Project Statement: “In St. Louis, Asians have described feeling “invisible” in a region that grapples with a conspicuous Black-white divide but also the challenges created by immigration patterns that are outpacing local infrastructure and support. According to the 2020 census, the AAPI community grew 37% in the last decade, adding 22,000 Asians to our 14-county region. Yet we still are a minority that too often feels only superficially viewed and considered, for example through the lens of false narratives perpetuated by film and media.
In response, we present: InVISIBLE: A Reclaiming of the Asian Gaze, a multi-day showcase of art, a multicultural and multigenerational creative expression workshop, and an accompanying booklet of written and digital expressions. This program is
conceived to uplift the perspectives and voices of the AAPI community in the greater St.
Louis region. InVISIBLE also provides opportunities for St. Louis AAPI residents to
share their culture and experiences and to come together to create connections and
engender pride around shared heritage, history, and identity. It builds on the Black-
White binary construction that permeates conversations of race both nationally and
locally, a construct that is useful albeit limited, by providing a dedicated space for AAPI
individuals to explore their own relationships to race and to connect with the greater
community.”
This project is a partnership of the St. Louis Japanese American Citizens League
(JACL) and St. Louis Pan Asian Collective (STL PAC, an AAPI young professionals
advocacy and community-building group). It is supported in part as a Washington
University in St. Louis Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity Arts & Culture
Community Grant. The CRE2 Arts & Culture Community Grant aims to continue and
build on the work foregrounded by the Divided City Initiative with the generous support
of the Mellon Foundation. This special opportunity is presented in partnership with The
Center for the Humanities & The Office for Socially Engaged Practice.