Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Alice Waters, OWNER, CHEZ PANISSE RESTAURANT AND CAFÉ; FOUNDER OF THE CHEZ PANISSE FOUNDATION, THE EDIBLE SCHOOLYARD PROJECT and Dianna Cohen, ARTIST
“We need a revolution, a delicious revolution, that will induce children — in a pleasurable way to think critically about what they eat.” Alice Waters
Within the Edible Schoolyard project, Alice is teaching us all by demonstration, that we are what we eat. She creates a sense of community and our interconnectedness. These are values that I hold high and attempt to eschew and embody in my work in a more formal way as compositions made up of disparate parts joined together to form a whole.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Rep. Anna Eshoo, CONGRESSWOMAN FROM CALIFORNIA and Laura Deem, ARTIST
Anna Eshoo’s life experiences have helped to shape her into the person she is today and the way that she represents her constituents in Congress. Her role as a parent, daughter, wife, student, teacher, woman, caretaker and friend have all come into play.
The handwritten slips of paper contain Anna’s private thoughts, memories and experiences. These personal topics feed into a “public table”. This public table is a communal meeting place that houses issues, projects and policies with which Anna Eshoo is involved as a Congresswoman.
The objects represent both the private and public world. Combined they weave together an individual narrative of the many hats that we wear, the experiences that accompany them, and the ones we chose to share with the rest of the world.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Judy Kleinberg, MAYOR OF PALO ALTO and Sharon Chinen, ARTIST.
The mayor’s interest in growing a healthy community is represented in the roots of this piece. The box is filled with the soil of Palo Alto, laid down as a rich foundation for the small red berries which represent the children of Palo Alto and education…two passions of Mayor Kleinberg. Our roles as women, teachers, caregivers, leaders — the flourishing community of which we are all a part — is finally represented by the blossoming trees that reach out to the world at large.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Emily Harrison, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, CITY OF PALO ALTO and Renee Winick, ARTIST.
A government building is the architecture that delineates space and frames conversations.
In the confines of that structure, Emily Harrison devotes her time and boundless energy to developing new ideas and innovations.
For her, this process becomes an explosion of joy and excitement as if sparks were shooting out in an array of twists and turns, spiraling outward, and beyond.
So many women from so many different circumstances live these words. Women are tenderly caring for those in their stead, watching and vigilant for sounds of an aching heart. Dr. Sara Bunting is one such woman. And she is tired.
Reclaiming time for recreation…re-creation and solitude is the task awaiting us. Take time to know the shape of silence.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Dolores Huerta, SOCIAL ACTIVIST, LABOR LEADER AND CO-FOUNDER OF UNITED FARM WORKERS
Grace Elizabeth Davis, WRITER, MOTHER AND MARATHON RUNNER
These trophies are awards to the plights that we face as women.
Dolores Huerta wanted to help her students who came to class barefoot and hungry. Through her community work she co-founded the United Farm Workers Union. At 76 years old she continues to lecture and lobby for the UFW, a model used by global labor unions as a testimony to the rights of workers.
Grace Davis, writer/runner/mother, known for “Katrina Relief” brought aid to the hurricane victims of New Orleans, the first to use blogging as a medium in disaster relief.
In our endeavors, our lives can be in danger, our pasts can haunt us, our vulnerabilities can be exposed.
Unselfishly, women strive to be all things to everyone; we endure the odds guided by our passion to care for our world families.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Grace Elizabeth Davis, WRITER, MOTHER AND MARATHON RUNNER and Terry Acebo Davis, ARTIST
These trophies are awards to the plights that we face as women.
Grace Davis, writer/runner/mother, known for “Katrina Relief” brought aid to the hurricane victims of New Orleans, the first to use blogging as a medium in disaster relief.
In our endeavors, our lives can be in danger, our pasts can haunt us, our vulnerabilities can be exposed.
Unselfishly, women strive to be all things to everyone; we endure the odds guided by our passion to care for our world families.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Dolores Huerta, SOCIAL ACTIVIST, LABOR LEADER AND CO-FOUNDER OF UNITED FARM WORKERS and Terry Acebo Davis, ARTIST
These trophies are awards to the plights that we face as women.
