By Lizzy Lee:

Asian Arts Initiative is a community-based, multidisciplinary arts organization located in Philadelphia’s Chinatown North neighborhood. It offers exhibitions, performances, artist residencies, and youth programming that engage critically with social contexts as well as provides innovative community gathering space. Its building consists of an exhibition gallery, blackbox theater, a library of Asian American literature, and multipurpose studio space.

Asian Arts Initiative was founded in 1993 at the Painted Bride Art Center as an Asian American focused programming initiative in response to racial tensions in the area. This was a time when there weren’t enough forums for Asian Americans in Philadelphia to “come together across ethnic lines and to think about what it means to be part of a larger Pan-Asian American identity” said Gayle Isa, director. After several years creating space for Asian American artists and hosting landmark events such as Philadelphia’s first Asian American Arts Festival, Asian Arts Initiative became officially incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1997.

For almost ten years, Asian Arts Initiative worked out of interim spaces until finally moving into their current location at 1219 Vine Street in 2008. Now, in addition to telling the stories of Asian Americans through the arts, Asian Arts Initiative also works to build dialogue and relationships between Asian Americans and broader communities of which they are a part.

Neighborhood-Focused Work

Asian Arts Initiative’s neighborhood-focused work stems from their Social Practice Lab and Pearl Street Project. Social Practice Lab is a year-long residency that creates space for artists to learn about and engage with the immediate Chinatown North/Callowhill neighborhood, eventually leading to the creation of a Social Practice art piece or project relating to the neighborhood. The emerging discipline of Social Practice envisions socially engaging, community-based art, the creation processes of which intersect with community relationships, social justice, and the interaction through experiencing the art.

In 2013, Asian Arts Initiative began a two-year residency to transform Pearl Street into an outdoor gallery and public space. Pearl Street is the back alleyway to the buildings on Vine Street. The alleyway had been avoided by cars and most locals, as it is usually filled with trash, graffiti, furniture, and people who are homeless. The project fosters dialogue and connections between the organizations that exist along Pearl Street, as they come together to work toward a shared vision of revitalizing this future community and gallery space. In September 2013, Asian Arts Initiative officially kicked off this project with the Pearl Street Block Party, a yearly neighborhood arts festival.

My Perspective as a Former Intern

As a former intern, I was so intrigued by the neighborhood work that I wrote my undergraduate thesis exploring the interactions between Asian Arts Initiative and Chinatown North. Not only do Asian Arts Initiative’s artist-collaborators learn about the intricacies and history of Chinatown North, but they also gain diverse perspectives that can inform their future work. Asian Arts Initiative’s commitment to the neighborhood enables Asian Americans to play socially conscious leadership roles in changes that are often decided solely by government interests.

However on a personal level, Asian Arts Initiative has influenced me the most through its art, staff, and youth programs. Before interning, I had little exposure to Asian American artists, besides those I saw on YouTube. I was so empowered by the exhibits about and by people who looked like me, and by simply working with other Asian Americans on staff. Working at Asian Arts Initiative exposed me to different mediums of expressing personal narratives that were accessible and relevant to my own experiences, such as through the Youth Arts Workshop that summer, where I learned that I too could learn how to harness my creativity.

Asian Arts Initiative’s monthly Family Style Open Mic nights was where I saw Asian Americans performing so passionately that I was inspired to also write my own pieces. Asian Arts Initiative also hosts the Asian American Theater Festival and the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, which are of utmost importance to the broader Asian American narrative. Many times, Asian Americans are underrepresented in art and media, or their representation is limited to stereotypes and traditional artifacts. These festivals allow Asian Americans to tell their own stories to audiences who can identify with or learn from the content.