Philadelphia's Asian Arts Initiative announces location of new home

The Asian Arts Initiative is thrilled to announce the location of its future home!

AAI has signed a lease for 12,000 square feet of space at 1219 Vine Street that they are developing as a multi-tenant arts facility that will house them and additional organizations and individual artist studios. The facility will foster dialogue and collaboration and will be a dynamic resource both within the growing Chinatown community and Philadelphia as a whole.

They are starting the renovations required to make the building habitable, and expect to move in by September 2007. They thank State Representative Dwight Evans and the Pennsylvania Department of Community Economic Development, the Mayor's Office of the City of Philadelphia, and the William Penn Foundation for their early investments in this initial phase of the project.

Their next challenge is to raise the funds to purchase the full 24,000 square foot building, making the facility affordable over the long-term, and providing protection from the market forces that so often threaten the ability of smaller nonprofits and artists to carry out their work. As the renovations for the first phase of the project get underway this spring, the Asian Arts Initiative will be laying the groundwork for a major capital campaign to support the purchase of the building and the next phase of renovations!

In the meantime, please visit their website to see a sneak peek of the plan for the new facility, and make a donation to help us sustain our programming during this time of transition!