JANM Congratulates Clement Hanami on Receiving the Western Museums Association’s Leadership Award

Editors please note: JANM’s Pavilion is closed for renovation; programs will continue on the JANM campus and at other locations at janm.org/OnTheGo. 

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) congratulates Vice President of Exhibitions and Art Director, Clement Hanami, on receiving the Western Museums Association’s (WMA) 2025 Leadership Award. This award is given to individuals who have significantly impacted their institution or community, and who are committed to serving diverse communities, promoting social justice, and/or challenging institutional structures.

Hanami develops and executes JANM’s multifaceted exhibition program. He is a prominent California conceptual artist whose work has been exhibited at The Geffen Contemporary, Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Long Beach Museum of Art, AFI National Video Festival, and the Santa Monica Museum of Art. He is the recipient of a COLA Award and a Getty Visual Arts Fellowship. Most recently, Hanami’s work was shown in Crosslines: A Culture Lab on Intersectionality at the Smithsonian. He holds an MFA in Art from the University of California, Los Angeles.

“JANM congratulates Clement Hanami on receiving the Western Museums Association’s 2025 Leadership Award. His vision, creativity, and unwavering service to the Museum and the wider field reflect a deep commitment to amplifying diverse voices, championing social justice, and challenging institutional boundaries. His influence has been felt across a career that spans thirty-three years—and across the museum field—rooted in the idea of a museum as a community: deeply embedded, accountable, and evident in the way stories are told. That influence is especially clear in the nearly one hundred exhibitions JANM has produced, forty-five of which have traveled across the country and abroad—an extraordinary body of work through which he has shaped the Museum’s voice and the telling of the Japanese American story, a story more relevant and urgent today than ever. His creative vision brings these stories to life and transforms the way they are told. His drive for creative excellence inspires us all. Few are as deserving of this recognition,” said Ann Burroughs, JANM President and CEO.

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