Mission

Who we are. The Asian American Arts Alliance is dedicated to strengthening Asian American arts and cultural groups through resource sharing, promotion, and community building. Since 1983, the Alliance has sought to unify, promote and represent the artistic and cultural producers of one of New York City's fastest-growing ethnic populations. The organizations is a diverse alliance of artists, organizations, and arts supporters who believe that working together as a pan-ethnic, multidisciplinary community is essential to nurturing the development of artists and arts organizations and to providing meaningful and innovative ways for civic engagement in society.

What we do. a4 helps support individual artists and arts organizations access and share resources online and in person. A4 builds community through programs that lead to peer-learning, collaboration, and professional development.

Our programs:

•           Town Hall takes place every first Tuesday of the month. It’s an opportunity for Asian American artists and organizations to 1) form their own strategic and creative alliances and 2) actively market and promote their programs, events, and services to an interested, targeted, and strategically segmented audience.
  
  In 2011, a4 had 12 monthly Town Halls to help you form your own strategic alliances and market your events and programs.

•           a4Hub is a fully interactive platform that mirrors Town Hall online. Artists create their own profile and add images, videos and music to share information about themselves and their work; get in touch with other members via email and wall posts; contribute to forum discussions—all to be shared with thousands of visitors monthly, including presenters, producers, funders, and the general public.
  
  In 2011, there were 796 of your member profiles on our unique online a4Hub, 350 of which were created just this year.

•           Brainstorm! is a series of lively workshops with discussions about empowering the artist as entrepreneur. Each Brainstorm! event features a case study presentation by an artist who then receives feedback from three expert discussants. A Q&A with the audience opens up the dialogue.
  
   In 2011, a4 had 6 Brainstorm! "artist-as-entrepreneur" panels, with 98 percent of you saying the sessions "met or exceeded" expectations.

•           Membership
  Join a4's membership program Alliance+ and receive the visibility benefits of being an Alliance+ member. Alliance+ starts at just $40 for artists for an entire year.
  
  Alliance+ members  are eligible to have their profiles featured in the E-Newsletter.
   - Sign-up for our bi-weekly E-Newsletter.
  - View our E-Newsletter.
  
  Alliance+ members have their events featured on a4‘s online events calendar and in the E-Newsletter.
   - Post your events to a4‘s online events calendar and see what else is happening in the Asian American artistic community in NYC.

•          Arts Festival
  In Fall 2012, a4 launches Locating the Sacred, a 12-day festival that celebrates Asian American artists as agents of change through visual art, dance, music, and more. In Fall 2011, a4 produced Call & Response, a mini-series of three events that signalled the intentions of the full festival to come.
  
  For more on Locating the Sacred, click here

•           Community Advocacy and Research
  

  The Asian American Arts Alliance (a4) is currently advocating for increased funding of the arts at local and state levels. Working with peer organizations and coalitions all across New York City, a4 is ensuring that the voices of the Asian American arts communities are heard at the highest levels of government and among key opinion-makers.

  
  a4 is a member of the steering committees of:

  
  - The New York City Arts Coalition, which believes that public funding for the arts is essential to the growth, diversity, and freedom of our communities.
  
  - The 13% and Growing Coalition is comprised of over 45 Asian-led and -serving organizations in New York City aiming for the State and City governments to have fair budgets that protect the most vulnerable Asian Pacific American New Yorkers. Coalition members employ thousands of New Yorkers and serve hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers.

  
  Also, read our 2008 12-month research initiative Asian American Arts in NYC: A Snapshot of Current Trends and Issues, looking into the well-being of artists and arts organizations in the NYC Asian American artistic community.

Our partners. a4 has garnered the support of major funders, including the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, ConEd, the MetLife Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and the CJ Huang Foundation.

Our history. Founded in 1983, a4 was developed as a diverse alliance of artists, organizations, and individual supporters who believed that working together as a pan-ethnic, multidisciplinary community was essential to nurturing the development of artists and arts organizations, and to providing a political voice for this community.

For more on a4’s history, visit our History Pages here