guiding mentors

Martha W. Longenecker-Roth was an extraordinary woman with immense vision and passion. Her lifelong career in art was multifaceted, encompassing work as an artist, educator, and museum director. She founded Mingei International Museum in May 1978 inspired by the teachings of the revered 20th century Japanese scholar, Soetsu Yanagi, who coined the term Mingei, Min meaning all people and Gei, for art.

Born May 18, 1920 in Oklahoma City, Martha studied art most of her life. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA in 1941, she attended Claremont Graduate School, where she studied painting with Millard Sheets and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree.

Her first direct contact with Mingei came during the summer of 1952 when she met Yanagi, Japanese potter Shoji Hamada, and British potter Bernard Leach who were on a world tour lecturing and demonstrating pottery to local craftsmen.

In 1955 San Diego State University invited Martha to develop the school’s ceramics program. As a professor of art, she taught ceramics and design history, was the director of the gallery program, and supervisor of the college’s student art teachers. Several years later Martha was approved for a four month sabbatical. She spend that time in Japan, working and learning from Hamada and his main apprentice, Tatsuzo Shimaoka, both of whom have been named a National Treasure of Japan. This was an eternal gift to Martha, one held incredibly dear to her heart, as she was taken into their culture and taught their virtues.

The Mingei evolved from Martha’s vision to establish an organization which would facilitate these cultural exchanges. She created a nonprofit in 1974 with the funds provided by her husband, Sydney Martin Roth. Four years later, with a gift of a 20-year lease provided by University Towne Centre and Ernest W. Hahn, Martha oversaw the design and construction of the original Mingei International Museum which opened May 5, 1978. Shoji Hamada had approved the use of the name Mingei, he believed she fully understood its meaning and importance.

In 1996, Martha oversaw the museum’s move to a 41,000-square-foot home on the Plaza de Panama in Balboa Park. In 2003, she led the opening of a satellite museum in Escondido, transforming a former 21,000 square-foot store into a state-of-the-art museum facility that served North County San Diego for seven years.

During her tenure as museum director from 1978 to 2005, Martha directed the organization and design of 128 exhibitions, drawing from Mingei International’s permanent collection and other museum and private collections. She also oversaw the production of 33 exhibition documentary publications and 19 broadcast-quality videos which extend the influence of the Museum’s mission throughout the world, or as Martha would say, “to help people understand the innate creativity in all people.”

Following her retirement as director in October 2005, Martha directed the development of a digital image database of nearly 5,000 images from the museum’s collection. She was an active member of the Museum’s board of trustees for 8 years.

In August 2006, Mingei International Museum published her last book, Mingei Of Japan, The Legacy of the Founders – Soetsu Yanagi, Shoji Hamada, Kanjiro Kawai, a retrospective of the work and legacy of the founders of the Mingei Association in Japan. She was honored by San Diego State University in 1998 with its Distinguished Service Medal, and in 2007 with an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree. However, it was in 2003 that she received her highest recognition when the Emperor of Japan awarded her with the Order of the Rising Sun for her contributions to transcultural artistic understanding.

In 1998, the Martha W. Longenecker Director’s Chair Endowment Fund was established to ensure her legacy. During Mingei International’s 35th Anniversary in 2013, Martha joined museum friends to celebrate her 93rd birthday when her portrait was permanently placed in the Museum’s Founder’s Gallery to honor her lasting contributions and accomplishments.

Martha announced the establishment of her most recent nonprofit organization, the Mingei Legacy Resource Foundation in October 2013. This foundation will serve as a vessel to support Martha’s commitment to creating lasting cultural exchanges. Martha greatly believed in the interconnectedness of all life. This strong conviction fueled her passion and creativity until the very end of her life. Her innate awareness and presence of mind inspired most everyone she met and created a powerful platform in all she achieved. She has touched the world indelibly and her spirit will continue to guide future generations to come. Her living legacy will continue through each of us as well as the Mingei Legacy Resource Foundation.

Allan William Anderson, poet, author, Professor Emeritus, beloved teacher, scholar of the Oracular Tradition, born July 18, 1922, died peacefully at home in San Diego, March 11, 2013. All the world is a prayer, whether I pray or no And the prayer I might have prayed God heard and knew as tho ---Allan W. Anderson Well versed in Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Sanskrit, German, French and Chinese, Allan Anderson was a gifted religious linguist. Upon graduation with a double degree from Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary, he was recruited by San Diego State University as an Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department to teach Asian Studies. In 1967, Dr. Anderson was instrumental in founding the newly formed Religious Studies Department. He received an Excellence in Teaching Award from the State of California in 1970. During his tenure he taught an eclectic series of classes on fascinating topics such as: The Oracular Tradition, Ways of Spiritual Transformation, The Masculine and Freedom, The Feminine and Destiny, and Spirit and Structure. Dr. Anderson was conferred Professor Emeritus status in 1987. In 1978, he was asked to partner with the spiritual teacher J Krishnamurti in a series of 18 videotaped dialogues for PBS that brought forward the essence of Krishnamurti's teachings. Two books resulted from this exchange, the transcript of the dialogues, A Wholly Different Way of Living and the more recent On Krishnamurti's Teaching. His original research on the ancient Chinese oracle, the I Ching, produced two books: Self-Transformation and the Oracular and Reflections on the I Ching. His studies of Taoism led to his original poetic translation (yet to be published) of the Tao Te Ching. Between 1994 and 1997 Dr. Anderson was asked to present a series of papers at the International Conferences on the New Paradigms of Science at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico. His four papers, entitled "Human Transformation Independent of Knowledge and Time," "Inner Transformation and Bearing," "Awareness, Consciousness and Bearing," and "Primal Intuition and Bearing" exemplify his fierce independent spirit, keen intellect and highlight him as an original thinker and profound teacher of self-inquiry. These papers are included in On Krishnamurti's Teaching available at the "Publications" link at the top of the page.