Asian American Women Artists Association

AAWAA’s mission is to advance the visibility, recognition and documentation of Asian Pacific American women in the arts. Our focus is to recognize our community’s cultural agency and promote social justice towards an equitable arts ecosystem. Our work engages the AAPI women artists community by cultivating spaces for education, curation, dialogue, storytelling and legacy building. Through publications, programs and its website, AAWAA is a resource for academics, researchers, arts communities, and the public. Valuing equity, education and community building, AAWAA challenges societal assumptions, promotes cross-cultural intergenerational dialogue and advocates for AAPI women’s voices in media, arts institutions and Art History.

About the Organization:

National

The Issue:

So many individuals are looking for a safe space and community to help them face the current crisis and to address the urgency of needing AAPI voices to be heard, seen, and humanized in the face of racism, sexism, and xenophobic violence. Of the 6,600 incidents reported to Stop AAPI Hate in 2020-2021, 68% of reports are from AAPI women (2.2 times more than AAPI men). How can we ensure our AAPI communities feel safe, visible, and uplifted?

There is also perpetually a lack of diversity in the arts sector when it comes to opportunities for women of color in higher-level positions. According to a study published 2015 (Andrew W. Mellon Foundation) just 6% of museum employees identified as Asian and even less so for leadership positions. There equitable opportunities for AAPI artists when even the leadership doesn’t reflect them?

The Solution:

With so many looking to face this national crisis through the voices and perspectives of AAPI women, AAWAA’s AAPI women-centered platforms bring visibility and empowerment to our stories in ways we want to be heard. Although this violence is not new, the art, culture, and conversations shaped by AAPI women artists and curators is urgent and necessary to bring unity against the very racism, sexism, and division we continue to experience. The Emerging Curators Program (ECP) will develop opportunities for the critical empathy and representation needed for communities to thrive. To support cultural and economic resiliency in a longstanding AAPI hub, AAWAA will host ECP in San Francisco Chinatown (SFC). We will guide emerging curators and SFC residents, Vida Kuang and Carmen Chen, to build relationships with businesses and produce accessible exhibitions and programs within their storefront windows in an effort to regenerate SFC, reaffirming its cultural identity nationwide.

Asian American Women Artists Association