JCSU News Release
JCSU Dedicates New Priceless Korean Art Gallery
The Inja Hong Gallery showcases a permanent
display that ranges from paintings and lithographs to
calligraphy, ceramics and bone china, as well as a variety
of Korean handcrafts.
April 28, 2008 - Johnson C.
Smith University President Dorothy
Cowser Yancy announced that a new art
gallery is established at the James B.
Duke Memorial Library on campus. The
gallery is named for its benefactress,
Dr. Inja Hong. Surrounded by family,
friends, faculty, students, and alumni,
Hong welcomed visitors to the display of
mostly Korean art during a dedication
ceremony April 20, 2008.
"I am so pleased to have a permanent home for this collection at Johnson
C. Smith University," said Hong, "I can share my good
fortune in collecting art over the years." Hong has been
serving as special assistant to the president for special
projects since her 1995 retirement as professor and dean of
library affairs at JCSU.
Dr. Inja Hong and Dr. Cowser
Yancy shake
hands during the
dedication ceremony of the Inja
Hong
Gallery.
When Hong arrived at the university in 1998, her first task was to work with
President Yancy on a $7 million construction project of the university library.
Hong said, “Building the library is part of Dr. Yancy’s legacy. An art gallery
was part of the original plan for the library, so completing the gallery has
been my contribution to the legacy. Dr.Yancy and I share a mutual trust and
respect. Meeting Dr. Yancy has been my good fortune and we will remain friends
for years to come.”
Yancy stated that "the arts are for everyone, and I think that is
particularly important at a historically black liberal arts
university. It is vital that a visual statement of the
importance of the arts be made."
Donated from the personal collection of Hong and her family, including
her husband, Dr. Rhyn H. Kim, a professor emeritus at the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte, more than 80
pieces of two-dimensional and three-dimensional art fill the
gallery.
The Inja Hong Gallery, located in the entrance to the university library,
showcases a permanent display that ranges from paintings and
lithographs to calligraphy, ceramics and bone china, as well
as a variety of Korean handcrafts.
Among the featured artists are Nam-Chon, Soo Nam Song, Soon Im Kim, Hei
Kyung Lee, Ph.D., Birger Sandzen (1871-1954), Princess Bang-ja
of Korea (1910-1984), Chong In Hong (1903-1998), Chung Ye
Pak (1923-1999), and Hai Ryong Oh (1910-1997). Ceramics from
the 17th and 18th centuries are included as well as modern
ceramics produced by the Celadon and Ceramics Research
Institute, Ewha Womans University, Korea.
One of the pieces, a ceramic that dates from the 17th century, is the
only piece remaining from the collection of Dr. Hong’s
father. “Once the most acclaimed art collection in Korea, it
was taken from my family and destroyed during the Korean
War. Only this one piece remained. It was found in the
corner of a room in the house, overlooked,” Dr.Hong said.
The dedication took place on the university’s 141st Founders’ Day
observance, following a university convocation and program
in the Jane M. Smith Memorial Church. Hours for the Inja
Hong Gallery are the same as the university library hours.
For more information, call 704-371-6740.
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52% of JCSU students come to the university
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