6 min read | By: Claudia Loayza
A weekend of art, music, dust, wind, and Utah spring sun.
All combined, it made for an eventful and hope-filled Topaz Art Pilgrimage, organized by the Friends of Topaz Museum and held on May 2-4, 2024. The event paid tribute to the 10,000 people of Japanese descent who were incarcerated at the WWII American internment camp at Topaz in Delta, Utah. The pilgrimage welcomed local partners in history, culture, and community engagement to celebrate the legacy of art as a vehicle for healing and hope. Most importantly it created a space for the families of descendents to remember and pay honor to the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and loved ones that called Topaz their mandatory home during a period of war, tension, and fear.
Topaz Mountain Camp, as it was then known, was one of the few internment camps across the country that had an art school, operated by the individuals incarcerated there. It was a connecting point, and some of the mediums residents worked in included stamp making, painting, drawing, and Ikebana—Japanese flower arrangements in vases created from leftover firewood. It was a way to make sense of the confused and war-torn time as well as a way of keeping a record of what had happened to the internees since no cameras were allowed.
Topaz Museum Board Member Kay Yatabe (far left) and pilgrimage participants engaging in activities at the Japanese Buddhist Temple prior to a walking tour of Japantown in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The modern tradition of pilgrimage started as a family reunion of sorts. Families sent to Topaz came primarily from the Bay Area of California, but were later scattered across the country once World War II ended. Many realized that the homes they left in urgency were no longer there to receive them. Amidst all of this, descendents like Joy Iwasa, board member of the Topaz Museum, whose grandmother was incarcerated at Topaz, have found ways to emphasize healing, connection, and community through their families’ stories.
“I serve on the Topaz Museum board in honor of my grandmother who passed away last year at the age of 103. Her name was Yae Wada and she was incarcerated in Topaz. At the age of 94 and as a second-generation Japanese American, she started to share more about her experience and impact on people through her stories. I grew up knowing what the camps were, but not fully understanding what the struggle was like. I was her caregiver and always enjoyed spending time with her. So much that I moved in with her during my home’s renovation and I never moved out! She and I once went to a Smithsonian Museum and, as chance would have it, she found herself sharing her story as a survivor to a group of strangers who were so appreciative of her transparency and willingness to help them learn. I strive to help her legacy of learning and growth live on.”
Joy Iwasa, Topaz Museum Board Member and Oakland School for the Arts
“Today is a good time for everyone to come together. This is space to do art and to talk about it. As part of this experience, we memorialized connections made at the camp and made today between families. This was also an opportunity to contextualize the Japanese community in Utah by having people come and visit Japantown and learn more about what is happening with its redevelopment.”
Kenzie Hirai, Topaz Museum Board Member and Japanese Buddhist Temple
Life during and after Topaz was marked with difficulty, but according to Dean Hirabayashi, another newly appointed museum board member, lifelong Utahn, and a previous Utah Multicultural Commissioner, people found a way forward. He is a member of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and President/CEO of the National JACL Credit Union, headquartered in Millcreek, Utah. The credit union was established after the internment camps closed, because many Japanese Americans struggled to find banks that would be willing to give them loans or issue bank accounts due to prejudice. Nonetheless, Dean said several seeds of hope and community organizing came out of necessity during that troubling time that have blossomed into long lasting opportunities and partnerships.
The start of the pilgrimage was at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA), featuring the exhibit on “Pictures of Belonging” by Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo, curated by ShiPu Wang and presented by the Japanese American National Museum. The exhibit opened on February 24 at the UMFA, and will tour nationally from 2024-2027.
Dean Hirabayashi (far right) and members of the Utah Department of Culture and Community Engagement, Monique Davila and Claudia Loayza (far left).
Kimi Hill, granddaughter of Chiura Obata, one of the Topaz art teachers, talked about the organizing power of her grandparents and several other artists who gave families a way to express their feelings and experiences when words could not describe. This is something that XXX, an ikebana master, discussed poignantly in connection to the art of ikebana itself, noting that this practice was all about “finding beauty in the tension,” acknowledging that the flowers are not meant to be arranged in a static nature, but made to resemble the sometimes unpredictable nature of nature. Like many of those interned at Topaz, tension and confusion was a daily feeling, but they sought to find the elements that could keep them clinging to hope and remind them that better days could come.
“Learning about life in Topaz from the artwork featured in the Utah Museum of Fine Arts exhibit ‘Pictures of Belonging,’ and receiving a tour of the Topaz grounds from Kim Hill, granddaughter of Japanese artist Haruko Obata, allowed me to visually see a different perspective of Japanese American life within the barbed-wire fences of Topaz and appreciate the beauty of the Topaz desert. Understanding more about the Topaz Internment Camp through the artwork created by those imprisoned shows how one can make beauty out of tough situations.”
Monique Davila
On Saturday, May 4, the pilgrimage group took buses from Salt Lake City to Delta for a day trip to the Topaz Museum and site. Guided tours to specific barrack locations where family members stayed were arranged and the bus route followed a similar route as to what incarcerated members at the time of World War II would have taken. The Topaz Museum, since its founding in 2017, has created meaningful relationships with families of Topaz descendants and local Delta residents to remember the past, and to find a way forward. The museum is run by local volunteers and led by museum director, Jane Beckwith. Beckwith worked as the journalism teacher at Delta High School. When students were looking for more stories to follow outside of homecoming and local sporting events, Beckwith assigned her students to “go find stories of Topaz and come back and tell me what you find.” The outcome was life changing for many of the students and eventually led to growing interest and investment that resulted in the museum.
Claudia Loayza, Magnify Utah program manager of the Utah Division of Multicultural Affairs, and Monique Davila, community engagement coordinator for the Utah Historical Society, joined the pilgrimage as eager learners and connectors. Here is what they had to say about their experience:
“It took me well over twenty years as a lifelong Utahn to come to understand the history of Topaz. Utah has always made its mark on the art and culture world, but this was a way of nodding to the past with reverence and embracing the future and resilience of Japanese American descendents who continue to preserve stories and traditions of strength. Thank you to the Friends of Topaz and the Utah Topaz Museum for allowing me to participate and go on this learning journey..”
Claudia Loayza
In the face of challenges that test the human spirit, let us foster hope, nurture healing, celebrate resilience, and uphold dignity. This post offered an opportunity to delve into the narratives of Japanese Americans that lived through and have a legacy of a dark and poignant time in our nation’s history, and we learn from them that we must not only pay homage to the past and not repeat our mistakes of the past, but also equip ourselves to forge a future grounded in learning and growth. Together, we can pave a path where the lessons of the past guide us towards a more just and compassionate world.
For more information and resources on Utah’s Topaz Museum and Friend of Topaz projects striving to connect the past to the present, visit: