This summer, the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City is expanding its community offerings with Mandarin-language tours, including a guided tour scheduled on June 28.

The monthly public tours are conducted and developed in collaboration with arts educator Jocelyn Yang. They are held on select Sundays at 3 p.m., with each tour lasting approximately one hour, as visitors explore the museum’s collection and exhibitions of the Japanese American artist and landscape architect Isamu Noguchi. 

Future Mandarin Chinese tours will be offered on:

Sunday, June 28
Sunday, July 19
Sunday, August 9

Arts educator Jocelyn Yang worked with the Noguchi Museum to lead the Mandarin-language tours.Photo courtesy of The Noguchi Museum

For over a decade, the Noguchi Museum has commemorated the artist’s work and legacy by offering language-inclusive tours, including in Spanish and Japanese. 

“Programming in multiple languages has always been a top priority for us, especially because we’re located in Queens, which is a very diverse borough,” said Queena Ko, the museum’s education director. “We want to make the museum as welcoming and accessible to as many folks as possible.”

The increased accessibility enables the Noguchi Museum to create a more intimate experience, as visitors engage with the art in their native tongue.

“By offering tours and someone’s native language, they might feel more connected or more free to express their opinion in a group setting,” Ko said. “[It’s] so wonderful that art can be about creating those personal connections, but also hearing someone else’s opinion, which might be different from yours.”

Because many of Noguchi’s artworks are abstract, the Mandarin Chinese tours move away from a more traditional, lecture-style delivery, favoring a more conversational approach. Yang would preface each piece by asking simple questions, attempting to “take down the barrier” between the expert and the visitor.

The Noguchi Museum does not feature many barriers between the art and the viewer to create a more personal response and experience.Photo courtesy of The Noguchi Museum

The modest group sizes further encourage people to speak more freely about the art and its impact on them.

“We have somewhere between 15 and 20 people [in each general public tour],” Yang said. “So, it’s small enough where we can really have a conversation where everybody can share with you everything. It’s been great when people actually open up, and you talk to strangers about their life experiences.”

Noguchi’s exploration of identity is one such way his work resonates with visitors. Being of Japanese-American descent, Noguchi was no stranger to discrimination, having spent six months in the Colorado River Relocation Center concentration camp in Arizona. Those experiences were then channeled into his art.

Ko, a second-generation Chinese American, has watched the tour cultivate intergenerational learning and understanding.

Yang shared that sentiment, saying the tour allows for a dialogue that wouldn’t arise elsewhere.

“He was kind of always searching for his identity, his sense of belonging. It’s a thing that a lot of immigrants, first generation [or] second generation, might relate to,” Yang said. “So, it’s really wonderful to be able to provide this program and have the space for people to talk about this, that otherwise might not really happen in a lot of public spaces.”

Noguchi Museum offers a slate of renewed family-focused programs help visitors engage with Noguchi’s work.Photo courtesy of The Noguchi Museum

Yang’s philosophy and promotion of collective learning also apply to family events, which the Noguchi Museum currently offers in English. Like the Mandarin Chinese tours, the family-focused programs help visitors navigate some of the visual abstractions found in the museum’s collection and exhibitions.

Some of the programming includes:

Art for Families workshops (ages 5-11), pairing gallery conversations with activities like stop-motion animation and sculptural building
Art for Tots (ages 1-4), introducing the youngest visitors to Noguchi’s work through sensory exploration
Stroller Tours for new parents, blending guided looking with community-building moments
Open Studio sessions offer drop-in art-making tied to works on view

Mandarin-language public tours are free with museum admission; advanced admission is not required. General admission is $16, or visit for free on the first Friday of every month. General tours are available daily at 2:00 p.m.

The museum hosts a variety of free programs, which can be explored on the museum’s calendar on its website. Those interested in discovering more about special events — along with tours conducted in Spanish or Japanese — can visit Noguchi.org or email Education@Noguchi.org.