The Okubo collection includes more than 8,000 pieces of art work, professional and personal papers, and memorabilia that Okubo accumulated during the 50+ years she lived in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. Her uncle was a painter who found inspiration in French impressionism and post impressionism and chose to spend much time in Paris as he could. Her mother, Miyo, was a calligrapher and painter.

Miné Okubo (1912-2001) was born in Riverside, CA into a family of artists. Her artwork and her outspoken commentary on social justice issues, particularly relating to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, brought her to the attention of a larger segment of the American public. Japanese American artist Miné Okubo was an extraordinary woman who played a significant role in documenting the mid-20th century history of Japanese Americans in the United States. Cameras and photographs were not permitted in the camps, so I recorded everything in sketches, drawings, and paintings.'

“In the camps, first at Tanforan and then at Topaz in Utah, I had the opportunity to study the human race from the cradle to the grave, and to see what happens to people when reduced to one status and condition.

Download bruno this war of mine