Title
Commending Gayle Isa for her 25 years of service to and leadership of Asian Arts Initiative, and honoring Asian Arts Initiative's transformative contribution to Chinatown, to Philadelphia's Asian American Community, and to the entire City of Philadelphia.
Body
WHEREAS, For 25 years, Asian Arts Initiative, a multidisciplinary arts center that aims to cultivate innovative models for artists to engage with local communities through exhibitions, performances, and community projects, has served as a bedrock of Philadelphia's Chinatown Community; and
WHEREAS, In 1992, amid a burst of creativity within the Asian American Community and a need for creative spaces dealing with intersectional views on race, class, and culture, the Painted Bride Art Center established the Asian Arts Initiative to provide space for Philadelphia's Asian American Community to explore neighborhood dynamics and social activism through creative and performing arts; and
WHEREAS, Gayle Isa, a Southern California native and Swarthmore College student, joined the organization in 1993 as its first intern and planned Philadelphia's first ever Asian American arts festival. A year later, Isa became the organization's first Executive Director; and
WHEREAS, Since 1993, Asian Arts Initiative has been at the forefront of exploring the intersection of creative practice and critical, community-based dialogue in the City of Philadelphia, in an effort to move the dial on racial equity and to provide artists and young people with the tools to explore the Asian American experience; and
WHEREAS, Asian Arts Initiative's programming has featured Artists Exchange, a yearly series of workshops and exhibitions that support Asian American artists as they explore issues within their communities and relevant social themes, and the Youth Arts Workshop, which provides artistic opportunities and a safe space for Asian American youth and fellow students from all backgrounds to interrogate their conce...
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