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“From the National Museum of Asian Art, Freer Gallery, Dr. Frank Feltens lectured at the DIA on the significance of Sotatsu's Waves of Matsushima. He retraced the footsteps of this celebrated masterpiece—from Kyoto, to Detroit, and finally landing in DC. In the very early 1900s, Charles Freer emerges as one of the first collectors of Japanese art beyond the shores of Japan, was one of the first to recognize Asian art as fine art. Later, with the support of President Teddy Roosevelt, Freer's collection became the foundation collection for the first art museum at the Smithsonian, that would later become the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art Freer Gallery in 1923. Who would have thought that a rail car manufacturing guy from Detroit would possess such foresight? A heartfelt shoutout to the trailblazers at DIA, Wayne State University Freer House, NMAA, and the Japan American Society for bringing renewed attention to this incredible odyssey with roots here in Detroit!”

- Japan America Society Chair Derrick Redding