Chen Pushes Chinese Culture as Reality
June 29, 2007
The Chinese Culture Center has undergone many changes in the past few years. Aside from a facilities renovation, the center now has a new executive director, Sabina Chen.
Chen came to Chinatown and the nonprofit world through a position as a grant writer at Chinese for Affirmative Action in 1999.
After three years, she went to graduate school in Eugene, Ore., to study writing, in addition to her first degree in literature.
Chen was recruited to become the center’s executive director by former Kearny Street Workshop director Nancy Hom. Chen was also involved with KSW, helping establish the APAture festival for emerging Asian Pacific Islander artists in 1999.
“There were 17 of us ragtag artists who threw the thing together and really felt we hit a nerve with the community,” Chen said. Now in its ninth year, “APAture has grown beyond our wildest dreams.”
At first she didn’t think she was the right fit for the center; she perceived it as “a relic of traditional arts.” But with exhibitions like the retrospective on Bruce Lee in 2000, Chen strives for “programming that would not only bring in crowds, but would be relevant to what Chinese and Chinese Americans are facing on issues.”
An example would be the recent panel discussion “Mirror on the Wall: A Conversation Between American Born and Chinese Immigrants.”
The changes Chen and the center’s board have dealt with over the past eight months include the new lease with the Hilton Hotel, where the group’s offices are located. “We share the ballroom space with the hotel, and I would like to make sure that that relationship is functioning smoothly. I also want to make sure that all our community events are not only accommodated but promoted, as well work out the relationship with the hotel so that it’s a win-win.”
It’s a tricky balancing act, since the hotel has officially opposed the City College of San Francisco’s building proposal in Chinatown.
“The Culture Center has always been in support of having a city college campus in Chinatown,” Chen said. “It is a vital institution for the immigrant community to have here in Chinatown. Beyond that, we don’t have any stance, officially. We have concerns about the design, but we are not opposed to it.”
Along with her new program director Abby Chen, Chen noted, “We share a common vision of pushing beyond the stereotype. We are much more interested in presenting Chinese culture as reality. … I’m not interested in programming that’s quaint; I’m interested in something that’s really going to make a difference.”
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