ABOUT
Asian American Arts Chicago’s Mission
Asian American Arts Chicago’s Mission
To support and amplify artistic expression from the Asian American diaspora in Chicago, Illinois. We produce festivals, performances, and support a database of Asian American identified artists to provide better representation, equity, and opportunity.
By showcasing and bringing together the creativity and imagination of Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiians, we envision a strong and sustainable AAPINH arts community that is an integral presence in Chicago’s culture – evocative of our past, declarative of our present, and innovative towards our future.
Asians are the fastest growing population in Chicago.
Asian Americans have become an integral part of Chicago’s cultural fiber. Due to the vast diversity in the countries defined as Asian, it’s difficult to truly represent the breadth and depth of the diaspora under one race or culture. There is still a lack of consensus on which acronym best describes our community in America: APA, APIA, AAPI, APIDA, APISAA, AAPINH and more are all popularly used terms. As Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiians living in Chicago, we can be unified through our creativity and imagination.
As a collective of Chicago based Asian American leaders and artists, Asian American Arts Chicago brings together local art makers and administrators to work toward our shared values of artistic diversity, cultural inclusion, and unity. Our inaugural event was the largest Asian American arts festival in the Midwest in May, 2023 and was an enormous success. Over 130 artists and 1,100 attendees participated in four prestigious venues over three days. Asian American Arts Chicago continues to produce events and festivals featuring AAPINH creatives. AAAC is a diverse alliance who believe that working together as a pan-ethnic, multidisciplinary community is essential to nurturing the development of Asian American artists in Chicago.
We're the AAAC team
Ji-Yeon Yuh
Board Member
Dwight Sora
Board Member
Mia Park
Artistic Director
Cameron Cai
Producer
Emily Zhang
Producer
Seoyoung Park
Producer
Becca Tham
Producer
Maaz Shahid
Special Projects
Youngnim Choi
Social Media
Hannah Choy
Social Media
Musab Sikander
Web Maestro
Jaimie Chun
Newsletter
Extended Family
Christine Lee
Party Planner Extraordinaire
Thavary Krouch
Producer
Veramarie Baldoza
ASL Interpreter
Shilpa Gadhok
Consultant
Alicia Senior-Saywell
Stage Manager
Nicole Sumida
Volunteer/Intern Coordinator
Susanna Kim Vitayaudom
Graphic Design
Jeanne Wang
UX/Web Designer
Photographers & Videographers
Anthony Nguyen
Photography Manager and All Around Great Human
Lawrence Hu
Photographer
Ray Hui
Videographer
Kelly Ngo
Photographer
Kim Yeoh
Photographer
Land Acknowledgement
Land Acknowledgement
Asian American Association of Chicago gratefully acknowledges the traditional homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi nations. Other tribes-such as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sauk, Meskwaki, and Fox-also called this area home. Indigenous people continue to live in the region, and practice their heritage and traditions, including care for the land and waterways. For more information and other resources please consider visiting the website for the Chi-Nations Youth Council.
