2020
U.S. Art Tour — A Career Interrupted by the Pandemic
In 2020, Mitsuhiro Arita planned an ambitious art tour across the United States, continuing the international expansion of his career that had accelerated during the previous years. Rather than limiting his appearances to conventions, Arita wanted to create opportunities for younger audiences and students to meet an active professional artist through free events at libraries, museums and educational institutions. The tour began in the United States, but the rapid spread of COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the remaining appearances. The year became an unexpected interruption to the international event activity that had become an increasingly important part of Arita's career.
Career Archive
Timeline Events
Arita organized the 2020 Mitsuhiro Arita Art Tour in the United States.
The project was designed to extend his activities beyond conventional comic and pop-culture conventions.
Arita explained that the increasingly long lines at his convention booths made it difficult to spend time talking with visitors or creating commissions in front of them.
He was particularly concerned that younger people could find it difficult to meet him through conventional paid events.
For this reason, Arita developed free appearances at educational facilities and libraries as part of his international activities.
The 2020 American tour included planned appearances at conventions, educational institutions and cultural venues.
The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Florida was among the documented locations connected with the tour.
As schools and public facilities began closing because of COVID-19, several scheduled appearances in Florida and Utah were cancelled.
Arita ultimately announced that all remaining events following the Morikami Museum appearance had been officially cancelled.
The pandemic abruptly interrupted the international convention and live-drawing activity that had expanded significantly during the previous five years.
Despite the interruption of physical events, Arita continued communicating about his work and artistic career through online publications and interviews.
In October 2020, Arab News Japan published an extensive profile and interview with Arita about his career as an illustrator.