Heart Mountain Site
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Heart Mountain press releases provide updates on upcoming events, new exhibits, and news from the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation and Interpretive Center; for high-resolution archival and contemporary images, visit the Media Kit or contact info@heartmountain.org, and for news from the Japanese American Confinement Sites Consortium (JACSC), click here—recent and past press releases are available below.
March 19, 2026
Hello Maggie!, the animated film adapted from the book by Shigeru Yabu and Willie Ito, who were incarcerated as children during World War II, captured the best short film award at the Tigertail Asian Film Festival in St. Petersburg, Fla., last weekend. The film’s musical score by Italian composer Carlo Chiarotti was also named “Best Original […]
March 11, 2026
At the outset of World War II, the US government hastily constructed vast camps across the country to incarcerate, without any due process, more than 125,000 U.S. citizens and aliens of Japanese descent. In 1988, Congress passed a law signed by Ronald Reagan that apologized for the unwarranted hardship, trauma and unjust violation of rights endured […]
March 1, 2026
Early registration for the July 23-25 Heart Mountain Pilgrimage, which will feature a performance of David Ono’s Defining Courage, will open to the public on March 1. The 2026 Heart Mountain Pilgrimage invites visitors to join a powerful and timely exploration of American identity as the nation marks its 250th anniversary. Focused on the voices and […]
February 26, 2026
Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation board member Kathleen Saito Yuille, who was born behind barbed wire in the camp hospital, will receive the Douglas Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award during the Heart Mountain Pilgrimage July 23-25. Kathy has led the Pilgrimage activities since she joined the board in 2009, and she is a dedicated fundraiser. She is […]
February 24, 2026
The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation announces a new exhibit examining American identity through the experiences of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II. Despite unjust confinement, the 14,000 Heart Mountain incarcerees built vibrant lives, blending familiar American traditions with Japanese cultural practices. Through artifacts and testimony, the exhibit invites visitors to reconsider what it means […]
February 20, 2026
The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation joins other cultural institutions in the state opposing the proposed state budget amendments to strip $10 million from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund. As the Wyoming Arts Alliance noted, “Since 2007, WCTF has issued $10.9 million in grant funding towards community-based arts and culture projects around Wyoming. These grant dollars have generated […]
February 13, 2026
Curtis Ando was the son of a Japanese American incarceree from Heart Mountain and a farmer who was one of the few Japanese Americans who lived in Park County, Wyoming, before the war. After graduating from Powell High School, where he was a basketball and football star, Curtis joined the Marines. Curtis was tragically killed […]
February 6, 2026
The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation will conduct a day-long workshop on Saturday, April 4 for Wyoming educators about the Japanese American incarceration as part of the Norman Y. Mineta Japanese American Confinement Education (JACE) program of the National Park Service. It will be the first in a three-year series of workshops and public events sponsored […]
January 30, 2026
Representatives of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation met this week with Wyoming’s senators to help expedite the transfer of the property where the site’s historic hospital buildings are located to the foundation from the federal government. Executive Director Aura Sunada Newlin, Board Chair Shirley Ann Higuchi, and Ray Locker, director of communications and strategy, met […]
January 9, 2026
As part of its current special exhibit, the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation will be holding a screening of The Cats of Mirikitani, a documentary film about the life of artist and incarceree Jimmy Mirikitani, on Saturday, January 17, at the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center.” Guests of Mimosas with Mirikitani will enjoy light pastries and fruit, mimosas […]
December 8, 2025
The Heart Mountain Interpretive Center has opened The Art of Jimmy Mirikitani, a powerful and visually striking new exhibition that will be display through April 11, 2026. The exhibit showcases the vibrant and deeply personal artwork of Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani, a fiercely independent Japanese American artist whose life and creations speak to resilience, memory, and healing. […]
December 4, 2025
A compelling winter program series featuring classes in Japanese food, drink and culture and lessons of the Apsáalooke nation will begin Saturday at the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center. Led by Haruka Takaku, Heart Mountain’s Japan Outreach Initiative coordinator, and Historic Site Caretaker Johnny Tim Yellowtail, the series will examine the various cultures that have called […]
