Creative Catalyst Art helps us tell our stories, dream of new possibilities, and channel the power of our communities. 2023-2024 Creative Catalyst Fellowship The Creative Catalyst fellowship awarded $30,000 to five artists to produce interdisciplinary art projects around critical issues impacting the AAPI community and activate civic engagement in the 2024 general elections. Fellows created art that centers one of three themes – Voting Together, Solidarity, and Belonging – in mediums that include short videos, music, poetry, and multimedia art. Beyond the artwork itself, all of the projects have been released in time to interact with their audiences through educational toolkits, family and community dialogue, and ultimately, direct participation in the 2024 elections. For more information about the fellowship and how to apply, visit the AAPI Civic Engagement website here. GB (Gia-Bao) Tran Theme: Voting Together View GB’s webcomic here. GB (Gia-Bao) Tran, a publishing cartoonist for 20 years, best known for his work Vietnamerica, a memoir of his family’s trauma, tragedy, and triumph as war refugees, created a digital webcomic that targets the most ethnically diverse and second largest generational demographic in the United States: Gen Z. Photo Credit: Moriel O’Connor Lehuauakea Theme: Belonging View Lehuauakea’s art series here. Lehuauakea, a Native Hawaiian interdisciplinary artist and kapa maker from Pāpa’ikou, Hawai’i, with a particular focus on the labor-intensive making of kapa (traditional bark cloth), created a series of 10 fine art illustrations and educational posters which include ‘Ōlelo Hawai’i (Native Hawaiian language), developed these into digital posters which will be shared free of charge with educators, and culminated the project with an empowering and inclusive gallery show. Kat Evasco Theme: Voting Together Kat Evasco, an award-winning writer, theater maker, filmmaker, and cultural strategist, created a scripted short film entitled Get Your Tita, a comedic film that tells the story of a Filipino American family. Against the backdrop of a birthday party, family members talk about issues that have a personal impact on their communities. Photo Credit: Deanna Dent Safwat Saleem Theme: Belonging View Safwat’s drawing series here. Safwat Saleem, a multidisciplinary artist working to give visibility to Asian American and immigrant narratives, with a focus on cultural loss resulting from assimilation, created the multimedia project Anxieties of an Immigrant Father. The project includes unique charts that map Safwat’s anxieties as an Asian American and immigrant father and drawings that chart the anxieties contributed by the larger AAPI community as the elections approach. Sonny K. Mehta & Aris Kian Brown Theme: Solidarity View Sonny and Aris’ video series here. Sonny K. Mehta, a Houston-based musician and founder of Riyaaz Qawwali who performs folk music rooted in South Asian traditions, collaborated with Aris Kian Brown to create videos that showcase the shared experiences of Asian American and Black communities; a visually compelling piece of artwork integrating poetry in both English and Urdu/Hindi; and an educational toolkit, facilitating critical conversations about solidarity, anti-Blackness, and allyship. Our Themes Belonging: Belonging is about a sense of home, being seen, and the mere but essential right to exist. Belonging is a counterweight to hate and violence and can advance a vision for the profound inclusion of communities. Solidarity: Our fates are linked; when we support the Black struggle for liberation, we are supporting our collective liberation. We seek a re-envisioning of solidarity that simultaneously recognizes the AAPI experience with racism and oppression and how AAPIs have benefited from anti-Blackness. This theme is inspired by the importance of disrupting stereotypic tropes that limit and/or undermine authentic solidarity and offering an alternative vision. Voting Together: We lead by caring about each other. This theme is inspired by the importance of advocacy, voting, and becoming engaged in the issues that impact the lives of AAPIs and are of particular importance in the 2024 election. How will your vote show how you are caring for your community? Previous Projects Click below to learn more. Creative Content 2021-2022 Read More Voting Together 2020 Read More Storytelling 2020 Read More Sign up for our newsletter Contribute to the landscape of the AAPI Narrative Map. Submit a Story Contribute to the library of resources for grassroots organizers. Send a Resource The movement moment is now. Rally support for your campaign. Share your Campaign