Dolores Huerta wanted to help her students who came to class barefoot and hungry. Through her community work she co-founded the United Farm Workers Union. At 76 years old she continues to lecture and lobby for the UFW, a model used by global labor unions as a testimony to the rights of workers.
In our endeavors, our lives can be in danger, our pasts can haunt us, our vulnerabilities can be exposed.
Unselfishly, women strive to be all things to everyone; we endure the odds guided by our passion to care for our world families.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Amy Reisenbach, DIRECTOR OF CURRENT PROGRAMMING FOR CBS PARAMOUNT TELEVISION and Sukey Bryan, ARTIST
When Amy and I talked on the phone, I was very moved by her embrace of the people around her, her enjoyment of her work, and pleasure she gets from being in nature. A significant experience that we hold in common is that we have both lived through the death of members of our immediate families. Several times she said, “Don’t take things for granted”.
I covered the entire box with an image of water, an ever-changing and unpredictable source of life — as a metaphor of awareness and appreciation of the life and lives that surrounds us. The inside of the box and the inside of the lid are gold like the constant inner self that reflects light.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Julie Su, Esq., LITIGATION DIRECTOR, ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN LEGAL CENTER, RECIPIENT OF THE MACARTHUR GENIUS GRANT and Nancy White, ARTIST
Too often, we fail to think about where the clothes we wear actually come from. Clothes, like this necklace, are worn, but they are also made—made of fabric sewn together by human beings. Women workers are the faces behind the garments we wear, hidden as in this locket, invisible, yet upon closer examination, resilient, strong, able to rise up against exploitation and sweatshop conditions to raise one voice, in many languages, for justice.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Yvonne Banks, Owner of Art Consulting Services and Marie Hassett, artist.
Yvonne Banks is passionate about art! She has been instrumental in bridging the art world with the rest of our community for over 20 years as an art consultant and former gallery owner. Art Box is a tribute to her contributions. Her own vision and tireless energy strengthens her advice to young women, “You can do anything if you’re willing to work to get there.”
It was my pleasure to spend time with Yvonne sharing stories from our lives, finding commonality in our experiences as mothers, gardeners and lovers of art.
Tajima. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Susannah Malarkey, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE OF WASHINGTON and MalPina Chan, ARTIST.
The form of the square frame suggests strength and solidity making it an appropriate metaphor for Susannah. From the first few moments of our initial conversation, we felt a connection as we shared memories about our mothers and daughters. Susannah’s feelings on “wise women who came before passing on and sharing their life’s lessons” and the notion of “tribal memories” serves as the inspiration for this piece.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
PHYLLIS CAMBPBELL, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE SEATTLE FOUNDATION
Right angles are only made by human beings. And if one thinks of the ultimate object created, one is led to the computer and its binary innards.
The dots on the unpainted, rectangular box are like the zeroes and ones used to create software. The disks represent programs which have strategies for solving problems of all dimensions, from local to global levels.
The box is about hope in the computer, that it will be able to help humanity.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
TOMIKO FRASER, MAYBELLINE SPOKESPERSON/ACTRESS
Tomiko Fraser has benefitted greatly in her life from mentoring and, in return, wishes to nurture and empower other women. An exuberant, playful woman, she has been able to find her way and break free of the confines of others’ expectations.
In appreciation of Faith Ringgold and her painted story quilt “Sunflower Quilting Bee of Arles” (1991) and the women depicted within.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
LEASA MAYERS, PRESIDENT, CRG EVENTS
In talking to Leasa Mayers about her life – her family, and her work promoting others in their ventures, the powerful Rainer Maria Rilke poem, “Growing Orbits” came to mind. It inspired me to transform the plain wooden box into a cradle holding a bird’s nest with eggs to honor Leasa’s endeavors; her creative spirit, her effective nurturing which helps others to take flight.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
YORIKO KISHIMOTO, VICE MAYOR, CITY OF PALO ALTO and Jen Schachter, ARTIST.
A photo of Yoriko as a small child with her parents and older brother in Shizuoka, Japan flies from the branch of one of her favorite trees, the maple, signifying her love of gardens. The trail reflects her journey from Japan and her love of travel while the mountain symbolizes her love of hiking and mountains, and her desire to “climb to a high place and see as far as I can”— hence the binoculars.
