Jongkuk Lee is the current head of Mabuel Gallery and a nature artist who creates crafts using hanji (Korean paper) from his home-grown paper mulberry trees. He also utilizes other natural materials such as bamboo and silvergrass to talk about the environment. In the late 1990s, he settled in Bulat Village, a town in Cheongju, South Korea, famous for its hanji, and has been carrying on the tradition of hanji making ever since. Since the late 1970s, Bulat Village had been losing its tradition as the demand for hanji has decreased due to urbanization and industrial development, but Lee’s work has helped revitalize the village.

Jiyeon Kim is developing PEM’s new Korean Art gallery, opening in May 2025. Kim brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this position, from her academic credentials earned from universities in Seoul, Indiana, New York and Los Angeles; to her teaching career in Korea and the U.S., including her most recent position at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly. In 2016 and 2017, she worked on PEM’s Korean collection as a project specialist.

Kim earned her Ph.D. in Korean Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her recent research topics include social status and artistic identity, collecting history of Asian art in Boston area museums and gardens as social space. She actively participates in the cultural life of the Korean community in the greater Boston area and across New England.