If the Asian American Women Artists Association (AAWAA) didn’t exist, it would, as they say, have to be invented. Why? The title of its 20th anniversary celebration says it all: Vision, Vitality and Visibility.
AAWAA is a forward-looking arts organization not content to just providing exhibition opportunities for its members. Instead, with its current visionary A Place of Her Own project, AAWAA challenges artists to dig deeply inside themselves to create their individual answers to the provocative question, “If you had a place of your own, what would it be?” Ten artists took up the challenge in an impressive debut of A Place of Her Own at de Young Museum in San Francisco last January. AAWAA’s five year plan for the exhibit calls for involving artists and the public in an ongoing thoughtful exploration of identity, place, and our deepest needs.
Because of AAWAA and its vision, I experienced an amazing month at the de Young Museum as one of the ten AAWAA artists in residence. I was able to have the time, space, and resources to devote my full attention to creating my installation: the belly of the ocean which captures for me the intersection of my creative process with my spiritual practice. I also felt deeply supported by the artistic community that curator Cynthia Tom nurtured at de Young.
The benefits I experienced in January spilled over into the months that followed as my creative imagination exploded. That was the gift of vitality from AAWAA. Instead of creating my usual ceramic pieces, I ventured into large scale papier mache sculptures of legs as musical instruments. Where these musical legs came from I can only attribute to the energizing effects of the January residency.
Visibility for AAWAA is a sacred mission. Look into any gallery or museum and count how many works of art are displayed from the Asian American artistic community and, specifically, from its women members. The answer is what drove this volunteer-run organization to produce its groundbreaking anthology of visual and literary works, Cheers to Muses: Contemporary Works by Asian American Women Artists published in 2007. Featuring 64 artists, this amazing resource book includes historical, biographical, and personal information about the Asian American women who inspire them. Obviously, the anthology met an urgent need for vital information as it went into its second printing less than a year later and is being increasingly added to the curricula of many universities.
I can serve as a poster child for why Asian American Women Artists Association is needed.
I joined AAWAA about six years ago, longing for community with like-minded individuals and looking for opportunities to exhibit. I got these and more. In 2004, I was part of a unique collaboration of Asian American and African American women artists in an exhibit curated by Betty Kano and entitled (S)kinship African American and Asian American Connections. My sculpture graces the cover of the Cheers to Muses anthology. And I had the opportunity to create my very first art installment during AAWAA’s coveted Artists in Residency Program at the de Young Museum.
But most important for me, I experienced acceptance and appreciation. As a late-blooming artist without formal training, I sometimes felt isolated in other arts organizations whose members can boast of fine arts degrees and long resumes. AAWAA, of course, also has members with such credentials. But, somehow, combining “artist” with the synergy of Asian American and women results in a different dynamic in this arts organization. The rich melding together of all our identities serves up community and empowerment in the most satisfying sense.
Asian American Women Artists Association (AAWAA) Celebrating their 20th Anniversary
Exhibitions run now – October 4, 2009, no charge for admission
SOMArts Cultural Center, 934 Brannan St., San Francisco 94103
For more information visit www.aawaa.net, info@aawaa.net and 415-722-4296
www.somarts.org for directions
