I am Wendy Tajima, from Pasadena, California, and my story is about my father, Ted K. Tajima.

Ted K. Tajima taught at Alhambra High School for 35 years. I thought how wonderful that he had a job he loved so much that he’d keep it all those years. I tried to find a job I could stay in my whole life, but couldn’t find it. One day I told Dad how I wish I could find a lifelong job that I loved like he did. My father said in a somewhat disgusted voice, “I never wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to be a journalist. But teaching was the only job I could get, and then we had you four girls, so I had to stay.”

You see, my parents were young adults during World War II. Both were born in the United States, and as far as I can tell, neither had ever stepped foot out of the country, yet they and all Japanese-Americans on the West Coast were treated as enemy aliens and forcibly evacuated, most to concentration camps.

Even though my parents returned to LA after the war, and Dad even got a Master’s degree in Journalism, there was no job for a Japanese-American journalist in 1948, so he took my mother’s advice and became a public school teacher. He taught English at Alhambra High School, and he developed the school paper, The Moor, into a national award-winning weekly.

Whether or not Dad wanted to stay at Alhambra, he did, and according to hundreds of his students—many of whom went into journalism themselves—he transformed lives. My cousin Renée, an Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker, has said that wherever she goes, someone will come up to her and ask if she’s related to Ted. Upon his death, his obituary ran on the front page of the “California” section of the Los Angeles Times, and was run again in the year-end review.

Dad was especially known for encouraging working-class kids to go to college, and several became outstanding leaders in their professions. So it has been a fitting tribute to have a high school named for him. Alliance Ted K. Tajima High School in downtown LA has just been rated in the top 2% of all public high schools in the United States. 97% of their students graduate and 95% are accepted into college, while 92% are on the free lunch program and most are the first in their families to attend college.

Dad didn’t achieve his dream of becoming a journalist. So instead, he helped countless students achieve more than they ever dreamed of.

I am honored to be the artist creating the Art Box for an extraordinary man…Ted Tajima  

My process is minimal, introspective and a bit obscure. 

There are 88 pages representing 88 years and printed on cloud like translucent mylar sheets to represent a dreamlike retrospective of a multi-faceted highly intelligent humble man. These sheets are viewed through the lens of a frosted acrylic box with blue heaven-like accents. My work often reductive in nature, asks the viewer to look closer, look deeper, peeking behind the layers to arrive at your personal interpretation of the work.  

My interaction with Ted was always inspirational.  I recall several instances where I would listen to stories, observations and marvel at Ted’s view of nature, work, family and the world around us.  

Listening to Wendy’s story gave me even more insight into this man’s journey from his challenging beginnings, his dedication to family…to the students he mentored, and anyone who came into his orbit.  

I incorporated tiles from Teds favorite activity, Scrabble. The tiles remind me of Elaine and Stanley’s wedding in Kauai and the marathon scrabble playing well into the night with guests trying to take on Ted…unsuccessfully.