By Will Lerner
NAP Contributor
The Portland Japanese Garden in Oregon is excited to announce its first new art exhibition for 2026: Enduring Impressions: Contemporary Woodblock Prints. Now through June 15, this exhibition reveals how the centuries-old tradition of mokuhanga, Japanese-style woodblock printmaking, is experiencing a revival as artists around the world use the art form’s quiet power and unique characteristics to create captivating works of art.
Carving wood in preparation of a woodblock print. Photo courtesy: Takezasadō Studio.
Mokuhanga has been embraced as an environmentally-friendly art form that traditionally uses wood, water-based pigments, and paper made from plant fibers. The exhibition’s featured artists are among this international movement. Crafted art prints incorporating these traditional tools and techniques are complemented by alternative printmaking technologies for contemporary expression. Across the galleries at the garden, Enduring Impressions presents an eclectic range of prints alongside a behind-the-scenes look at the process, history and future of this iconic art form.
This exhibition marks the garden’s first collaboration with the Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA) and is co-curated by Stephen Salel, the museum’s Robert F. Lange Curator of Japanese Art. In the garden’s Pavilion Gallery, six of the original artists from HoMA’s 2025 exhibition will be featured. Joining them will be Portland-based illustrator and printmaker, Aya Morton whose mokuhanga-inspired prints merge silkscreen with relief printing processes producing beautifully rendered scenes of the Pacific Northwest.
Fall on the Metolius, 2025 by artist Aya Morton. Image courtesy: Aya Morton.
Meanwhile, the Calvin and Mayho Tanabe Gallery will offer a glimpse at the diverse accomplishments of this printmaking tradition through the remarkable work of two pivotal artists: Kawase Hasui (1883-1957), one of Japan’s most iconic artists of the 20th century and Portland-born Richard Diebenkorn (1922–1993), a prominent American Abstract Expressionist.
Though visually distinct, their prints are linked across time and space by the meticulous collaborative craftsmanship, expert-driven processes at the heart of traditional mokuhanga.
Major support has been provided by Jordan Schnitzer and The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation, James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, and Oregon Arts Commission. Additional support has been provided by the Robert F. Lange Foundation. The Tanabe Gallery portion of Enduring Impressions was made possible through support from The Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints and the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his family foundation.
Enduring Impressions: Contemporary Woodblock Prints Now–June 15.
Portland Japanese Garden
611 Southwest Kingston Avenue, Portland
For more information, see https://japanesegarden.org/hours-admission.
Portland Japanese Garden is a nonprofit organization originally founded in 1963 as a place for cross-cultural understanding following World War II. A hallmark in the city of Portland, the garden was founded on the ideals of peace and mutual understanding between people and cultures. The garden is considered the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan and the foremost Japanese cultural organization in North America.
Japan Institute was established in 2020 as a global cultural initiative of Portland Japanese Garden. This sibling organization is the programmatic arm of Portland Japanese Garden. It allows us to share and expand our cultural programs more broadly around the world. It deepens international partnerships and continues to engage diverse people in shared experiences and conversations about peace, beauty, and connection of nature.
Portland Japanese Garden Institute share the mission: Inspiring harmony and peace.
