APIDA Arts is a nonprofit arts organization in Chicago, IL.
APIDA Arts’ Mission
To amplify and unify Asian, Pacific Island, and Desi/South Asian American artists in Chicago
by showcasing their work at premier cultural institutions, providing greater representation, equity, and opportunity.
By showcasing and bringing together the creativity and imagination of APIDA Americans, we envision a strong and sustainable APIDA arts community that is an integral presence in Chicago’s culture - evocative of our past, declarative of our present, and innovative towards our future.
Our programming includes:
A self-populated Artist Database
Networking events
Producing events featuring Chicago-based APIDA creatives, including the largest festival dedicated to APIDA arts in the Midwest
Asians are the fastest growing population in Chicago
and have become an integral part of Chicago’s cultural fiber. Due to the vast diversity in the countries defined as Asian, it is difficult to truly represent the breadth and depth of the diaspora under one “race”. There is still a lack of consensus on which acronym best describes us in America: APA, APIA, AAPI, APIDA, and APISAA are all popularly used terms. As Asian, Pacific Island, and Desi/South Asian American living in Chicago, we can be unified through our creativity and imagination.
It's been said that…
“In creating art, consciously or not, artists are attempting to communicate at a powerful emotional level to those within their own culture. The best work transcends its cultural matrix and speaks directly to our common humanity.”
Living as a minority in the Midwest, APIDA artists define our own culture through our passion for creative expression.
As a collective of Chicago based Asian, Pacific Island, and Desi/South Asian American leaders and artists, the APIDA Arts Festival brings together local art makers and administrators to work toward our shared values of artistic diversity, cultural inclusion, and unity. Our first festival is in May, 2023 and we will reach out to as wide a range of APIDA in Chicago populations as possible. We will form alliances with other creative Asian American groups to advance our mutual goals cooperatively and to exchange ideas and strategies across artistic disciplines. We are a diverse alliance who believe that working together as a pan-ethnic, multidisciplinary community is essential to nurturing the development of APIDA artists in Chicago. The APIDA Arts Festival strives to serve as a thoughtful space where APIDA artists can express issues of race, identity, and artmaking.
The APIDA Arts Festival is the first of its kind in Chicago.
Contact APIDA Arts at
hello@apidaarts.org 773.972.674
Our Staff
Mia Park
Executive Director
Thavary Krouch
Producer
Emily Zhang
Social Media Manager
Maaz Shahid
Research &
Bookkeeping
Veramarie Baldoza
ASL Interpreter
Shilpa Gadhok
Consultant
Christine Lee
Event Planner:
Closing Reception
Alicia Senior-Saywell
MCA Stage Manager
Nicole Sumida
Volunteer/Intern Coordinator
Mark Smithivas
Volunteer/Intern Coordinator
Susanna Kim Vitayaudom
Graphic Design
Jeanne Wang
UX/Web Designer
Wenke Coco Huang
Eventbrite Manager
Photographers & Videographers
Lawrence Hu
Photographer
Ray Hui
Videographer
Kelly Ngo
Photographer
Anthony Nguyen
Photographer
Kim Yeoh
Photographer
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Chicago Cultural Center, Goodman Theatre, MCA, Lookingglass Theatre and the APIDA Arts Festival 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.