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DALLAS (SMU) -- The Pollock Gallery of SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts will host the launch of See You There, a new art book by ÃÛÌÒ½´Assistant Professor of Art Nishiki Sugawara-Beda, from 12 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, November 6, 2021.

The event includes a family-friendly session on ikebana, the art of Japanese flower arrangement, led by ikebana artist Motoko Ishihara from 2 to 6 p.m. At 3 p.m., Sugawara-Beda will discuss her work with Jacqueline Chao, senior curator of Asian art at the Crow Museum of Asian Art at The University of Texas at Dallas. Following their conversation, a drawing will be held for copies of the book and other prizes.

See You There provides a survey of Sugawara-Beda’s artwork from 2012 to 2020 in painting and installation. The book includes a foreword by writer Samantha Burns and an essay by Dr. Robert Gordon, professor at the University of Arizona’s College of Fine Arts, that offers an art historical and philosophical framework to understand the artist’s body of work. The book will be for sale at the event for $50, and purchases can be signed by the artist. In addition, a limited number of gift boxes will be available, which include a copy of the book and a small original painting by the artist, for $150.

As a Japanese American visual artist, Sugawara-Beda draws upon her Japanese heritage to explore themes related to culture, language and spirituality rooted in Zen Buddhism. Connecting across space and time, she experiments in ancient Japanese materials and techniques including sumi ink, kakejiku landscapes and rice paper, to merge them with abstract and expressive forms familiar to the modern Western aesthetic. She exhibits her work in solo and group exhibitions and offers lectures nationally and internationally to promote cultural diversity and exchange. Exhibition venues include the Spartanburg Art Museum (SC), Morris Graves Museum of Art (CA), Dennos Museum (MI) and Amos Eno Gallery (NY). Publications include New American Paintings, Expose Art Magazine, AEQAI, Athenaeum Review and the London Post. Awards including a University of Idaho Seed Grant, Diversity Fellowship, International Enhancement Grant, Idaho Arts Fellowship, Sam Taylor Fellowship and Tusen Takk Foundation residency have supported her artistic research.

In addition to presenting at national conferences, including the College Art Association, Sugawara-Beda gives keynote speeches and workshops to cultural organizations including Pilipino American Unity for Progress, Inc., OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates and Business Council for the Arts, Dallas.

Jacqueline Chao, Ph.D., is senior curator of Asian art at the Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas. Her exhibitions have presented works ranging from the historical to the contemporary in all medias from across the globe. A specialist in East Asian and Buddhist art, she is a widely published author and frequent lecturer on Asian art. In addition to her museum appointment, she is a faculty member of the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History and sits on the Asian Art Advisory Council of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. In 2019 she was recognized for her curatorial work in Patron Magazine’s “Best Of: Curators” issue for bringing advanced perspectives to the Crow Museum’s collection and for broadening perceptions of Asian art. She is also the recipient of a 2021 Association of Art Museum Curators Curatorial Award for Excellence.

The Pollock Gallery is located on the east side of the ÃÛÌÒ½´campus in Suite 101, Expressway Tower, 6116 North Central Expressway, Dallas 75206. Parking and admission are free. For more information, call 214.768.4439.