Isamu Noguchi / Common Ground

The Japanese American Cultural & Community Center is a five-story building designed by Kazumi Adachi, Kiyoshi Sawano, and Hideo Matsunaga. The one-acre brick-paved plaza was designed by Los Angeles Native, Isamu Noguchi.

"This plaza, a gift from the City of Los Angeles to the people of Little Tokyo, was designed by Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) and dedicated on July 26, 1983. Crowning the plaza is the monumental sculpture by Noguchi, entitled "To the Issei" as a tribute to the first generation of Japanese who immigrated to America.

To the Issei, by Isamu Noguchi 

"Organizing the plaza as a focal point, To the Issei venerates the founders of the Japanese American community with two 12' long basalt rocks that harken back in material and form to traditional Japanese rock compositions. One rock lies horizontal, suggesting repose, and the other, standing upright but slightly tilted to form a diagonal line that is a Japanese symbol for mankind, evokes heroic power. The chipped surface of each of the 20-ton rocks exposes the inner texture of the basalt, reflecting a Japanese artistic tradition of slightly altering natural materials as a symbol of completing them with a human presence. By giving voice to the core Japanese belief of ancestral respect, these rocks, according to Noguchi, "express a congealment of time" and create an aura of the eternal, universal and immortal." Source: Public Art in LA




There is also a circular fountain by Noguchi


The project was part of the Little Tokyo Redevelopment. This section of the city was heavily damaged by a 1971 earthquake and efforts were underway to rebuild it. 
Source: Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection/Los Angeles Public Library

Ad concept for the opening of the plaza.


Isamu at the plaza.

Source: Densho Encyclopedia


Around the same time the plaza was dedicated, there was an installation of Akari lamps were on display at JACCC.


 The George J. Doizaki gallery has been on the ground floor of the JACCC since it opened.

What brought me to the plaza was Common Ground

The exhibition was a collaboration between JACCC, the Los Angeles branch of the Sogetsu Ikebana School, and Adam Silverman’s Common Ground project. The exhibition included 56 individual ikebana arrangements made by 56 of the Sogetsu instructors and advanced students, as well as Silverman's body of work that he created from clay (the earth), wood ash (trees and plants) and water (oceans, rivers, streams, wells, taps, melted snow) collected from all 56 US states and territories.

The exhibition took place at the George J. Doizaki Gallery, just like the Noguchi exhibition in 1983.

Adam Silverman created all the vessels.


My friend Auralynn participated in the exhibition. 





In 2004 there was an exhibition that included ceramic works by Noguchi, called Common Ground: The Heart of the Community. It took place at the Japanese American National Museum, also in Little Tokyo Los Angeles. I'm almost certain I went to that exhibition. Common Ground is an ongoing program at JANM. I don't know if the Silverman project name is related or just a coincidence. 

Source: LA Times