Stanford University
Asian American Art Initiative logo

Our Mission

The Asian American Art Initiative (AAAI) advances research, education, community engagement, and public access to the work of Asian American/diasporic artists and makers. Primarily based at the Cantor Arts Center, the AAAI strives to build one of the most significant museum collections of Asian American art and make it available to all through the museum’s curatorial program. We model an innovative art history that centers primary sources (works of art, archives, oral histories) to generate collaboration among artists, scholars, students, and community members; and across the museum, classroom, archive, and public. Learn more about us.

A picture of an asian dragon
three asian women bathing by the river

George Matsusaburo Hibi (American, born in Japan, 1886–1947), Three Muses, 1930. Oil on canvas. Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University. The Michael Donald Brown Collection, made possible by the William Alden Campbell and Martha Campbell Art Acquisition F

a sleeping man

Miki Hayakawa (American, born in Japan, 1899–1953), Sleeping Man, 1926. Oil on canvas. Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University. The Michael Donald Brown Collection, made possible by the William Alden Campbell and Martha Campbell Art Acquisition Fund and the Asian American Art Initiative Acquisitions Fund. Funding for the conservation of this artwork was generously provided through a grant from the Bank of America Art Conservation Project, 2020.48

A wall of masks

The Faces of Ruth Asawa at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University. Photo: Glen Cheriton

a vase in blue and gray colors

Toshiko Takaezu (American, 1922–2011), #8, c. 1990s. Stoneware with glazes. Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University. Gift of the artist, 2008.230

A picture of an asian dragon

Martin Wong (American, 1946-1999), Chinatown Dragon, 1993. Acrylic on canvas. Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University. Gift of The Martin Wong Foundation, 2019.202

Learn more about Asian American and Pacific Islander history at Stanford and beyond: Click here for a detailed timeline created by the Asian American and Pacific Islander (API) community at Stanford.

About the Asian American Art Initiative

The AAAI was co-founded in 2018 by Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander and Marci Kwon. It is housed at the Cantor Arts Center, in partnership with the Department of Art & Art History, Stanford Libraries and Special Collections, and the Asian American Research Center at Stanford. Our activities include acquiring and conserving works of art and archives by Asian American/diasporic artists; activating them in education, publications, and special projects; and making them accessible through exhibitions,and public programming. The AAAI approaches research, exhibitions, community engagement, and education as connected rather than separate endeavors. For example, the acquisition of a work of art might include discussions with Stanford Libraries to bring the artist’s papers or archives into their collections. Works and archival resources are presented to the public in exhibitions and permanent installations at the Cantor Arts Center, and become the basis for coursework in related undergraduate and graduate classes. These resources might also be activated in special research or artists projects, or scholarly publications.

Our use of “Asian American” reflects the term’s Bay Area roots in interethnic, anti-colonial solidarity, while also acknowledging the distinct histories, experiences, and relationships to American imperialism contained by the category. Rather than imposing a homogenizing, fixed frame upon artists and works of art, we allow them to relate to terms denoting race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, and sexuality in whatever way they wish.

Who We Are

Our Team

Our Partners

Our Partners

Our Team

The AAAI is spearheaded by the Cantor Arts Center and brings in partners from across Stanford University.

Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander, PhD

Robert M. and Ruth L. Halperin Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art

Co Founder and Co-Director, Asian American Art Initiative

Cantor Arts Center

Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander oversees the collection of modern and contemporary art at the Cantor Arts Center. At the Cantor, she is the curator of Spirit House (2024), Livien Yin: Thirsty (2024), East of the Pacific: Making Histories of Asian American Art (2022), and The Faces of Ruth Asawa (2022). Her accompanying catalogue to Spirit House is the museum’s first major publication of the AAAI. Alexander leads the AAAI’s curatorial program and collection building, working with artists, artist estates, galleries, and collectors.

Aleesa Alexander headshot

Marci Kwon

Assistant Professor, Department of Art & Art History

Co-Founder and Co-Director, Asian American Art Initiative

Art & Art History Department, Stanford University

Marci Kwon is an award-winning art historian, writer, and teacher. Her work explores alterity, minorness, value, and the ethics of relation in art and material culture, with a special focus on the history of Asian American/diasporic artists and makers. She spearheads the AAAI’s research and education activities, and works closely with Stanford Libraries & Special Collections.

A headshot of Marci Kwon

Kathryn Cua

Curatorial Assistant, Asian American Art Initiative Cantor Arts Center

Kathryn Cua is the Curatorial Assistant for the AAAI. Kat’s work is primarily focused at the Cantor where she provides administrative support to Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander. Kat also provides research support for AAAI-related collections and exhibitions. She has assisted with Spirit House (2024) and Livien Yin: Thirsty (2024) and curated Archive Rooms: Bernice Bing (2024), a pilot presentation at the museum highlighting the art historical resources available at Stanford Libraries’ Special Collections.

Maggie Dethloff

Assistant Curator of Photography and New Media, Cantor Arts Center

Maggie Dethloff is the Assistant Curator of Photography and New Media at the Cantor Arts Center. Among her other activities, Maggie supports the AAAI by collaborating on acquisitions and exhibitions of Asian American artists working in photography, film, video, and digital media. At the Cantor, Maggie has curated the AAAI-related exhibitions TT Takemoto: Remembering in the Absence of Memory (2024), Kenneth Tam: All of M (2023), At Home/On Stage: Asian American Representation in Photography and Film (2022), and A young Yu: Mourning Rituals (2022).

Lindsay King

Head Librarian, Bowes Art & Architecture Library, Stanford University Libraries

Lindsay King (she/her) is the Head Librarian of Bowes Art and Architecture Library, where she manages both services and collections, including circulating, digital, and rare materials related to art, architecture, and art history, for Stanford Libraries. Prior to coming to Stanford, she worked as an art librarian at Yale University and Northwestern University, and as a museum educator at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Anna Lee

Photography Curator, Department of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries

Anna Lee collects photographic materials for research and teaching at Stanford. She also promotes collections and archives through writing, exhibitions, and object-based classes and often works collaboratively with colleagues in the AAAI. In 2023, she curated Gina Osterloh: Mirror Shadow Shape and, along with Ben Stone, Focus on Community: The Ricardo Alvarado Photography Archive at Stanford. In 2024, she stewarded the acquisition of photographer, curator, and community activist Irene Poon’s archive for Special Collections.

Campus Partners

The Asian American Art Initiative is spearheaded by the Cantor Arts Center, and collaborates with the following partners:

Thank you to our members and generous donors. To learn more about supporting the Asian American Art Initiative, please click here

We recognize that Stanford sits on the territory of Huichin, the ancestral and unceded land of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, who are the successors of the historic and sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County.  We recognize that every member of the community has benefited—and continues to benefit—from the use and occupation of this land.