Meet the AAPI Artists, Chefs, and Organizers Shaping the Midwest

For these Michigan artists, one-on-one mentorship builds on the longevity and legacy of traditional art practices.

This performer, professor, and composer is continuing a legacy of joyful, justice-oriented noisemaking from Indonesia to Iowa.

Artists in Wisconsin and Minnesota explore and expand on a rich tradition of HMong textile arts and storytelling.

The Ann Arbor-based artist and scholar builds bridges between Filipino diasporic and indigenous communities through music.

“Urushi is most close to who I am,” says Indianapolis-based artist Nhat Tran, who has been creating abstract sculptural and 2D pieces with lacquer over the past two decades.

Whether they grew up on sticky rice or hotdish, Gopher State residents are embracing the affable celebrity chef and his mouth-watering wares

Minnesota-based nonprofit and service organization Adoptee Hub is helping Korean adoptees build connections to their culture—and each other.

Chicago artist Pooja Pittie on exploring the bodymind, disability, and building her practice in the Midwest.

Artist Joanne Aono relates working on her farm to her art-making practice: “oftentimes what you end up having isn’t anything you planned on.”

The Snow Country Prison Japanese American Internment Memorial acknowledges Japanese Americans incarcerated at Fort Lincoln, a prison camp in what is now the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck.

As part of the fastest growing Asian population in the country, the co-founders of North Dakota Asian-American Arts and Culture Initiative are creating welcoming spaces for new residents and showcasing diverse Asian cultures to the community at-large.

Pangea World Theater works hard year-round to create a space that connects people from all backgrounds and builds a covenant with the surrounding Lake Street community.

These Chicagoans needed money for their graphic art practice. They didn’t look to loans, but to their community. And it (mostly) worked.

In a small-town Minnesota, love became something to share out loud, thanks to a workshop from artist-in-residence JJ Kapur.

A “community voice of art,” Parachigo is approaching its second year as a sober, affordable and all ages space. Its only rule: Parade equality.

From food trucks to catering, North Dakotans can enjoy the cuisine made with local and indigenous ingredients in Minot, Bismarck-Mandan, and Grand Forks.

A writer, historian, and an artist from the Midwest are among the 2024 MacArthur Fellows. They will each receive an $800,000 grant, with no strings attached.

The Paper Lantern Project creates accessible spaces and resources to break down stigmas against gender and reproductive justice in Minnesota’s Asian American community.