Call Number:

SCRC 617

Repository:

Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center

Extent:

69 linear feet (57 boxes, 2 map folders)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Asian Arts Initiative Records, SCRC 617, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Date:

1992-2018 (inclusive)

Creator:

Asian Arts Initiative

Form:

Administrative records, Articles of Incorporation, Attendance records, Audiocassettes, Bylaws (administrative records), Clippings, Compact discs, Digital Betacam (TM), DVDs, Exhibition catalogs, Financial records, Legal documents, Mini-DV, Minutes (administrative records), Newsletters, Oral histories, Photographs, Posters, Slides, VHS (TM), Negatives, Betacam (TM), Betacam-SP, Born digital, Correspondence, Printed ephemera, Floppy disks, Press releases, Publications (documents), Reports, Sound recordings, video recordings (physical artifacts), and Web sites

Abstract:

Founded in 1992, the Asian Arts Initiative (AAI) gave artistic voice to the diverse Asian community in Philadelphia and beyond. AAI began as an advisory committee at the Painted Bride Art Center and hosted Live Traditions/Contemporary Issues, the first Asian Arts Festival held in Philadelphia, in 1993.

Under the leadership of Gayle Isa, AAI grew into an independent art-based community center, incorporating in 1996. With its first home at 1315 Cherry Street, it developed long-standing programs that placed activism, social justice, and the Asian experience at the forefront, attracting artists from across the United States for residencies, teaching, performances, and talks. Through the Artists in Community Training (ACT) program, artists became teachers and community leaders. Young Philadelphians spent their summers and after school hours learning mural painting, video making, and creative and autobiographical writing in AAI's Youth Arts Workshop (YAW). Other programs like Chinatown IN/Flux and the Chinatown Oral History Project highlighted Philadelphia's Chinatown, commissioning art for the neighborhood and collecting oral histories from its residents.

AAI regularly collaborated with other local organizations, such as Asian Americans United and the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, as well as other arts organizations, especially Mural Arts Philadelphia, the National Performers Network, Scribe Video Center, and the Asian American Film Festival.

The Asian Arts Initiative (AAI) records document the work of an arts and community organization in Philadelphia. Spanning the tenure of founding Director, Gayle Isa, the collection includes board, general administrative and financial records, offering insight into both the day-to-day work of running a community and arts organization as well as long-term strategy development. There are also planning and administrative materials for numerous AAI programs. In particular, there is documentation for AAI's Artists in Community Training (ACT), Chinatown IN/Flux exhibition, Chinatown Oral History Project (CTOH), and Youth Arts Workshop (YAW), as well as records related to collaborations with other arts organizations such as Mural Arts Philadelphia. All together, the records evidence a diverse Asian community in and around Philadelphia, with particular focus on Philadelphia's Chinatown neighborhood. Records documenting buildings and spaces occupied by AAI over twenty-five years demonstrate urban planning and development priorities of the City of Philadelphia and their impact on Chinatown. Of note are building records related to the displacement of AAI as a direct result of the Philadelphia Convention Center project in the early 2000s.

The collection consists of paper-based records as well as audiovisual and digital content. The audiovisual and digital materials include photographs, including jpg and tiff files, word processing documents, powerpoint presentations, as well as videos of workshops and performances. There are also recordings produced through the Chinatown Oral History Project.

The collection is arranged into 7 series as follows:

Series 1. Board records

Series 2. Administrative records

Series 3. Financial records

Series 4. Program records Sub-Series 4.1. Artists in Community Training (ACT) records Sub-Series 4.2. Chinatown IN/Flux records Sub-Series 4.3. Chinatown Oral History Project records Sub-Series 4.4. Youth Arts Workshop (YAW) records

Series 5. Subject or project files

Series 6. Printed materials, publications, and news clippings

Series 7. Photographs, negatives, and slides

Series 8: Website versions in Archive-It