nwasianweekly.com
Jan. 26, 2008

Photo by Ann-Marie Stillion

Beth Takekawa, photographed here among the remnants of the old Wing Luke Asian Museum building on Jan. 18, 2008, will be welcomed into her new position as executive director of the museum with a community reception Jan. 29 at Four Seas Restaurant.

From volunteer to executive director

By Michelle Kang
Northwest Asian Weekly

Beth Takekawa rarely uses the word “I.” For the new executive director of the Wing Luke Asian Museum, the word most used is “we.” It is not an obvious habit, but listen to her speak about the museum, and it becomes clear that Takekawa knows the museum intimately, is familiar with its unique cultural offerings and is ready to make visible what was known as one of the city’s “best kept secrets.”

Takekawa, former CEO of the museum, has spent many years growing for this role. She began volunteering at the Wing Luke more than 10 years ago, at the planning and preparation for one of the museum’s milestone exhibits on the Japanese Internment Executive Order 9066.

She recalled: “I heard they started having meetings in the basement of the museum. People were coming together and talking about this part of our history. I wanted to be in the basement to hear what people were talking about. Members of my family became involved as the exhibit was created. And they shared their stories and provided things that they had saved from that time — letters, items that they saved from camp. That exhibit was for my dad in particular very meaningful, because he had never forgotten anything that happened. But the story would be told, from the point of view of the community. It was the culmination of his life, and I understood what that meant.”

Takekawa’s first contact with the museum came about from a personal connection. Like all contemporary cultural institutions, the goal of the Wing Luke is to remain relevant and timely, with the hope of growing these personal connections with visitors through exhibits and their stories.

The museum’s mission has changed since its founding 40 years ago. Takekawa explained that “the board and the Luke family said the museum actually should have a focus on the story of Asians in the country, Asian Americans. Whereas before it did have some of that, but it was more focused on folk art from Asia. The community, also, would be determining the themes and storylines and the design — this was something not just taken out of a museum book. This remains to today to be still the only Pan-Asian Pacific American museum in the nation.”

Much of the museum’s steady growth and renaissance was led by former Executive Director Ron Chew, who formally left in December after 17 years at the museum’s helm. Takekawa recognizes Chew’s passion and dedication at seeing the museum not only achieve traction in the community, but also expand its programs further. Takekawa said of the former director: “Ron has a certain fearlessness that is an inspiration to a lot of people.”
Chew’s legacy is evident in the Wing Luke’s current move to a new, larger museum space two blocks from its current site in the Chinatown/International District. It is a dream come true for the institution, a product of several years of a capital campaign that has raised more than $23 million. Takekawa remembers the first capital campaign the museum had to enter into its current space: “It was either $300,000 or $400,000 — nowhere near what it was going to take to expand to this new facility.”

The big leap in fundraising for a new space signaled a greater change in the Wing Luke’s goals for itself and for the audience it serves. Takekawa said, “We had been told by many people that it was the Wing Luke Museum’s time, if we were going to move forward. We already recognized that our community was changing rapidly. It was growing itself rapidly. It was diversifying in ethnic groups. In order to be of use to a community that was expanding so fast, we knew we needed to have a great resource. This was our approach to campaigning, and Ron was the director and he played a big role.”

Takekawa gives credit to Ron and also to a seemingly endless list of contributors and volunteers who aided in the campaign. She lists the names of the donors by memory, just as she can list the names of volunteers who have worked at the museum for as long as she has. Her familiarity with the inside life of the museum is what makes her transition to the new leader of the Wing Luke organic and natural. She places as much emphasis on the exhibit development and planning — which are chosen three months in advance, often by community delegates — as on the relationships developed between staff members, the Pan-Asian community and also the city at large.

Musing on the success of the capital campaign, she said, “We learned that when you do a campaign, it’s not just about the dollars. It’s about the people and their stories and what their motivations are for wanting this resource to happen. I know hardly anyone who goes, oh yes, I want to do fundraising. But there were many people who were like that, because they had this initiative to tell a story.”

Michelle Kang can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

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