May is AANHPI Month, celebrating the diverse histories and contributions of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. At PNB’s recent Momotaro Community Day celebrating Japanese and Japanese American art, dance, and culture, panel moderator Mari Horita and panelists Caitlin Oiye Coon, James Yoichi Moore, and AC Petersen each recommended Asian artists that our audiences should know better. Read on and get to know these talented artists!
Listen to the full conversation below:
Caitlin Oiye Coon, Archives Director at Denshō, recommended Kiku Hughes and Erin Shigaki, both Denshō Artists-in-Residence in 2018.
Kiku Hughes is a cartoonist whose work explores “themes of identity, queer romance, soft sci-fi and anti-capitalist futures.” Her 2020 graphic novel Displacement follows a teenager pulled through time to a WWII-era incarceration camp where her grandmother was forced to live; Displacement and Hughes’ other books are available online and at Seattle Public Library. Find her books here.
Erin Shigaki is an artist and community activist whose work is “community based and focused on the experiences of communities of color, often the World War II incarceration of her community.” Her mural Never Again is Now was dedicated as permanent public artwork on Bellevue College’s campus. She is also active with Tsuru for Solidarity and helps lead annual pilgrimages to Minidoka where her ancestors were unjustly incarcerated. Last fall Shigaki spoke about the need to “heal, hold, and fight” to ensure the lessons of this history are never forgotten. Read the speech here.
James Yoichi Moore recommended PNB Soloist Yuki Takahashi. In addition to being a professional ballerina, Yuki is a visual artist, most recently creating scenic illustrations for the world premiere of Jessica Lang and Kanji Segawa’s Momotaro. She is also a member of The Seattle Project. You can catch Yuki onstage later this month in PNB’s final production of the season, opening May 29. Learn more here.
AC Petersen recommended Denshō and the writings of art historian Barbara Johns.
Denshō is a digital archive of the personal histories of Japanese Americans unjustly incarcerated during WWII, and an invaluable learning resource for anyone wanting to learn more about this often overlooked history. Their digital repository holds thousands of oral histories, digitized artifacts, and primary source materials telling the stories of Japanese Americans who lived through WWII incarceration. Explore the digital repository here.
Barbara Johns has worked for nearly 20 years to share the stories of Issei (immigrant generation) artists in Seattle. In 2024 she curated Side by Side: Nihonmachi Scenes by Tokita, Nomura, and Fujii for the Wing Luke Museum, highlighting these artists’ personal histories and the vibrancy of Seattle’s pre-WWII Japantown. In March 2025, Johns spoke about the exhibit with UW Press, who also published Johns’ biographies of these three notable Seattle artists. Read more here. Johns’ book about Kenjiro Nomura, published by the Cascadia Art Museum (2021), is available for purchase at CAM. Learn more here.
Moderator Mari Horita recommended visual artist Kenji Hamai Stoll, who recently designed the logo for Seattle Kraken’s 2026 AANHPI Night. Based in Tacoma, Stoll specializes in Japanese / American traditional tattoo art as well as murals and community projects. His recent works include a mural at Climate Pledge Arena and public artwork for Sound Transit. See more of his art here.
