Buddhist Sculpture Insights

Thursday, July 30
1:00–3:00 p.m. PT
Speaker: Ginna Olsen and Heather Simmerman, Asian art scholars and SDMA Docents
Virtual Event

Join the Asian Arts Council in exploring the history of two important Buddhist sculptures in the SDMA collection. Ginna Olsen will discuss the 6th century Chinese Bodhisattva stone sculpture and Heather Simmerman will present the 17th century Japanese Amida Buddha wood sculpture, all currently on view in the SDMA Asian Gallery 7. They will contextualize the sculptures to position them within the history of Chinese and Japanese Buddhist art, respectively. The religious, political, and social messages that were conveyed through their creation and iconography will also be explained.

Speaker Bios: Ginna Olsen graduated from the University of Redlands with a B.A. in Art History, then earned her M.A. in Art History with an emphasis on Asian Art at USC. She retired in 2019 from a career in business and has been a docent at SDMA since 2021.

Heather Simmerman earned a B.A. in Biology from Northwestern University, a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Indiana University, and in 2025 received a Post Graduate Certificate in Asian Art from SOAS University of London.  She is currently studying for a Certificate of Achievement in Japanese at MiraCosta College. Heather has been a docent at SDMA since 2023.

Please note, this session will be conducted virtually via Zoom.

Save your spot. All participants will be sent the Zoom link via confirmation email with instructions once you secure your place.

Sponsored by the Asian Arts Council.

Featured: Amida Buddha, 17th century, Japan. 1957. Wood. Bequest of Mrs. Cora Timken Burnett, 1957.446.