Spotlight on
Contemporary Japanese-American Artists
Curator Kimi Kitada, currently at Charlotte Street Foundation, will share about her curatorial background and recent experiences in Kansas City. Over the last two and a half years, she has met with about 200 artists for studio visits throughout the greater Kansas City area. Of these artists, she will focus on the three contemporary artists of Japanese descent: Momoko Usami, Sumire “Skye” Taniai, and Rie Egawa. Artist Rie Egawa, born in Tokyo and based in Kansas City, will join Kitada in a brief conversation at the end of the talk.
Kimi Kitada is a curator based in Kansas City, MO. Currently, she serves as Gallery and Programs Manager at Charlotte Street. Previously, she was Curatorial Assistant at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2019-2020). From 2014 to 2018, she was Public Programs & Research Coordinator at Independent Curators International (ICI) in New York. Her recent exhibitions include: Handiwork: Art, Craft, and the Space Between at Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City (2022); With Liberty and Justice at Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City (2021); where we came from & where we are going at Transformer, Washington DC (2019); and reset at Garis & Hahn, New York (2016). She co-curated Postscript: Correspondent Works at artQ13, Rome (2015); 7×8 Curatorial Conversations at Budapest Art Market, Hungary (2013); and (in)complete at TEMP Art Space, New York (2013). Kitada received a BA in Art History and Classics from Bucknell University and an MA in Museum Studies from NYU.
Rie Egawa grew up in Tokyo, Japan. After graduating from Pratt Institute (Brooklyn, NY) with BFA in Printmaking, she spent decades working as a textile designer in the New York fashion industry. Egawa worked as an illustrator/designer in Kansas City, Missouri, while also creating home furnishings and large scale public art projects/commissions with husband/partner, Burgess Zbryk.
