The Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C. (KCCDC) proudly announces Korean Art in the U.S., a new series of virtual tours of major exhibitions and collections of Korean art in the United States, launching with a curator-led inside look at Gold Needles: Embroidery Arts from Korea, now on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art. 

During a time of limited travel and in-person programs, this new online program will provide the general public with a new level of access the richness and diversity of Korean traditional and contemporary art found in American museums including rarely seen collections not currently on display. 

Guided by Dr. Sooa Im McCormick, Curator of Korean Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the first program highlights exquisite works from their current special exhibition of Korean embroidery, as well as a look into the museum's substantial permanent collection of Korean art. The collection boasts a robust selection of Korean works across a variety of media, which the museum has been actively acquiring by gift and purchase since 1915, leading to the establishment of the museum's Korean Art section in 2013 with support from the Korea Foundation and a range of Korea-themed exhibitions since. For more on the exhibition, museum, and presenter, scroll down below. 

To view the Virtual Exhibition Click Here

WHAT: Virtual exhibition tours of major Korean art exhibitions in the United States, beginning with Gold Needles: Embroidery Arts from Korea at the Cleveland Museum of Art

WHEN: Release: Monday, November 2 at 6:00 p.m. 

WHERE: Watch it on Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C. social media channels: YouTube (@Koreaculturedc) and IGTV (@Koreaculturedc)

All images are credit and copyright to The Cleveland Museum of Art.

Above: the exhibition Gold Needles: Embroidery Arts from Korea

Gift-Wrapping Cloth (known as bojagi, early 1900s Joseon dynasty)

One Hundred Children at Play (ten-panel folding screen)

About Gold Needles: Embroidery Arts from Korea

Co-organized with the Seoul Museum of Craft Art, Gold Needles: Embroidery Arts from Korea celebrates anonymous women artists and their inventive creations that triumphed over the conventions of a strongly patriarchal society during the Joseon dynasty (1392–1897). Through stunning examples of embroidery and patchwork, this exhibition explores Korean embroidered works of art as tools of empowerment to overcome social and cultural constraints. The exhibition is held March 8 through October 25, 2020 at the Arlene M. and Arthur S. Holden Textile Gallery, the Cleveland Museum of Art. Visit www.clevelandart.org for more information. 

About Korean Art in the U.S.

Presented by the Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C., Korean Art in the U.S. is a series of exclusive virtual tours and presentations that explore Korean art exhibitions and collections in U.S. museums. Viewers can gain a deeper understanding of Korean art, culture, and history as it related to each museum's featured art, either simply from the comfort of home or as a complement to an in-person visit. Through this and other innovative programs, the KCCDC will continues to share the uniqueness and excellence of Korean culture with the general public. For more information and to learn about past and future editions of the series, visit the KCCDC website at http://washingtondc.korean-culture.org.

About the Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes more than 61,000 objects and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. The museum is a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship, and performing arts. One of the top comprehensive art museums in the nation and free of charge to all, the Cleveland Museum of Art is located in the dynamic University Circle neighborhood. For more information, visit www.clevelandart.org

About the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Korean Art Collection

The Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection of Korean art is one of the most distinguished collections outside of Korea. The Cleveland Museum of Art has been actively acquiring Korean art by gift and purchase since 1915. The collection features a robust selection of works in a variety of media. The holdings in ceramics are especially strong, and include a number of fine celadons from the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392). The painting collection contains rare Goryeo Buddhist paintings, as well as Joseon dynasty (1392–1897) paintings such as landscapes and portraits. Its selection of folding screen paintings includes a notable 19th-century example from the genre of “scholars’ accouterments,” or chaekkori, as well as an important pair of 15th-century ink landscape screens by Yi Sumun, a Korean artist who painted in Japan. Bronze Buddhist statuary and ritual objects from the Three Kingdoms period (57 BC–AD 668) through the Goryeo dynasty attest to the sophisticated craftsmanship of these eras. The collection also has significant examples of early earthenware vessels and other archaeological materials. 

About Curator Dr. Sooa Im McCormick

Dr. Sooa Im McCormick joined the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2015 and is primarily responsible for the Korean art collection. Her interests include Korean art and architecture from the 1600s to the present and the crosscurrents in East Asian visual culture from the 1600s to the 1800s. McCormick holds a PhD from the University of Kansas and her dissertation was titled “Comparative and Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Chinese and Korean Court Documentary Painting in the Eighteenth Century.” She earned an MA in art history from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, with a thesis on Edo-period Japanese painter Itō Jakuchū’s bird-and-flower paintings. She also completed graduate coursework in art history at Hongik University, Seoul, where she focused on Chinese and Korean art.