Summer 2003

GENERAL

We welcome Marilyn Yu to the Board of Directors. Marilyn successfully ran her own clothing business for several years before becoming the Finance/Operations Manager for the Galeria de la Raza in 2000. Marilyn is also the bookkeeper at AATC. She will serve as KSW’s Board Treasurer.

Sharon Li has married and moved to Sacramento. We thank Sharon for her years of service, both as a bookkeeper and as Board Treasurer.

We welcomeTruong Tran, renown poet and KSW writing instructor as our new Executive Director. Our E.D. of eight and a half years, Nancy Hom, has decided to pursue her art and writing further. Nancy will continue to serve KSW as Advisory Board member and will participate in future KSW activities as an artist, project coordinator, and mentor.

Board members had a wonderful time at the annual board retreat. KSW rented Flo and Ed Wong’s beautiful house in Sunnyvale for two days. Thanks to their generosity, we had a relaxing and productive retreat.

LITERARY

KSW and the SF Arts Commission Chinatown Community Arts Program (CCAP) presented Warning: Graphic Contents featuring comics/graphic artists Hellen Jo, Derek Kirk Kim, and Jason Shiga on July 23.

KSW co-presented Coming Home to Manilatown with Citylights in celebration of the bookstore’s 50th anniversary.

VISUAL ARTS

KSW’s APAture visual arts exhibition will kick off with a gala reception on Tuesday, September 16th, at SomArts Cultural Center, 934 Brannan St., 6.30 - 8.30pm; $2 -5 sliding scale (no one turned away for lack of funds).

PERFORMING ARTS

The Skyflakes, Michael Premsrirat, Suz Takeda, and Evanescing Incandescence, were among the performers who entertained the audiences at our APAture fundraisers. Featured DJs included Superugly, Franklin Lee, and Andrew Amorao. Thanks to all the artists who were so generous with their time and helped make the fundraisers successful!

WORKSHOPS AND SALONS

KSW’s Standup Comedy class taught by Allan Manalo performed to a capacity crowd on June 12 at Locus 1640 Post Street. Veteran comedians Kevin Shea, Joey Guila, Brent Weinbach, and Edwin Li, also performed.

Edmond Chow’s Poetry Class held a special reading on June 26 at BUILD Space in San Francisco. The reading, dedicated to Itzolin Garcia, featured poems by Edmond’s students as well as his own poems. Some of Itzo’s poems were read by his mother Mia Stageberg and sister Sifra Raffel. KSW published a small chapbook of writers who were affected by Itzo’s death. The chapbook is available to anyone who knew Itzo. Please call the office to arrange to pick up your free copy, while supplies last.

Junse Kim’s Fiction Class members read their works on July 16 at CCAP.

On August 20, KSW presented Wide Angle, a KSW Intergenerational Salon featuring filmmakers Emiko Omori and Stuart Gaffney at 530 Hampshire. Our thanks to Calvin Roberts for the use of the space.

NEW CLASSES

Our Comics Drawing class and beginning drawing class were cancelled. We will be holding a new Poetry Class with Maiana Minahal from September 17-October 22 at CCAP, 750 Kearny Street, 3rd floor. There will be a reading on October 29 after the class at CCAP. We will also be offering a weekend writing intensive: Translating Personal Stories into Fiction and Non-fiction taught by Linda Watanabe McFerrin, October 3-5.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

KSW will hold a special acknowledgement party for our departing E.D. Nancy Hom at Tangerine Restaurant on September 4th from 6 to 9 PM.

On Friday, August 22, KSWpresented the APAture Launch Party, our third APAture 2003 fundraiser event, at Blind Tiger. The lively event featured musical guests Scrabbel and Largesse, and DJs Riff Raff and O-Dub.

Spring 2003

GENERAL

KSW's Executive Director, Nancy Hom, has received the Asian Heritage Month Local Hero award sponsored by KQED and Union Bank of California.

KSW is looking for a new Executive Director and has contracted with the Management Center to assist us with the search. If you are interested in applying, please email search@tmcenter.org for a copy of the job description.

LITERARY

KSW and the SF Arts Commission Chinatown Community Arts Program (CCAP) presented Do Tell: Readings by Queer API Writers, featuring Maiana Minahal, Dan Taulapapa McMullin and Danny Nguyen on March 16.

KSW and Cabrillo College presented In Search of Watsonville with poets Jeff Tagami and Shirley Ancheta, with a special performance by Taiko drummer Mary Kohama, at the Cabrillo College Watsonville Center on April 10.

Writers Nancy Hom, Shailja Patel, and John Tunui read as part of the Association of Asian American Studies Conference Cafe APA Open Mic. KSW's hour featured poetry by writers in our War and Silence exhibition.

KSW, along with Chinatown Community Development Center and LA-based Wide Eyed Workshops and LAEnkanto, co-presented a CCDC youth-led walking tour through Chinatown alleyways on May 8. The tour began with a special presentation of the International Hotel by Al Robles and Bill Sorro. The tour was followed by Dos Babae: From LA to the Bay, featuring LA-based poet Janis Calleja and SF-based poet Melinda Corazon Foley. The reading on May 8, 6-8 PM, co-presented by CCAP, began with an open mic.

VISUAL ARTS

KSW's major exhibition, War and Silence, took place in Somarts' Main Gallery from May 3-28, 2003. Part of the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center’s Festival 2003, the exhibit opened on May 3 to a large receptive audience. As part of War and Silence, KSW present a panel discussion on Tuesday, May 20th, 7-9 PM, which featured Helen Zia, Tram Nguyen, Rick Godinez and Shailja Patel.