The central image is her interest in the 4 elements — earth, air, fire and water. Earth is symbolized by a clay container I made (I am a potter) and the water by blue glass that was melted in the clay container.
There are so many aspects of Yoriko’s life that are not included, but through some mysterious mental process, I have focused on these ideas and presented them in this way.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
NANCY SODERBERG, FORMER SENIOR FOREIGN POLICY ADVISOR TO CLINTON, FORMER US AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS
My impression of Nancy is a study in contrasts: powerful authority figure/pretty, blonde hair, soft features. Woman, wife, stepmother/facing the horror of war on a daily basis.
But a singular vision: the world can change, war can be contained.
So, we have a soft, hand-stitched pillow – symbol of domesticity, a womanly art. In the colors of the UN flag, the ultimate multilateral institution, and round, like the diplomatic Round Table. A locked, but fragile glass box, its contents a weapon of powerful but intimate destruction: an M67 Fragmentation hand grenade. And the key tucked safely away in a pocket of the UN pillow.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Laurie Dolan, DIRECTOR OF WASHINGTON STATE GOVERNOR’S EXECUTIVE POLICY OFFICER
Because Laurie had twice run and lost close State Senate races, my first impulse for this project was to create political art that is stark and confrontational in the style of outsider Bible-literalists — using red, black, white, block letters and simple but expressive figures.
Laurie is genuinely engaged in and faithful to the political process, seeing herself as glue, as a relationship builder. Laurie underwent a successful stem cell transplant in July 2003, and her illness and recovery impressed on her how little time we have to touch the world, and how important it is to touch our children. The text on the box runs together and reflects the impact of Laurie’s illness on her life, her desire to touch the world, and the importance of her family.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Rita Ryder, PRESIDENT OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVES, YWCA
Our sculpture represents the day-to-day work of the YWCA, providing hope and opportunity to women and families. Our ceramic hands represent our entire, diverse community joining together to help women and families overcome critical issues that undermine their lives: homelessness, poverty, domestic violence and unemployment.
Working together, we move women and families forward—breaking the cycle of poverty and hopelessness, and improving the quality of their lives.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Sharifa Wilson, FORMER MAYOR OF EAST PALO ALTO; COLLEGE TRACK DIRECTOR and Daisy Juliana Eneix, ARTIST
When I first spoke with Sharifa, the former Mayor of East Palo Alto, I was struck by her absolute faith in her ability to make change. “I consider myself an optimist” citing her family as her primary inspiration. As Sharifa went on to discuss the strategies she has used to bring money, businesses, jobs and better education opportunities into East Palo Alto, it became clear that persistence was something she didn’t think twice about.
While considering what I could do for an artwork about Sharifa, I thought about what a formidable force she was. A picture came to mind of some unsuspecting guy delivering her the “Sorry lady, that’s the way it is” line and what she would do with that. This artwork is about the refusal to accept that answer and the possibilities it opens.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Elizabeth Rice-Grossman, BUSINESSWOMAN AND PHILANTHROPIST, SUPPORTER TO THE CIRCLE OF CARE FOUNDATION and Catie O’Leary, ARTIST
Images used in these collages represent Elizabeth Rice-Grossman — her life, influences and concerns, benefitting those near her home in Ventura County.
Images are personal symbols meant to represent her life, such as:
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Barbara Boxer, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA and Barbara Leventhal-Stern
The first words I associate with Senator Barbara Boxer are passion and courage. In my mind, I saw an image of a boat that “keeps on course”.
Because the exhibition serves to inspire young women who could be faced with adversity or hard decisions, I inserted excerpts from our email dialogue so they could read about the sources of her commitment themselves.
Thanks to Senator Boxer, and Michael and Adrienne, her talented staff.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Genevieve Smith, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, WASHINGTON MUTUAL BANK and Barbara Earl Thomas, ARTIST
I shut the door on that house where I’d lived for 30 years. I never looked back. I can live anywhere.
Maybe it wasn’t exactly like that but that’s what I think I heard her say. From the Amazon to the city, one thing remains, Genevieve is constant, solid and clear putting on and taking off whatever the season calls for, but inside she remains the spring of her own life force, Genevieve.
