How We Help
API Creative CommunityCivil Art empowers artists, creatives, and scholars by generating written records of their cultural achievements. By capturing these stories with care and promoting them via digital and physical platforms, Civil Art enhances the accessibility, identification, and legibility of community histories and voices.
Civil Art provides a unique publication platform, archiving the thoughts of the API Creative Community.
Civil Art increases the API Creative Community’s outreach, impact, and access to professional opportunities by making their creative practices approachable to a wider demographic.
Civil Art combats the misappropriation and erasure of API histories, heritages, and cultures by documenting the diverse experiences of the API arts community.
The Need for Support for the API Creative Community
“There are just so many incredible contributions that Asian Americans have made to every aspect of our culture, from politics to the landscape of our monuments and cities… There’s a lack of knowledge because Asian American history is not taught in schools.”
“The Lack of Asian American representation in the larger art world economy has certainly impacted what and how knowledge about it has been produced and disseminated – if art objects are not available on the market or within museum collections it is difficult to know what actually exists”
“The critic thus has a certain power of determination over art history, or at least great influence in creating the canon of art, as is evident, for example, in the naming by critics of many modern movements and in the “basic understanding” of the ostensibly incomprehensible, unconventional artists who initiated them.”
API Youth
Art education (art-focused seminars, workshops, lectures, written and designed materials) is an essential yet rapidly disappearing subject of learning. Thoughtful art education provides paths for understanding cultural nuances embedded within art and promotes diverse methods of self-expression and critical thinking.
The Need to Provide Art Education to API Youths
According to Apex for Youth, 1 in 2 Asian American youth live in or near poverty in NYC. 18% of NYC’s population is Asian American, but less than 1.5% of social service dollars go toward organizations serving them.
According to a 2012 National Survey funded by the Ford Foundation and the American Federation of Teachers, art education has significantly declined since the 1980s. Declining trends are most pronounced for students of color, who are more likely than white students to attend under-resourced schools.
According to Americans for the Arts, figures from the New York City Department of Education’s Annual Arts in School Reports, there is a 47% decline in spending to hire arts and cultural organizations to provide educational services for students and an even steeper decline in spending on art supplies and equipment over the past seven years.
The Commission on the Arts at the American Academy of Arts & Science reports that we are at a crisis point, where access to art education is declining steadily.
Following drastic budget cuts from New York City in 2024, the City’s Department of Cultural Affairs and its Cultural Institutions Group stated that the downward cycle of public funding for museums and cultural institutions “is unsustainable for the vibrant cultural system that makes New York a beacon for people to live and work…”
Benefits of Art Education
Builds well-rounded individuals
Broadens the understanding and appreciation of other cultures and histories
Supports social and emotional development
Builds empathy, reduces intolerance, and generates acceptance of others
Improves school engagement and culture
Develops valuable life and career skills
Strengthens community and civic engagement
[Benefits of art education] include broadening students’ understanding of other cultures and history, supporting their social-emotional development and interpersonal skills, and providing career exploration and creative opportunities.
Students at schools with more art education earn higher scores on a standardized writing test, express more school engagement, and are less likely to receive a disciplinary infraction.
“...specific skills covered through arts education directly affect a broad swath of careers outside the core arts careers… From the interior designer relying on color theory to the architect who uses 3D software to the engineer who incorporates elements of design, the skills embodied in arts education have wide applications.”
Civil Art’s Previous and Forthcoming Youth Program
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CIVIL ART FUNDRAISINGHow We Are Different
(ex. Fundraising auction, exhibition, etc.)
Civil Art creates curated touchpoints for the public to engage with API history, culture, and achievements.
Civil Art’s charitable beneficiaries use funds to provide education, mental health resources, financial aid, food, etc, to API community members living in or near poverty.
Published materials provide source materials to produce educational programs for API youth, the API community, and supporters.
Impact of Civil Art Fundraisers
In 2024, Civil Art’s charitable auction, Night Market, raised $46,353 for Apex for Youth to provide education, mentorship, and mental health support to youth who are living in or near poverty.
In 2024, Civil Art’s fundraising event, Night of the Senses, raised $3,000 for Yori Chunsa to provide culinary career opportunities to orphans in Korea.
In 2022, Civil Art’s charitable private sale, At the Table, raised $100,000 for Heart of Dinner to provide quality food and produce to elderly Asian Americans in need of financial support.