What We Want Is Here

Neighborhood Projects 2012–2018

The Asian Arts Initiative is a multi-disciplinary and community-based arts center in Philadelphia that activates artists, youth, and their communities through creative practice and dialogue grounded in the diverse Asian American experience. In 2017, they asked me to work on a book that would help them to tell the story of their pioneering neighborhood arts projects. The publication documents six years of the Social Practice Lab, the Pearl Street Project, and the People:Power:Place cultural plan.

The design of the book showcases images, sketches, interviews, plans and artwork from these community based projects, including Rick Lowe’s Pearl Street Residency and Meei Ling Ng’s Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission. The book also features in-depth essays by Roberto Bedoya, Theresa Hwang and Gayle Isa, in which they discuss how arts organizations are redefining their mission in Philadelphia’s quickly changing neighborhoods, and how they can play a prominent role in community development and planning.