© 2026 Michigan State University Board of Trustees
Public Media from Michigan State University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Tyrus

Season 31 Episode 7 | 1hr 13m 37s

Until his death at the age of 106, Tyrus Wong was America’s oldest living Chinese American artist and one of the last remaining artists from the golden age of Disney animation. The quiet beauty of his Eastern-influenced paintings had a pioneering impact on American art and popular culture.

Aired: 09/07/17 | Expires: 11/13/25
Support for American Masters is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AARP, Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Judith and Burton Resnick, Blanche and Hayward Cirker Charitable Lead Annuity Trust, Koo and Patricia Yuen, Lillian Goldman Programming Endowment, Seton J. Melvin, Thea Petschek Iervolino Foundation, Anita and Jay Kaufman, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, The Ambrose Monell Foundation, Ellen and James S. Marcus, The Charina Endowment Fund, The Marc Haas Foundation and public television viewers.
Extras
Celebrate the life and career of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver.
Watch as Oglala Lakota musician Mato Wayuhi draws on ancestral knowledge to inform his process.
Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka returns to the show to talk about her creative process.
This version contains EAD. Explore the life of notable Black scholar W.E.B. Du Bois.
This version contains ASL interpretation. Explore the life of notable Black scholar W.E.B. Du Bois.
Follow Warren King as he transforms cardboard into intricate sculptures.
Oscar-nominated actor Greg Kinnear shares some "big thoughts."
Explore the life and legacy of notable Black scholar and civil rights pioneer W.E.B. Du Bois.
How Du Bois used "The Crisis" and NAACP efforts to expose racism and celebrate Black achievement.
Born in 1868, W.E.B. Du Bois rose from hardship to academic excellence.