A Mingei fan favorite is returning to public view! The beckoning cat, or maneki neko, is a talisman of good fortune (engimono) and as such attracts happiness, wealth and good fortune, while diverting evil forces. This exhibition drawns from Mingei International Museum’s collection of over 150 maneki neko donated to the Museum in 2011 by Bay Area-connoisseur Billie L. Moffitt.
MANEKI NEKO
Your generosity helps to ensure that children and learners of all ages will experience a greatly expanded roster of hands-on education programs and inspiring craft workshops at a transformed Mingei.
2020 has been a year unlike any other — one where all of us have been, and continue to be, affected by the global pandemic. Still, Mingei International Museum continues to be here for the community — reaching thousands with free arts programming, and just this September, presenting the first-ever San Diego Design Week.
Our annual contributors and members, since our closure for renovation, have enabled Mingei to serve San Diego while the physical Museum is closed. We are bringing Family Sunday to families quarantined at home, mailing free art materials and providing engaging how-to videos and live tutorial events. Our Art of the People outreach program is virtual too, with staff distributing craft kits, lesson plans and essential supplies to support students, parents and educators at schools in City Heights. We invite you to contribute to our Annual Appeal to allow the Museum to continue to provide essential programs like these.
Your support will also help us share Mingei’s unique collection from around the world with community exhibitions like 2019’s Crafting Opportunity at the Downtown Public Library and this fall’s MANEKI NEKO—Japan's Beckoning Cats at the Japanese Friendship Garden and Around the World with Mingei International Museum at the Coronado Public Library. We know the exhibition experience will be different, but we also know that now, more than ever, our exhibitions of folk art, craft and design can provide San Diego with inspiration and respite.
As we continue to plan for a bright future, we look forward to welcoming you, in 2021, to a transformed Mingei — a more accessible, dynamic museum for all. Until then, the Museum will do all it can to spark creativity and share beauty with students, families, grandparents, artists and virtual “visitors” of all ages.
If you’re able, please join your friends and other Mingei supporters with a generous gift to this year’s Annual Appeal.
Mingei Around Town: Pop-Up Exhibitions
Costumes, crowns and headdresses from the Museum's permanent collection from Japan, Central Asia, Western Africa and the United States will be on display at Coronado Public Library.
Around the World with Mingei International Museum