Introducing AAI's Brand New Website!

Emerging from the Pandemic-related shutdown and reconfiguring our commitment to building community through the power of art, Asian Arts Initiative decided to give itself a BIG glow up as we continue to deliver brave, community-centered, responsive programs – in Philadelphia, and across the world. We were inspired to use this time to remodel our digital home to:

1) Represent our exceptional programming and its impact in our communities with thoughtful and intuitive design;

2) Function as a prominent digital hub with archival assets and an artist directory that reflects over 30 years of our work in Philadelphia communities and beyond.

We started our search for designers in 2022 and identified a Brooklyn-based designer Mianwei Wang to form a team to take on this ambitious project and realize our 2024 vision. Meet our incredible team of designers, artists, and programmers:

Mianwei Wang (Project Lead, Design, Programming)
Mianwei is a designer and art director working and living in Brooklyn, NY, who works on developing digital presentation, contemporary typography and systems for artists and art organizations.

Mengjie Liu (Design, Programming)
Mengjie is a visual experience designer at G&A Design and freelance front-end developer based in Brooklyn, New York.

Alvin Ashiatey (Programming)
Alvin is a multidisciplinary designer from Ghana, currently based in New Haven, CT. He is interested in the intersection of design and technology, developing works that investigate A.I, language and migration from an African perspective.

Evan Kirkiles (Programming)
Evan Kirkiles is a software engineer located in New Haven, CT. He writes code in pursuit of a beautiful, accessible, and thoughtful web.

Hyeree Ro (Project Management)
Hyeree is an artist based in Brooklyn, New York and Seoul, primarily working with sculptural objects and multilingual fractured narrative-based performance.

Here are some notes from our Web Design Team:

This team has been gathered to transform AAI's website, and in turn, the project has transformed us — we have worked closely together, just as we have with the AAI team for over a year. In the proximity provided by the project, we are encapsulated in moments of inspiration, discovery, and celebration; To unravel problems and challenges, we are always on the search for possibilities, inventions, and solutions.

The new website is set to amplify a voice: Firmly anchored in the faith of art, Asian Arts Initiative makes an effort to create protected pathways and platforms for artists to create better, braver art in the building, in the neighborhood, and in the city of Philadelphia. The site is an extension and an invitation to AAI’s physical space, voices its art endeavors, and connects the communities. As the organization shifts towards a multidisciplinary art center, we also look forward to providing a convenient, enduring platform for all the exciting programs that AAI has to offer.

We are proud to finally introduce AAI’s new website to the world! This is our initial and soft launch of the site. More intuitive functions like embedded forms, live streaming, and other systems are in the works. We encourage you to check out the website periodically to explore the new functions and learn more about our upcoming programs!