Museum of Art Contact Heather Brown (541) 346-0942 or John R. Crosiar 346-3135 Aug. 12, 1997 EUGENE--The rich arts and culture of China and Japan will be the focus when the University of Oregon Museum of Art hosts a "Precious Cargo Family Day" from 1-4:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23. Highlights of the free public event, part of the museum's continuing celebration of its 65th anniversary, will include: * A children's choir singing global songs; * A Japanese fortune teller; * Asian folktales; and * Karate demonstrations. Activities throughout the afternoon also will include hands-on brush painting, papermaking and mask-making, as well as an ongoing slide show. This event is scheduled in conjunction with the museum's current exhibition, "Precious Cargo: The Legacy of Gertrude Bass Warner," which is on view through Sept. 28. The "Precious Cargo" exhibition explores the travels and collecting of Warner, the museum's primary benefactor who gave to the University of Oregon in 1922 a collection of Asian art, named for her late husband Murray Warner. The collection provided the impetus for raising private funds to build an art museum in the early 1930s. Lee World Travel and the Ballinger Family, in memory of Court Ballinger, sponsor the "Precious Cargo" exhibition. Media sponsor is KMTR-TV/NBC-16. The UO Museum of Art's 1997 exhibition program is also supported by grants from the Oregon Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Oregon Community Foundation and the Institute of Museum Services, a federal agency supporting the nation's museums. Accessible to people with disabilities, the Museum of Art galleries and store are open free to the public from noon-8 p.m. Wednesday and from noon-5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. For information about the "Precious Cargo" exhibition and other museum programs, call (541) 346-3027. A taped message about current museum exhibitions and events also is available 24 hours a day by calling GuardLine from a Touch-Tone phone at 485-2000, ext. 5665, or visit the UO Museum of Art's Internet website at <http://uoma.uoregon.edu>. -30- #P-2026/A&E