union.
July 1987
Artwork
Access Restrictions
Oversize materials in flat files. Inquire at Special Research Collections for access.
box 3, folder 28
Greeting card designed by Jim Dong
undated
flat-oversize 4, folder 1
I Hotel Calendar, cover art
1977
General
International Hotel low income housing calendar with cover art depicting a photograph of a mural by Jim Dong and Nancy Hom.
Photography by Chris Huie and Chris Fujimoto. Design and layout by Nancy Hom.
flat-oversize 4, folder 5
Japantown Art and Media (JAM) Workshop 1985 Calendar
1985
General
A limited edition collection of 12 original silkscreen prints by JAM Workshop artists: Rich Tokeshi, Wes Aoki, Wes Sanzaki,
Mitsu Yashima, Nancy Hom, Stephanie Lowe, Barbara Jee Burgess, Leon Sun, Lena Chow, Gail Aratani, Chester Yoshida, and Jim
Dong. Japantown Art & Media Workshop 1730 Filmore Street, San Francisco, California 94115.
flat-file 21
Angel Island 1923
1981
Physical Description: 22 x 28 inches
General
The first of two prints of this silkscreen in the collection, both of which are signed by Jim Dong.
Image description: A light purple room blends into a darker color at the floor, where two orange fruits lie on the ground,
one near a shattered bowl. A man eating out of a bowl points his chopsticks directly at a soldier across the room. The soldier
faces forward with sunglasses shielding his eyes from view. Three green lamps hanging from the ceiling cast a glowing, yellow
light onto the two men who are separated by a large table and two benches.
flat-file 21
Angel Island 1923
1981
Physical Description: 22 x 28 inches
General
The second of two prints of this silkscreen in the collection, both of which are signed by Jim Dong.
Image description: A light purple room blends into a darker color at the floor, where two orange fruits lie on the ground,
one near a shattered bowl. A man eating out of a bowl points his chopsticks directly at a soldier across the room. The soldier
faces forward with sunglasses shielding his eyes from view. Three green lamps hanging from the ceiling cast a glowing, yellow
light onto the two men who are separated by a large table and two benches.
flat-file 21
Tai-chi on the Rooftop
1984
Physical Description: 17.25 x 23.5 inches
General
Image description: A grandmother wearing black pants and blue top and granddaughter wearing purple pants and pink top are
practicing tai chi on the rooftop of a building in San Francisco. Light mint green blankets are hung on a laundry line blowing
with the wind. There is a black painted skyline in the background.
flat-file 21
Title unknown
undated
Physical Description: 22 x 29.5 inches
General
Image Description: The print is composed of light blue, dark blue, and black inks to compose a family portrait on the left
and a pilot in uniform sitting inside of a fighter plane on the right. The family portrait has a total of five family members
in blue ink while the pilot is created out of black ink. The background is white from the paper it is printed on.
flat-file 21
Title unknown
undated
Physical Description: 19 x 25.25 inches
General
Image description: Two women are handing off an orange fruit to one another while a fish in the top left corner jumps out
of a cage that is composed of brown wooden panels. One woman is wearing a white robe with black trimming while the other woman
is wearing a red robe with white trim as well as purple and red bottoms with black shoes. The background of the print is a
solid tan with wood grains in red and purple.
flat-file 21
Kings of the Wild West
1971
Physical Description: 17 x 23 inches
General
Image Description:Two boys stand in the center with an orange tiger lying down behind them. The boys stand in the middle of
nature with trees, mountains, and waves in the distance. The boys are in matching outfits with brown shoes, blue pants, black
vest with a white long sleeve underneath, and a brown raccoon tail hat. The background in composed of light blue and light
shades of green. On the bottom right corner of the print is a signature from the artist, Jim Dong.
flat-file 21
Year of the Tiger
1972
Physical Description: 17.2 x 23 inches
General
Image description: A boy wearing blue pants and a green shirt with suspenders rides an orange and yellow tiger. As the boy
rides the tiger, he is holding a yellow spear. Both the boy and tiger are in the middle of gray mountains as a river runs
down the valley of the mountains in the background, but both figures stand over a portion of the mountain printed in black.
flat-file 21
Myths and Realities/ Past, Present and future of Earth, Heaven and Hell
1981
Physical Description: 19.5 x 32 inches
General
Image description: The print contains three evenly divided images. The first image is the side profile of a man in a blue
shirt while the background is split between a yellow sky with circles add a white and orange ground floor. The second image
is the back of the man as he shoots a bow and arrow in the sky, creating a split in the ground. The third image shows a mountainside
with water flowing beneath it and an orange-to-red gradient sky as the sun sets in the distance. Beneath these three images
is another image that consists of a dark brown ground with a blue design that is surround by red splatters.
flat-file 21
1911
1981
Physical Description: 35 x 40 inches
General
A muscular man surrounded by an octagon is cutting off his braid with a knife. The print is focused on the right side of the
poster. The man has a mustache and is wearing brown t-shirt displaying his physique. The octagon is orange with a gold border.
flat-file 21
Title unknown
undated
Physical Description: 25 x 38 inches
General
Image description: This print depicts a man fishing at the top of a mountain. Behind him is a large orange fruit. There are
white clouds rolling through the purple mountainside. At the bottom of the mountain is a white Harley Davidson parked on the
green grass. The sky is a purple to pink gradient with white lightening bolts coming out of the sky.
flat-file 21
Nam Exit
1971
Physical Description: 22 x 30 inches
General
Image description: The black and white print shows two soldiers helping carrying another person in the center. Behind them
is an old woman sitting in bed while the bed sheets drape in the background forming the three figures. The woman is holding
a bowl and spoon while her head has a shawl over it. There is a signature by the artist in the bottom right corner.
flat-file 21
Vietnam 1949-1975
undated
Physical Description: 32 x 40 inches
General
Image description: A bleeding man rests in the arms of another person who is wearing a grey head scarf. The image background
is blue with a thick red border. Black text underneath the image includes a quote and a song relating to the Vietnam War.
flat-file 21
Nam Street Kid
1970 and 1983
Physical Description: 24 x 30 inches
General
Immage description: A soldier, depicted by six figures, slowly shifts into the form of what looks like a Coca-cola bottle.
The background depicts a barren field, a woman, a man, a bull, and an ox working on the field against a red and purple background.
flat-file 21
Reborn
1968
General
Image description: The top half of this print is a gradient from a deep indigo to navy blue which sharply becomes white where
a red and pink circle suddenly appears on the left with a replica of the circlular imgae stamped into the paper on the right.
Beneath the two circles is a block of blue to black gradient. The pink and red circle print has some white details with portions
in navy blue. The figure of a body lying down beneath the red and pink colors appears with the head in the foreground and
feet outsreteched into the background at the bottom half of the circle.
Audiovisual
Separated Materials
LPs are cataloged separately. Items can be found in UCSB Library catalog.
Blues, Myself, and I, Raymond Collins (KRC-BMI)
1981
General
LP cover photo art by Jim Dong.
United Front OHM: Unit of Resistance (RPM Records)
1981
General
LP cover photo art by Jim Dong.
database collection files
Born-digital
1967-2018
Physical Description: 1.02 GigabytesDigital folders consist of approximately 57 JPG and PDS image files and 11 PDF files.
Access Restrictions
Please contact UCSB Library Special Research Collections to access digital files.