
The Asian Alaskan Cultural Center’s mission is to enhance Alaskan’s understanding of Asians through artistic performances. To that end, one of our 8 member-communities hosts Asian Culture Night each Spring at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts (ACPA) in downtown Anchorage.
About Asian Alaskan Cultural Center
History of AACC
The Asian Alaskan Cultural Center was founded in 1983 to address the cultural needs of growing Asian communities in Anchorage that conventional civic organizations were not meeting. Today, AACC continues its efforts for the Asian communities and to share Asian cultural diversity with the greater Alaskan community. We share these cultures with other Alaskans through artistic programs so that Alaskans will have a better understanding of Asian traditions. The Asian Alaskan Cultural Center (AACC) represents Alaskans whose heritage can be traced to China, India, Japan, Korea, Laos, the Philippines, Thailand, and Nepal. In addition to public cultural events, our organization is a touchtone for local Asian communities, providing support, enhancing cultural pride, and hosting local community events. The AACC Board of Directors all serve voluntarily, each represents one of our constituent communities. The AACC has no employees. Our limited funding is from Grants, Sponsors, and Event Revenues.
Services Provided
AACC has organized and presented Asian Culture Night with the help of many community sponsors, each year since 1990. Each year, Asian Culture Night has featured a visiting dance group representing one of the member cultures. These groups have sometimes come from Asian home country and sometimes from larger Asian communities in American cities. Artists from the local community have performed with visiting artists at a special Asian Culture Night Show for Anchorage School district students on the day prior to the normal public presentation, which features the visiting artists.
AACC holds a less formal “Fall Festival” annually in October. This provides an opportunity for members of our eight (8) Asian communities and the general public to socialize enjoys ethnic foods, and a cultural show featuring local performers from the member communities.
The AACC is co-located with Northwood Elementary School. It has a small office, a commercial grade kitchen, and a multipurpose room which is shared with Northwood School. Our eight (8) communities use these facilities for many activities, including Asian language schools, community meetings, performance practices, and community wide events. The AACC facility is free to member communities, and without it these types of events would not be possible.
Beneficiaries
The Asian Culture Night series directly benefits a broad cross-section of the Anchorage population. We expect the total attendance for the two performances to be 4,000 and 600 for the Delta Junction performance. Of that, we hope 2,000 will be Anchorage School District students. This audience will directly benefit from the artistic performances. In addition, the community will benefit through a deeper understanding of our Asian cultures. This year, 18 artists and support crew members of Samulnori Molgae Group from South Korea.
Alaskan Asian Cultural Center Board Members
-
Neil Bhargava
ADVISOR
India
dkbhargava@aol.com -
Leticia Tadina
PRESIDENT
Philippines
ltadina@gci.net -
Bikky Shrestha
VICE PRESIDENT
Nepal
bshrestha@gmail.com -
Yeon Soon Min
TREASURER
Korea
Yeon.min01@gmail.com -
Barbara Wu Heyman
Chinese
barbara.heyman@alaskachinese.org -
Henrietta Aquino
Philippines
hennieaquino@yahoo.com -
Saroj Bhattaral
Nepal
saroj-bhattaral@live.com -
Hiroko Harada
Japan
hharada@uaa.alaska.edu -
Yoshiko Harnett
Japan
yoshiharnett@gmail.com -
Phoonsri (Jessie) Inhom
Thailand
Jessiec_2005@hotmail.com -
Anouxa (Loulee) Keokhamphouny
Laos
Anouxa72@hotmail.com -
Rachel Liu
Chinese
only_bygrace@msn.com -
Yohyon Pharr
Korea
yohyonpharr@gmail.com -
Chan Sihakhoth
Laos
sihakhoth@hotmail.com -
Kornthida (Bee) Sittithamsakul
Thailand
Kornthida@gmail.com