For the Association of Asian American Studies Conference, KSW presented a Powerpoint presentation entitled Movement and the Arts: A Visual History of APA Activism and a visual arts presentation.

WORKSHOPS AND SALONS

Allan Manalo's Standup Comedy class will perform on June 12 at Locus, from 7–9 PM, at Locus, 1640 Post Street, between Buchanan and Laguna Streets.

Edmond Chow's Poetry Class will be giving a reading on June 26, from 7–9 PM at BUILD Space, 483 Guerrero, between 16th and 17th Streets, SF.

Junse Kim's Fiction class will run from May 14–July 2, 2003. The class is full.

On Tuesday, April 22, KSW presented Of Myths and Mountains: Writing for Performance, a KSW Intergenerational Salon featuring Eth-Noh-Tec and members of the 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors at Eth-Noh-Tec Studios.

NEW CLASSES

Thien Pham will again teach his popular Comics Drawing class from July 1 to August 19. Rick Godinez will teach a beginning drawing class from July 7 to August 25. Please see our website for more details on these classes.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

In lieu of KSW’s annual Lunar New Year party for major donors ($250 and up), we held a pre-reception for War and Silence for our distinguished donors. We will hold another pre-reception for major donors at our APAture Festival in September.

We thank Jean Chen and Robynn Takayama for using their birthdays as a fundraiser for our organization.

GRANT NEWS

We thank the San Francisco Foundation for its generous grant to our organization for leadership transition.

Winter 2003

GENERAL

We welcome new Board member Romeo delaCruz Carambas. Romeo brings skills in the areas of marketing and membership drives.

KSW is seeking a new Executive Director, effective July 1st, as Nancy Hom prepares to devote more time to her artwork. For a job description, please contact us at info@kearnystreet.org.

Claire Light, who has been our Office/Program Manager for four years, is now a full-time student at San Francisco State University to pursue a Masters Degree in Creative Writing. We hired Samantha Chanse, APAture Coordinator for 2002, to take her place. Claire has been an invaluable asset to KSW and we will miss her energy, creativity, and passion. Good luck, Claire!

We also say goodbye to Annette Koh, who is in Korea for an extended time. She has been volunteering as our webmaster for several years. Thanks Annie!

KSW's website is now officially launched! Thanks to Rick Elizaga for a terrific job redesigning and reorganizing our website. Rick is now the webmaster for the site, replacing Annette Koh.

LITERARY

KSW and the SF Arts Commission Chinatown Community Arts Program (CCAP) presented Do Tell: Readings by Queer API Writers, featuring Maiana Minahal, Dan Taulapapa McMullin and Danny Nguyen on March 16, 2-4 PM.

KSW and Cabrillo College present In Search of Watsonville with poets Jeff Tagami and Shirley Ancheta, with a special performance by Taiko drummer Mary Kohama, at the Cabrillo College Watsonville Center on April 10, 7-9 PM.

As part of the Association of Asian American Studies Conference (May 7-11), KSW and CCAP will co-present Dos Babae: From LA to the Bay, featuring LA-based poet Janis Calleja and SF-based poet Melinda Corazon Foley. The free reading on May 8, 6-8 PM, at CCAP, will begin with an open mic.

VISUAL ARTS

Our showcase exhibition, made in usa: Angel Island Shhh, created by Flo Oy Wong, opened on Ellis Island on March 8, 2003, along with Flo's My Mother's Baggage: Paper Sister/Paper Aunt/ Paper Wife and Gateway to Gold Mountain, a traveling exhibit by the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF). Collectively entitled Tin See Do: The Angel Island Experience, the show will continue until May 31st.Tin See Do is co-presented with Ellis Island and AIISF, with support by Verizon, OCA, and individuals. [see photos from the NYC exhibit]

KSW's major exhibition, War and Silence, will take place in Somarts' Main Gallery from May 3-28, 2003. Part of the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center's Festival 2003, the exhibit will open on May 3, 5-7 PM. As part of War and Silence, KSW will present a panel discussion on Tuesday, May 20th, 7-9PM.

For the Association of Asian American Studies Conference, KSW will present a Powerpoint presentation entitled Movement and the Arts: A Visual History of APA Activism, May 7 -11.

WORKSHOPS AND SALONS

Slant This, KSW's standup comedy class with Allan Manalo, will take place at SomArts Mondays, April 7 - June 2, from 7-9pm. The class will cost $115 for KSW members and $135 for non-members. To register send a check to KSW, 934 Brannan Street, SF, CA, 94103.

On Tuesday, April 22, 7-9PM, KSW presents Of Myths and Mountains: Writing for Performance, a KSW Intergenerational Salon featuring Eth-Noh-Tec and members of the 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors. Eth-Noh-Tec Studio, 977 S. Van Ness, SF.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

KSW's annual Lunar New Year party for major donors ($250 and up) has been postponed until April. This elegant affair is hosted by the Board of Directors.

Debbie Yee, KSW member and student of our writing classes, included KSW in the celebration of her 30th birthday. Our thanks to Debbie for fun-filled fundraiser.

GRANT NEWS

We thank the San Francisco Foundation for its generous grant to our organization for leadership transition.

We also thank Poets and Writers, Inc. for supporting Edmond's Chow's poetry class through a grant from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.