MONTEREY, CA.- As part of a national tour organized by the Japanese American National Museum, Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo is on view at Monterey Museum of Art from February 5–April 19, 2026. The exhibition introduces the public to three trailblazing Japanese American women, whose artwork and life stories expand our understanding of both California Art and the American experience. Curated by Dr. ShiPu Wang, Coats Family Chair in the Arts and Professor of Art History, University of California, Merced, the exhibition spans eight decades and reveals the range and depth of these artists' bodies of work, connections that have been previously unexplored, and includes many pieces on view to the public for the first time.

MMA is the fourth and final traveling venue for Pictures of Belonging before its final stop at JANM in late 2026. By taking the exhibition to locations that are connected with the artists' histories—such as Utah where Hibi and Okubo were incarcerated during World War II, and the Monterey Peninsula, where Hayakawa lived briefly before the war—the exhibition leverages the power of place to create public programming opportunities tailored to local residents and histories.

Corey Madden, MMA Executive Director, notes, “We are honored to partner with JANM to highlight these three accomplished artists, who were among the most visible and critically acclaimed Japanese American female artists of their time. Miki Hayakawa herself lived in Monterey and Pacific Grove in the 1930s, so it is especially meaningful that the Museum was chosen as a venue for this nationally touring exhibition.”

Hayakawa, Hibi, and Okubo were among the most active American artists of Japanese descent in the years leading up to World War II. Yet all three were forced from their homes in California upon Executive Order 9066. The federal government imprisoned Hibi and Okubo in incarceration camps, first at Tanforan in Northern California and later at Topaz in Utah, while Hayakawa relocated to New Mexico. While relatively short, the period of incarceration had an intensely impactful influence on the artists' broader stories. However, rather than focusing exclusively on the period of incarceration, Pictures of Belonging chronicles the artists' prewar, wartime, and postwar art practices and widens the historical lens to illustrate how these women continued to evolve, with their art illustrating stories of resilience, beauty, and connection.

Madden continues, “Through his scholarship, Dr. ShiPu Wang, Coats Family Chair in the Arts and Professor of Art History, University of California, Merced, sheds new light on American art and cultural history. Of special note, while researching, Dr. Wang discovered a major painting by Miki Hayakawa in the Museum's permanent collection. As a result, MMA's Untitled (young man playing ukulele) has toured the United States and soon will be on view again in Monterey."

Building upon themes from Pictures of Belonging as well as the power of place, MMA presents Celebrating California Art: Artistic Alliance in Monterey, 1942–1946, a focused exhibition featuring artists from the Monterey Peninsula who witnessed the injustice of their fellow citizens losing their property, and then being forcibly removed and imprisoned. The exhibition also includes the rarely exhibited 1945 Monterey Petition: A Democratic Way of Life for All, which advocated for the safe return of Japanese Americans to their homes. Artistic Alliance in Monterey is on view from January 9–April 26, 2026.

Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo is made possible through support from the Terra Foundation for American Art. In addition, this project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.