Five Years of Pao Arts Center
When Pao Arts Center opened just five years ago, as a visionary collaboration between Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC) and Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC), we could not have imagined the depth of the connections we would build within the Greater Boston creative community. Within the past five years, we’ve welcomed over 500 artists and performers from all over the world, hosted over 500 events, and welcomed over 25,000 audience members and neighborhood residents to the Center. We’ve seen artwork and performances that celebrate AAPI cultural heritage, as well as innovative creative experimentation that will shape the future of culture.
Our 5,000 square feet space has been home to a wide variety creative expressions, from Cantonese opera, Taiko, Bharata Natyam dance, and site-specific paintings to multi-media performances, musical showcases, virtual discussions, and multilingual theater. We’ve also activated outdoor spaces in Chinatown for our Experience Chinatown festival, our outdoor summer performance series, VISIONS/VOICES, in collaboration with The Rose Kennedy Greenway, and our unique placekeeping artist residency, ResLab, in collaboration with the Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC).
The Pao Arts Center team, past and present, share some of their favorite memories from the past five years:
“Following six months of COVID-19 shut-down, we started reactivating Chinatown spaces in September 2020 to bring visitors back to the neighborhood and to drive more foot traffic to local businesses. Among our programs, one evening sticks in my mind. In collaboration with The Greenway Conservancy and former Pao Arts Center Artist-In-Residence, Yu-Wen Wu, we presented the opening program for “Lantern Stories”. Hundreds came to Chinatown to experience the luminosity of Yu-Wen’s lanterns sewn wtih community stories and aspirations. Sam Ou’s cello performance set the mood and the audience was captivated by Mike Mei’s water calligraphy on the plaza floor. After nearly six months of isolation, it was a magical sight to see everyone reconnect with Chinatown, with AAPI narratives, Chinatown histories, and most importantly—with each other.”
Yu-Wen Wu’s Lantern Stories, Photo Credit: Katie Medrano-Escobar
“Working at Pao Arts Center has been such a special point in my career. Having grown up in Boston, it is so special to be able to connect my identity as an artist to my identity as a Chinese-American. My favorite program I get to work on is ‘Experience Chinatown.’ I love any opportunity to bring the arts directly into the neighborhood and celebrate everything and everyone who makes Chinatown so special!”
Nell Valle’s 2022 Experience Chinatown Mural “Tigers Hot Pot Together” at LiuYiShou Hot Pot, Photo Credit: Mel Taing
“During last summer’s closing ‘Visions/Voices’ performance at Mary Soo Hoo Park, I remember looking around and being overwhelmed with joy at the sight of so many community members dancing and laughing together. The entire series truly reflected the many unique partnerships Pao Arts Center has developed over the last five years, and the many artists and creatives who have become part of our community. We are thrilled to see each artist grow in their career and continue to bring new ideas to the neighborhood and the Boston area more broadly. ”
New Narratives August performance by The Flavor Continues during VISIONS/VOICES Summer Series, Photo Credit: The Chinatown Project
“The first event I worked on at Pao Arts Center was ‘Convergent Waves’ by Lenora Lee Dance. I’ll never forget how powerful that performance was in telling the stories of neighborhood advocacy by Chinatown residents and community leaders. The combination of modern dance, jazz music, archival projections, interview recordings, and audience interaction made the history tangible in a way I’ve never experienced. I loved hearing the reactions from audience members about how the performance moved them, and learning from Lenora and the dancers why the project was so meaningful to them.”
Lenora Lee Dance’s Convergent Waves Dancers Naoko Brown, IJ Chan (陳加恩), and Johnny Huy Nguyen, Photo Credit: Lee-Daniel Tran
“I have too many favorite moments at the Pao to count! That said, I particularly enjoyed working with the Seniors at the Pao. We collaborated on many projects from Yu-Wen Wu’s ‘Leaving/Belongings,’ Wendy Jehlen’s ‘Silent Flight,’ the multigenerational photography exhibition ‘Inside Chinatown’ and the annual ‘Experience Chinatown’ festival. It is always interesting to watch the Seniors collaborate with artists even when they speak limited English. I helped with the translating, of course, but they are always patient and happy to work with artists to share their talents, props, ideas and stories. They are a very resourceful community and a joy to work with.”
Pao Arts Center Senior Dancers, Photo Credit: Vanessa Woo
Pao Arts Center’s programs continue to serve the Chinatown community and the diverse, creative power of the New England AAPI diaspora. Our mission to make arts, culture, and education programs accessible, especially for the historically underserved AAPI community, remains a priority embedded in every event, performance, exhibition, and class. In the past five years, we’ve witnessed how truly essential the arts have been in improving mental, physical, and social well-being. We’ve seen our programs increase the happiness and sense of belonging among a wide spectrum of audiences, including: seniors looking for opportunities to perform and stay active, young students seeking to understand their cultural identity, artists eager to make impactful community-centered art, and visitors curious about under-represented histories and stories.
Pao Arts Center’s vision for the next five years is to continue expanding our creative community, create even more opportunities for artists and audience members to exercise their creative agency, and become a national model for bridging AAPI cultural history, artistic innovation, and social services. Help us make that vision a reality by giving to our 5th Anniversary Campaign, Bridging Creative Connections.
Thank you to all of our artists, event attendees, staff, community partners, and donors for making the past five years possible!