The Columbus Museum of Art announced on March 19, 2026, that it will present East of the Pacific: Making Histories of Asian American Art, on view April 15 through August 16, 2026. Organized by the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University as part of its Asian American Art Initiative, the exhibition features more than 60 works by artists of Asian descent, tracing contributions to American art from the mid-19th century to the present.
The show unfolds across seven thematic sections, moving chronologically from early cultural exchange in California to contemporary works by the Asian diaspora. Sections include an examination of the interethnic East West Art Society in San Francisco; the artistic aftermath of Executive Order 9066 and the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II; and a survey of abstraction by Asian American artists whose work has been underrepresented in standard art histories. A dedicated spotlight on Yasuo Kuniyoshi offers new context for one of the museum’s most notable holdings, Boy Stealing Fruit, painted in 1923.
CMA’s presentation adds nearly 20 works from its permanent collection, including a new section drawing from the Scantland Collection that highlights contemporary artists of the Asian diaspora exploring identity, memory, and cultural belonging. The section titled “Defining Ourselves” extends the exhibition’s timeline to the present and connects histories of Asian migration to communities across the Midwest.
“East of the Pacific is a landmark exhibition, which expands the field of American art,” said Molly K. Eckel, Shackelford Family Assistant Curator of American Art at CMA. “By expanding this presentation with works from CMA’s collection, it connects histories of eastward migration to Midwestern communities and offers new contexts for understanding key works in the collection.” The Columbus Museum of Art is located at 480 East Broad Street in Columbus.
Source: Columbus Museum of Art