Gen’s selected quote:
“The aim of life is self-development. To realize one’s nature perfectly – that is what each of us is here for.” – Oscar Wilde
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Pam Praeger, VICE PRESIDENT OF LEARNING, SPOKANE FALLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE
One of the first things that Pam said to me was, “I don’t know if anyone mentioned it to you but I lost my daughter in May and I’m still struggling with the loss.” She said it almost apologetically. As I got to know Pam it became clear that Tara, the lost daughter, set a high bar for her mother through the lessons she taught the whole family during her dying. I also learned that Pam and Tara are a lot alike. Even in pain Pam’s first impulse was to help me. I knew instinctively that it was also what Tara would have done. I am grateful to Pam and Tara for their generosity and honesty. During our time together Pam cried more than once and each time she seemed at a loss about what to do with her tears. So I’ve made a Magic box for those tears. Its capacity is endless.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Yuri Kochiyama, LEGENDARY CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST; CLOSE FRIEND AND ASSOCIATE OF MALCOM X and June Sekiguchi, ARTIST.
I want to represent the effect pivotal events had on Yuri Kochiyama and how her life and work had a ripple effect in turn. Something breaks the surface of awareness and affects a resounding change. The box is the foundation supporting barbed wire which acts not only as the internal framework of concentric ripples reverberating beyond the source, but references important aspects of Yuri’s life: internment and political prisoners.
The box holds a gathering of pebbles that signify the catalyst of change. The ripples are inscribed with quotes, influences, and documentation of her life. I’ve chosen to use text heavily in this piece because the written word has held a place of importance in Yuri’s connection to the world. Light and shadow reflect the intangible far reaching affect she has had.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Joan Takayama-Ogawa (artist) and Elaine Tajima (CEO, founder at Tajima Creative)
We live in times of war, where racial profiling threatens the freedom of Arab Americans. By transforming this wooden box into a shrine representing my family’s internment in Japanese American relocation camps, I hope that racial profiling will not happen again.
Symbols of the highest decorated American 442 Regimental Combat Unit, the luggage tags with family numbers for the Takayama and Ogawas, rotate around the box symbolically, tied with barbed wire. Along the perimeter of the black tray, a plant revered by Japanese Americans, connects with barbed wire symbolizing their incarceration. A gold crane perched on a post, represents the Hiroshima bomb.
Thirty-seven last names along the edge of the tray represent hundreds of my family members who were incarcerated during World War II, remembering freedom is fragile, and racial profiling is intolerable.
Tajima. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Beverlye Hyman Fead, CANCER SURVIVOR and Rita Rivest, ARTIST
The theme of my box is how much happier I am today — living out of the box. For half my life, I lived within the confines of the box and when I realized I was dying inside, I moved on.
Inside the bottom of the box are names of women I admire that have chosen unusual roads for themselves. They inspired me to move away from everything I knew and start over. When I became a cancer survivor, it was then I realized I had been a survivor of sorts all my life and now I could start inspiring others.
I wrote a book and have decoupaged pieces of my book on and inside my box. My banners of survivorship and living my life in my own way, wave triumphantly from the box spurring me on. I hope they will have the same effect on any woman, young or old, who will see this box.
Rita Rivest, my friend and soul sister, has been my mentor and my muse in this project. Thank you, Rita.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
CRISTINA CORLA, SURVIVOR CONTESTANT AND POLICE OFFICER and ANN GENZON, ARTIST
Red Box of Hope represents survival, endurance, determination, perseverance, and the promise of hope through one’s life.
Life is charged with challenging situations and wonderful moments as well. Life is a journey, life is a gift.
It is within every human being that travels to the roads of life, to develop the ability to close certain doors forever and to open the newfound doors of hope, faith and wisdom.
It is within every woman to find the courage necessary to overcome complex, dangerous and sometimes confusing messages unveiled in the act of opening these doors. It is within every woman to find the strength to lock forever these doors, and find the right door that leads to THE RED BOX OF HOPE.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Nita Song, PRESIDENT/COO OF IW GROUP, ASIAN AMERICAN ADVERTISING AGENCY and Ann Enkoji, ARTIST
The starting point of this sculpture began when I asked Nita about pivotal moments in her life and she began to share the stories that created the themes for the box:
— moving with her family to the US to live in Alabama with her aunt
— pinching a young playmate until he broke her nose with a brick
— taking that injury and wearing it as an emblem of her character
— delivering her first child, weighing in at 10 pounds
— her two children’s artwork
— deepening her family and community relationships, especially with her mother
— and her love of the soil
Clay became the natural connection between my art and Nita’s life when she said: “… soil represents who I am. Soil is fertile, nutrient rich and stimulates growth.”
