Benji Okubo receiving an award from J. Y. Blaikie for a poster that he created for the California Botanic Garden, Los Angeles, 1928

Title: Benji Okubo receiving an award from J. Y. Blaikie for a poster that he created for the California Botanic Garden, Los Angeles, 1928
Date Created: March 15, 1928
Date: 1928-03-15
Publisher: Los Angeles Times
Language: No linguistic content
Collection: Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection

Description: Benji Okubo, born in Riverside, was a renowned painter of Japanese ancestry. A graduate of Otis Art Institute (1929), he was active in Los Angeles from the 20's through the 40's. Incarcerated in 1942 in Heart Mountain for the duration of the war, Okubo continued to paint and to teach art classes to fellow inmates. After the war, Okubo returned to Los Angeles with his wife, Chisato, and supported his family as a successful landscape architect. While Okubo continued to paint, his professional career in art did not resume its pre-war level of activity and recognition.
This photograph appears with the article "Winners in Garden Poster Contest: Student at Otis Art Institute Awarded First Prize." Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 1928: A1.
Photograph of J. Y. Blaikie presenting Benji Okubo with the first prize award ($75) for his poster designed to promote attendance at the California Botanic Garden. His poster has an illustration of palm trees and plants with the caption "Visit The California Botanic Garden." They are standing on a lawn in front of a stand of palm and other trees at the Otis Art Institute, then located at 2401 Wilshire Blvd.
Caption: Text from negative sleeve: Otis Art Institute, Show, 1933.
Text from newspaper caption: J. Y. Blaikie of the California Botanic Garden presenting first prize to Benji Okubo.

Genre: cellulose nitrate film
news photographs
Names: Otis Art Institute
Blaikie, J. A. (James Yuill), 1885-1953
California Botanic Garden (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Okubo, Benji, 1904 - 1975
Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)
Longitude: 34.060375
Latitude: -118.279740
Resource type: still image
Subjects: Art students--California--Los Angeles
Posters
Botanical gardens--California--Los Angeles

Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections
Local Identifier: uclamss_1429_2683
ARK: ark:/21198/zz002dch28
Manifest url

Rights statement: copyrighted
Rights Holder: UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections, A1713 Young Research Library, Box 951575, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575. E-mail: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu. Phone: (310)825-4988
Rights Country: US
Funding Note: Access to this collection is generously supported by Arcadia funds.
License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License .