WHAT AM I DOING? Producing!

This is the biggest event I produce for AAI each year. Come join us for a day filled with food, workshops, performance, dancing, and more!

Inspired by Audre Lorde’s statement that caring for oneself is a political act, Asian Arts Initiative hosts its 2nd annual celebration of the radical spirit of a united international womxn’s movement! The evening will feature interactive stations, performances, a queer dance social, and fosters a space of care and joy for womxn. This is an all-day event with food, drinks, dancing, workshops, and more!

4:00-5:30: Welcome Meal and Performance by a Special Guest

5:30-7:00: Workshops: Finance 101 with River Nice, Black and Brown Joy with Thunder Marie, Sensual Flow with Rayla Meshawn (movement workshop), Jam Space and Tarot Readings with Jackie Soro and Tahnee Jackson

7:00-8:30: Workshops Round #2: Sex and Pleasure with Jamie Joy, Ancestral Somatic Healing with Victoria Wikler , Jam Space and Tarot Readings with Jackie Soro and Tahnee Jackson

8:30-10:00: Performances : Lip Sync with Messapotamia Lafae, Music Performance with Supernova

10:00-11:00: Queer Dance Social led by Keila Perez-Vega with bb basura

Tickets are a suggested donation of $5-30, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

WHAT AM I DOING? DIRECTING!

Stephanie Kyung-Sun Walters is a beautiful emerging playwright and it’s always an honor to work with her. We’re gonna take PlayPenn by storm!

Esther Choi is your favorite all-American, overachieving-Asian teen except she has a ghost. Anthony Gibson is Esther’s best friend and (spoiler alert) he’s dead. Mr. Choi is Esther’s grandfather and he owns a haunted dry cleaner on Cheltenham Ave. In an (un)likely turn of events, Esther must grapple with grief, loneliness, and winning first chair in high school orchestra, all while living up to her grandfather’s new expectations.

WHAT AM I DOING? Producing!

My work as the Creative Director for Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists is the most fulfilling producing work I do. I am deep proud of our residency programs and these artists are amazing.

Asian Arts Initiative’s Mini-Residency Program series supports and celebrates diverse theatrical projects from selected members of Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists (PAPA). Our inaugural cohort of residents include: Annielille Gavino, Marina Murayama Nir, and Daniel Park. Residents will developed their projects during the spring season and present work-in-progress excerpts from their work during an exciting showcase.

WHAT AM I DOING? PRODUCING!

This is my favorite event that I do for Asian Arts Initiative!

Back by popular demand, our Asian American Artist Town Hall is a networking event where artists, organizers, and organizations come together to support upcoming artistic projects. Get sneak peeks of new works, pitch your upcoming projects, events, and artistic opportunities, or tell us about your body of work. Afterward, network with fellow artists over a delicious potluck! We’ll also be offering onsite headshots!

WHAT AM I DOING? PRODUCING!

I’m learning so much about books!

Join us for the first ever Radical Children's Book Fair hosted by our Youth Arts Workshop! Come out for an afternoon of book readings, performances, and kid-friendly activities. This is just like the scholastic book fair if the scholastic book fair carried books about unlearning white privilege, affirming black, brown, and trans identities, and the anarchist alphabet...

- Big Blue Marble Bookstore will be on-site selling books from a large selection of AAPI, POC, and LGBTQIA writers and illustrators.
- Get your book signed by authors!
- Purchase your copy of the Youth Arts Workshop's book (in)equality. Students spent this year writing, illustrating, and publishing their first book ever. Support their work!
- Activity areas for kids, but for everyone too!
**Instructional zine making station with Teacher Action Group
**Selecting readings from Humanizing Stories Project with Angela Bey
**Board game station with Queen and Rook Game Cafe
**Cardistry station with Frank Sung
- At 12:30 pm we will hold a reading of The Many Lands of My Mother by Anita Holland and illustrated by Emily Schuman

What am I doing? PRODUCING!

I love my job at Asian Arts Initiative, and I’m really looking forward to this event!

Asian Arts Initiative celebrates the radical spirit of a united international women’s movement by imagining what an inclusive, queer, women of color-led movement might look like. Revisiting Audre Lorde’s statement that caring for oneself is a political act, we will engage artists and advocacy organizations to foster an embodied space of care and joy for women, trans, and non-binary people. Join us for a night of celebration featuring interactive stations, performances, and a queer dance social!

What am I doing? PERFORMING!

I’m playing the role of ROBOT in Steve Gravelle’s new play Chef & Robot! I act once a year so come watch me try to cold read!

In the near future, Chef is successful, running their farm-to-table restaurant and making everything from scratch. But when a brain injury takes them out of the kitchen and leaves them unable to work for six months, their ex-girlfriend buys them a robot assistant to help out. When the robots come for us, will they come with lasers and bombs, or will they come with whisks and wooden spoons?