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
KATE MCISAAC ,1ST LIEUTENANT, U.S. ARMY and Laura Klein, ARTIST
Kate McIsaac just celebrated her 30th birthday in Baqubah, Iraq. She is a 1st Lieutenant in the Army, serving in OIF IV – V at FOB Warhorse as a postal officer. Her unit is from Long Beach, California.
She is also a first-year law student at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa and will either go into criminal law or First Amendment Libel law. Libel law is near and dear to her heart.
Kate also has a degree in Journalism and worked as a journalist for several years.
Elaine Tajima, CEO Tajima Creative LA, Coordinator and Curator
Brad Hennig, Tajima Creative
Kathleen Holliday, Tajima Creative
Kathy Prost, Tajima Creative
Marie Moore, Tajima Creative
Rita Rivest, WBB Contact
ART EXPRESSING LIFE
A COLLABORATION WITH TAJIMA CREATIVE
Elaine Tajima and Kathleen Holliday
A box by an unknown artist
Stephania Serena, Lorraine Serena, another attendee, and Diep Vuong – President of the Pacific Links Foundation, in Palo Alto
Kathleen Holliday, Lorraine Serena, Elaine Tajima, Kathy Prost, Rita Rivet, and Marie Moore, in Seattle
Women Beyond Borders, with support from Tajima Creative, presented dynamic exhibitions, highlighting the personal stories of prominent national and regional women in Seattle and Palo Alto. To express these stories in art, the project paired women like California Senator Barbara Boxer, restaurateur and author Alice Waters, Barclays CEO (and former Washington Mutual President) Deanna Oppenheimer and others with established artists working in a range of media. The resulting pieces are both intensely personal and richly intriguing. One of the criteria for selecting the women participating in the exhibition was that their personal stories be inspiring to young girls. In Seattle, adjunct workshops were conducted for GirlsFirst, a leadership program for high school girls of color facing social and economic barriers, and Angeline’s center for homeless women.
Artist: Louise Kiukuchi
Woman: Phyllis Campbell,
President/CEO The Seattle Foundation
The Encrypted Future
Right angles are only made by human beings. And if one thinks of the ultimate object created, one is led to the computer and its binary innards. The dots on the unpainted, rectangular box are like the zeroes and ones used to create software. The disks represent programs which have strategies for solving problems of all dimensions, from local to global levels. The box is about hope in the computer, that it will be able to help humanity.
Artist: Dianna Cohen
Woman: Alice Waters
Owner of Chez Panisse Restaurant and Café
Founder of The Edible Schoolyard Project Lettuce Revolution
We need a revolution, a delicious revolution, that will induce children – in a pleasurable way to think critically about what they eat.
– Alice Waters
Within the Edible Schoolyard project, Alice is teaching us all by demonstration, that we are what we eat. She creates a sense of community and interconnectedness. These are values that I hold high and attempt to eschew and embody in my work in a more formal way as compositions made up of disparate parts joined together to form whole. This “Lettuce Revolution” box piece for the WBB project attempts to visually embody the ideas of Alice Waters.
Tajima Box Project. An artist and an extraordinary woman collaborate to create a box.
Fannie Flagg, ACTRESS, COMEDIAN, AND AUTHOR with Ramona Otto, ARTIST.
When I was told that I would be doing a piece on Fannie Flagg, I was honored. We are from the same generation, and I’ve always enjoyed her TV and film work, and was impressed that she was also a brilliant author and screenwriter. Because word play is often a part of my work, my original thought was to make the box into a soapbox, and then I could make the theme into whatever message was important to Fannie.
Fannie’s wish was to have a positive art piece because she was tired of all the negative art and energy being released into the world. She hoped her piece could reflect that life was good.
I hope my title gives a whole new meaning to the word “cheerleader.”
Get Updates
Enter your email address below to signup for our newsletter. We promise to never sell your info.
