Once Upon A Time, 50 Years Ago . . .

In 1975, the JAM Workshop introduced an art concept fueled by a generation of artists seeking to use their art for social good. Simply entitled "community art," it welcomed everyone regardless of their ability to pay or their level of skills.

The JAM Workshop not only filled a need for community-based art classes and services; it founded a physical home where artists, supporters and students would gather, exchange ideas and collaborate. This workshop gave participants a place to begin and explore their creativity as well as advance their artistic visions.

In this setting, artists at every level found practical ways to enhance their talents by serving their communities within and beyond Nihonmachi. By displaying their arts, many Asian American artists finally received recognition from the public in the 1970s, 80s and 90s.

1975

JAM's origins began when Boku Kodama received a $500 grant from San Francisco Neighborhood Arts to launch the concept. Once funded, the city's Redevelopment Agency permitted JAM to occupy its first home at 1852 Sutter Street (the present day home of JCCCNC).

1975-1976

For the next 18 months, Boku, and four months later, Wes Senzaki and Ray Tasaki, renovated the second floor of the building (shared with CANE and the J-town Collective). Working nights and weekends, their goal was to create a multipurpose workshop focused on graphic arts, class space and a meeting place for artists.

Word about the new workshop spread rapidly, drawing curious Asian American artists and supporters into J-town. For those who understood its purpose as a community movement, it resonated with social purpose and practicality. Each weekend, 12 to 18 volunteer artists came to clear out the debris, build and paint walls, retar the roof, install new electrical and plumbing and build furniture – even if they didn't possess the skills.

They were given on-the-job training by Boku who had taken a job as an apprentice handyman to learn the skills himself at Nihonmachi Terrace, a new low-income housing complex just two blocks away from JAM. There, he was trained by an extraordinary journeyman named Frank Takamoto. In turn, Boku trained the artists.

August 1976

At the Nihonmachi Street Fair, JAM announced its grand opening with a booklet written by Boku and illustrated by Wes.

The first wave of artists and supporters produced a massive mountain of artwork serving not only Japantown but the various communities of San Francisco and the Bay Area over the next three decades.