MUSEUM FOUNDER

Mingei International Museum is a reflection of its Founder Martha Longenecker's dedication to the vision of mingei. With her inspiration and guidance, the Museum was established and developed over more than 27 years, bringing art of the people to the people of the San Diego region and far beyond.

Martha W. Longenecker's career in art is many-faceted—as an artist craftsman, educator and Founder of Mingei International Museum.

She received a BA in Art with a minor in English from the University of California at Los Angeles. At Claremont Graduate School, she studied painting with famed California artist Millard Sheets, and she received an Art Education Credential and a Master of Fine Arts Degree. Establishing her own ceramics studio in Claremont, California, she made wheel-thrown stoneware forms, which were exhibited nationally through Dalzell Hatfield Galleries from 1944 to 1964.

Attracted by her work, in 1955 San Diego State University asked her to develop the school's ceramics program. During Martha's 35-year tenure as Professor of Art, she taught the history of ceramics and design. She also directed the gallery program and supervised the University's student art teachers. Continuing post-graduate research included significant study in Japan under the guidance of the late potter Shoji Hamada, a Living Treasure, and the contemporary potter Tatsuzo Shimaoka, a Living National Treasure. Working in Japan gave her the opportunity to directly experience the teachings of art historian and aesthetician Dr. Sōetsu Yanagi, whom she had met in 1952, and who coined the term mingei—art of the people.

In the following years, at Martha's invitation, Mr. Hamada and Mr. Shimaoka visited the United States to lecture, exhibit and demonstrate pottery making. As Martha Longenecker returned again and again to Japan for further study, it became clear to her that an organization was necessary to facilitate these cultural exchanges. With the encouragement of her late husband, Sydney Martin Roth, who provided seed money, Mingei International Museum was incorporated as a nonprofit, public institution in 1974. Four years later, with an unprecedented gift of a 20-year leasehold provided by University Towne Centre and Ernest W. Hahn and Associates, Martha oversaw the design and construction of the original Museum which opened at University Towne Centre in San Diego in May 1978.

During her 27-year tenure as Director (1978 - 2005), Martha Longenecker directed the organization and design of 128 dynamic, changing exhibitions of "arts of the people," drawing from Mingei International's permanent collection and other museum and private collections. She also oversaw the production of 33 exhibition documentary publications and 19 broadcast-quality videos, which extend the influence of the Museum's mission throughout the world.

As Founding President and Director, Martha was a strong, creative force in a successful $8 million Capital Campaign that was completed in 1997. She oversaw the architectural design and build-out of the 41,000 square-foot museum facility on the Plaza de Panama in Balboa Park (opened in August 1996), and the installation of its inaugural exhibitions. Accommodating Mingei International's expanding permanent collection, this facility offers a broad yet intimate view of the arts of daily life from all eras and cultures of the world.

Martha also coordinated plans for the retrofit and renovation of a 21,000 square-foot property in Escondido, California. Acquired by Mingei International in October 2001, Mingei International Museum - Escondido opened to the public in December 2003.

In recognition of her contribution to transcultural artistic understanding, in 2003, Martha Longenecker was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by the Emperor of Japan.

Martha has directed development of a digital image database and kiosk for the Museum's art and library collections. In December 2005, completed portions were made available to the public on computer monitors at the Museum's Balboa Park and Escondido Museums. In August 2006, Mingei International Museum published Martha's latest book, MINGEI OF JAPAN, a retrospective on the work and legacy of the founders of the Mingei Association in Japan and the Museum's collection.

In October 2005, handing on the operation of the Museum to her successor Rob Sidner, the Board of Trustees named Martha Longenecker Founding President and Director Emerita.