Asian Arts Initiative
FAST FACTS ABOUT THE ASIAN ARTS INTIATIVE
Mission/Vision
The Asian Arts Initiative is grounded in the belief that the arts can
provide an important political and cultural voice for the Asian American
communities in Philadelphia. We are a community arts center where artists
and everyday people explore and express our diverse experiences as Asian
Americans.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Penny Ettinger, Facilities Committee Chair
Edward Garcia
Gerry Givnish
Gayle Isa, Executive Director, Asian Arts Initiative
Sophia Lee, Board Development Chair
Patricia Ma
Robert Minton
Sally Munemitsu
Eva Ray, Board Chair
Lauren Sustersic, Board Treasurer
Thu Tran
Hiro Nishikawa, Advisor
P. Thao Le, Legal Advisor to the Board
Stephanie Teaford Walters, Legal Advisor to the Board
STAFF
Gayle Isa, Executive Director
Mytili Jagannathan, Development Director
Roko Kawai, Operations Manager
Joanne Louie, Office Assistant
Sabina Neem, Program Manager
Chon Phoeuk, Program Assistant
Program Info
Presenting Season – Through out the year, we present performances to introduce audiences to a range of expression, from traditional Asian art forms to interdisciplinary Asian American explorations. All of our programs are designed to spark critical thinking and dialogue in addition to enjoyment of the arts. Last year, we started a bi-monthly open mic and also re-launched Live Traditions/Contemporary Issues, a festival that integrates music, dance, and spoken word performances with panel discussion and dialogue that offered an updated view on how artistic tradition influences Asian American aesthetics. Additionally, the Asian Arts Initiative has developed the APIA (Artists and Performance in Action) Residency program as a resource especially for Philadelphia artists to create new work; and in January 2006 convened the Artists Exchange, including a teach-in retreat and mini-commissions giving artists from around the country the opportunity to dialogue and more deeply engage with a social issue—this year, as the Asian Arts Initiative prepares to be displaced by the Convention Center, a timely exploration of the impact of gentrification on the Asian American community and the role of the arts in community dynamics.
Gallery – In addition to live performances, we also feature the work of Asian American visual artists through our Gallery Program. Recent exhibitions include Neither Here Nor There, a mixed media exhibition by artist Nitin Mukul that investigates the ways in which science, technology and globalization affect our identities and reshape our physical and mental environments; and Chinatown In/flux, a major community arts project that featured seven Asian American artists who created site-specific installations in and about Philadelphia’s Chinatown.
Youth Arts Workshop –Our Youth Arts Workshop assists Asian American teenagers to explore their cultural heritage and develop their creativity and leadership through after-school workshops, events, and internships. The Youth Arts Workshop is an intergenerational collaboration involving youth, professional artists, and adult volunteers. Courses include: our Big Picture Project, a partnership with the City’s Mural Arts Program, through which teens have mounted large outdoor murals in Chinatown and in the Washington Avenue section of South Philadelphia; GenerAsian Next teen theater, which emphasizes both writing and performing skills and has resulted in performances at venues as diverse as the African American Museum, Central High School, Yale University, the Joseph Papp Public Theater in New York City, and the 10th Annual Coalition of Asian Pacific American Youth Conference in Boston; and YouthArtWorks, a 6-week program involving workshops in theater, writing, mural arts, spoken word and photography and culminating in a multi-media performance.
Artists in Communities Training (ACT) Program – Our Artists in Communities Training (ACT) is a professional development program for Asian American artists who want to teach in school and community settings. ACT artists participate in workshops, field observations, and one-on-one mentoring in educational practice, and are then placed in hands-on teaching positions in community host organizations. Since its pilot in 1997, ACT has helped 50 Asian American artists and other artists of color to construct and implement lesson plans in artistic disciplines ranging from classical Indian dance and Japanese taiko drumming to performance art and video-making, and has impacted hundreds of children and youth through workshops and residencies offered by ACT artists. ACT's impact has reached far beyond Philadelphia, engaging artists from as far away as Minneapolis and Denver. Several ACT alums have gone through a “training of trainers” and are currently available to offer to share their teaching skills with artists in other organizations. A handbook with the ACT curriculum has been developed and will be expanded and distributed in the future. The ACT Program further strengthens the Asian Arts Initiative’s goal of developing a cadre of qualified teaching artist who are skilled in teaching art within the context of Asian American and community experience.
For more information, call 215-557-0455
visit www.asianartsinitiative.org or
contact info@asianartsinitiative.org
our address is:
1219-1223 Vine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
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