Wild Earth: JB Blunk and Toshiko Takaezu
Columbus Museum of Art
Located in Lower Level Walter Wing
On view March 7–August 3, 2025
Admission Information
Wild Earth: JB Blunk and Toshiko Takaezu is included with the cost of general admission.
Members get FREE admission.
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Exhibition Description
On March 7, 2025, the Columbus Museum of Art will open Wild Earth: JB Blunk and Toshiko Takaezu, the first museum exhibition to pair these virtuosic artists, whose experiments across a range of handcrafted media—starting with clay—yielded some of the most iconic works of the postwar studio craft movement. Wild Earth explores Takaezu and Blunk’s parallel creation of handmade worlds, as expressed through objects ranging in scale from monumental ceramics and woodcarvings to tea bowls and jewelry. Placing their work in dialogue, the exhibition highlights a shared interest in organic forms and patterns of growth, as inspired by garden vegetables, river stones, weathered timber, and the land- and seascapes of the Pacific Rim. Organized by Daniel Marcus, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, Wild Earth brings together around 200 works from private and public collections, including twenty ceramic works gifted by Takaezu to the museum in 2007—the first time this collection has been shown in its entirety.
Exhibition Inspired Programming
Wednesdays@2: Art and Imperialism in Postwar Japan
April 16, 2:00–3:00 PM
Tickets are free for members, $10 for nonmembers.
This presentation by Namiko Kunimoto focuses on the long-running careers of some politically and aesthetically diverse artists including Okamoto Tarō (1911-1996). The arc of Okamoto and other artists careers across the prewar, war, and postwar periods upsets popular periodization in art history that assert the postwar as a time of rupture and renewal.
Art Film Night: August at Akiko’s
April 17, 7:00–9:00 PM
Tickets are $12 for members and $15 for nonmembers.
Inspired by artist Toshiko Takaezu’s heritage as the child of Okinawan-Japanese immigrants and her experience growing up on Hawaii’s Big Island, we are pleased to present a screening of Christopher Makoto Yogi’s evocative film August at Akiko’s in conjunction with the exhibition Wild Earth: JB Blunk and Toshiko Takaezu.
“Wild Earth & Wild Creatures” with COSI’s Science Festival
April 30 & May 1–2, 10:00 AM–1:00 PM
Drop-in, included with admission.
Build your skills in observation, curiosity, imagination, and design in this workshop that combines a custom gallery exploration with hands-on creating. Participants will have a guided experience in the exhibition Wild Earth: JB Blunk and Toshiko Takaezu and draw inspiration from nature and these artists’ creative approaches.
Baby & Me Tours: Exploring Wild Earth
May 2, 10:30–11:15 AM
Registration is free for members and $20 for nonmembers.
Spend time in the galleries with friends as we explore the environments in our special exhibition, Wild Earth: JB Blunk and Toshiko Takaezu. Explore art, ideas, and the world through this multi-sensory gallery experience for children 0–2 and their caregivers.
Art of Cuisine
May 2, 6:00–9:00 PM
Tickets are $100 per member and $115 per nonmember.
Enjoy a curator-led introduction to Wild Earth: JB Blunk and Toshiko Takaezu, followed by a farm-to-table five-course dining experience created by Executive Chef Laura Richmond
Creative Lens: Andy Rahe on Toshiko Takaezu
May 3, 2:00–3:00 PM
This program is free with registration.
Join artist Andy Rahe, a former apprentice to Toshiko Takaezu, for an intimate guided exploration of Wild Earth: JB Blunk and Toshiko Takaezu. Through close looking and conversation, Rahe offers firsthand insight into Takaezu’s working methods, creative process, and deep connection to the natural world.
Thinking Like an Artist Workshop: Transmute: A Sculpture + Sound Experience
July 26, 2:30–4:30 PM
Tickets are $55 for members and $65 for nonmembers.
Transmute is a reactive sculpture session accompanied by a live soundscape. Led by ceramic artist Kerry Boganwright, this active meditation experience uses clay as a conduit for self-reflection and discovery, guiding participants through rhythmic movement to connect mind to body.
JB Blunk, Cypress chair, 1973-74. Courtesy JB Blunk Estate. Photograph by Angus Mill.
