nwasianweekly.com
May 31, 2008

Photo by Ann-Marie Stillion

Artist Saya Moriyasu’s fan stands as part of the donor art installation, “Sweet Hello,” inside the Welcome Hall lobby.

A new Wing Luke looks back in time

By Eleanor Lee

Northwest Asian Weekly

What is both new and historic, spacious and intimate? Well, I guess the headline is a dead giveaway, but yes, the new Wing Luke Asian Museum.

Wing Luke will hold its grand opening May 31 and June 1, revealing a completely new space at 719 S. King St. in the International District, just a few blocks from its old site. The result of a $23 million capital campaign, the additional facilities space means numerous new programs and community offerings.

A particularly compelling new program Wing Luke will offer is the Historical Immersion Tour. In expanding and reopening in a new space, the museum purchased a historical building and went to great lengths to preserve the original materials, floor plans and historical significance.

Much of the new building — which was the East Kong Yick Building, housing for Asian laborers in the early 1900s — was set aside and preserved to show life as it was for early immigrants to the area.

The historic immersion spaces can be accessed by guided tours only, and visitors will be led around in small, contained groups. This will not only preserve the historic spaces and artifacts, Executive Director Beth Takekawa said, but also maintain the “back in time” mind frame the tour hopes to convey.

Participants will be taken through the museum on a specific route, remaining in historic sections only and avoiding contemporary spaces, the better to maintain the impression of time travel.

The Yick Fung Co., the cherished importing store that was a community landmark for so many years, is the first stop. In fact, the tour is designed to enter from the street through the original door of the company.

After the store closed just a few months ago, it was all brought over, piece by piece, and recreated as a permanent exhibit.

Other stops on the tour include original apartments, an original communal kitchen (with a couple of the original woks), a hotel manager’s office, complete with original key hooks, and an original Historic Family Association.

“Original” is a word that comes up often during this tour. As does the phrase, “piece by piece,” as in, “We took it apart piece by piece, brought it over and put it back together again,” something Takekawa says numerous times, about all manner of things, from an original cabinet from the Wah Yung Co. to the very floorboards of the Historic Family Association meeting room.

Even though it was considerably more work and more money, Takekawa said they strived to avoid replication and honor the authenticity of the building.

“This did not seem like it was going to be a museum,” she said. “The pigeons had moved in — they were flying around everywhere, there were eggs on the floors,” she recounted bemusedly.

“But we could see it,” she said, meaning they could envision the museum as it would be, and as it is today, a testament to the commitment of the Wing Luke staff and the greater community.

The new space is 60,000 square feet, compared to 7,200 square feet at the old space. It’s the museum equivalent of going from a studio apartment to a mansion. The Wing Luke staff seems to be reveling in it and setting correspondingly high expectations for themselves.

Joann Natalia Aquino, public relations manager, said the museum’s goal for attendance for the first year is 60,000. Takekawa confirmed the figure, looking slightly alarmed, yet also proud, at their own ambition.

The old space handled only 15,000 a year, though they conducted numerous off-site events and programs — in part, of course, due to the constraints of the space.

Takekawa’s biggest hope for opening day is “that it will be a fitting celebration and a fitting beginning for the new era of the museum.”

As for her biggest fear, that would simply be “if no (one) comes!” That seems highly unlikely, though, what with musical and cultural performances scheduled and timed tickets to stagger the visitors.

Ultimately, however, the only sure thing about the grand opening is that, as Takekawa said, “We’re prepared for chaos.”

Starting June 3, the Wing Luke Asian Museum is open Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; and during free first Thursday and third Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Closed on Mondays. Admission is free-$8. Docent-led education and neighborhood tours are offered. For more information, visit www.wingluke.org.

Eleanor Lee can be reached at e.lee@nwasianweekly.com.

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