Asian Arts Initiative is Asking for Pearl Street Micro-project Proposals

Asian Arts Initiative is inviting artists, designers, curators, organizers, and creative people from all sectors to submit micro-project proposals that will transform the Pearl Street alley in Philadelphia’s Chinatown North neighborhood. The alley spans four blocks and runs from 10th to Broad street, directly behind Asian Arts Initiative.

Asian Art Initiative’s Pearl Street Project is a component of its Social Practice Lab neighborhood-focused residency. The project “seeks to transform Pearl Street into a more vibrant cultural space that celebrates and connects the diverse constituents in our neighborhood and beyond,” according to its website. Asian Arts Initiative also began a residency with artist Rick Lowe in January 2014 that focused on the social dynamics of Pearl Street.

According to Nancy Chen, Public Programs Manager, the micro-project program is an opportunity for artists and creative thinkers to get involved for a shorter time than its other artist-in-residency programs.

“With our other artists-in-residence opportunities, it tends to be more of a long term sort of commitment that isn’t necessarily for everyone, so the micro-projects are meant to be shorter term–could be anything between one day to one month, project ideas,” she said. “These could be, but not limited to visual art ideas or performance based ideas.”

Chen said projects could be anything from painting a mural, exhibiting art work, doing a performance-based work such as dance or hosting a meal in the alley.

“For us, we’re all about both seeing what the possibility is for physical transformation of the alley — which includes everything from fixing the uneven pavement and the holes in the sidewalk to sort of introducing artistic programming in the form of performances or visual arts programming, exhibitions, that transform the space from dull and gloomy to vibrant in a shared space.”

The artists for the initial run of the micro-projects include:

• Lee Tusman, who will work with the community to generate a design for a flag that can represent the characteristics of the neighborhood of Chinatown North, then fabricate the flag to exhibit overhead in the alley
• Erin Bernard (Creator of the Philadelphia Public History Truck), who will collect site-based memories from the Chinatown North neighborhood and then create a multi-media map/artistic product to display in Pearl Street
• Anula Shetty and Mike Kuetemeyer, who will create a video installation to project under the archway of the viaduct on Pearl Street between 11th and 12th Sts
• Sarah Kate Burgess and Jacque Liu, whose project proposes to cover a large area of the 1200 block of Pearl Street with handmade pinwheels, created through a series of community workshops
• Gee Wesley and Ethan Sherman will create a mobile art initiative and pop-up reading room project, which offers free books or book exchange to its patrons

The deadline for the next round of Micro-Project applications is January 30, 2015. Micro-projects can have a project budget ranging between $100-$2,500, depending on the nature and scope of their project proposals. The project is funded by a grant from ArtPlace America.

More information about the micro-projects and the application can be found at http://asianartsinitiative.org/in-the-news/pearl-street-micro-projects.  Questions can be directed to Nancy Chen, Public Programs Manager Asian Arts Initiative nancy.chen@asianartsinitiative.org (215) 557-0455 ext. 221.

Photo by Ilyssa Kyu