Join us for APAture 2024’s Closing Reception
APAture is celebrating 25 years of supporting emerging artists from across the Bay Area! From October 13 to November 9th we’ll be presenting six showcases in venues across the city!
The theme for this year is RETURN. From the Palestinian right to return, the call for Indigenous Land Back, the various migrant histories and struggle for justice in our Pacific Islander and Asian communities, and the returns we face in our own personal lives: What does the idea of return mean to you? Where and to whom are you returning?
APAture is an annual, month-long multidisciplinary arts festival that showcases 50-60 emerging APA artists to an audience of nearly 1,000 in venues throughout San Francisco. It draws diverse attendees from across the Bay Area, offering critical platforms for APA art that uplifts APA communities and, in today’s political environment, contributes necessary voices to arts & culture. The receptions are free, while all other showcases are affordably priced.
View the Full Schedule Here —>
2024 Featured Artists
Since 1999, APAture’s list of featured artists have included some of the most groundbreaking and influential Asian Pacific American artists to come out of the Bay Area including Gene Luen Yang, Michael Arcega, Barbara Jane Reyes, Kristina Wong, Thi Bui, Goh Nakamura and so many more.
This year’s class of featured artists are sure to follow suit! Let’s meet them now!
Ian Santillano (pronounced “San-Till-Yeah-Know") is a Fil-Am singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer from Hayward, CA. As an alternative/indie, singer-songwriter, Ian draws upon his foundations in jazz, soul, folk, rock, and funk. Ian released his debut EP, "1856," in 2019 and the full length “Intropy” in 2022 which has garnered more than 285k streams on Spotify since its release. Ian has also joined Bolo Music Group in which he plans on disrupting what it means to be a Filipino-American artist. His latest release, "Layers On Layers," Ian blends indie, soul, and jazz. As 2024 unfolds, Ian continues to thrive with fresh songs, upcoming shows, and exciting projects slated throughout the year.
Minnie Phan is an award winning illustrator based in Oakland, CA. Her past clients include the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Chronicle Books, and the San Francisco Public Library, with which she illustrated a citywide reading campaign in 2022. As a multidisciplinary artist, she has illustrated over 10 music posters for The Fillmore and Civic Center Auditorium, a 250 square foot mural on site at Google headquarters, and a statewide ad campaign for the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services. With skills ranging from editorial illustrations to comics, animation, and picture books, she has been recognized by the The New York Times, Society of Illustrators, and Eisner Awards. She is the illustrator of The Yellow Áo Dài, written by Hanh Bui, and Simone, written by Pulitzer Prize winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen.
Jalena Keane-Lee is a filmmaker who explores intergenerational trauma and healing through an intersectional lens. She was named a 2023 Adobe x Sundance Woman to Watch, and is the recipient of the Gotham Documentary Fellowship, Creative Culture woman filmmaker fellowship, Wyncote Fellowship and NeXt Doc Fellowship. Jalena is the winner of Tribeca Through Her Lens 2020 and DocPitch 2022. Her short films have streamed on POV and Criterion Collection, played at over 50 film festivals, and won best short at LA Asian Film Festival in 2020 and the Jury Award at Sundance in 2023. Jalena co-founded Breaktide Productions, an all-women-of-color production company that has won two Cannes Lion awards for branded content. Jalena’s first feature-length documentary STANDING ABOVE THE CLOUDS, which participated in the 2022 Sundance Edit and Story Lab, premiered at HotDocs in 2024 won the Bill Nemtin Award for Best Social Impact Documentary.
Maw Shein Win’s most recent poetry collection is Storage Unit for the Spirit House (Omnidawn) which was nominated for the Northern California Book Award in Poetry, longlisted for the PEN America Open Book Award, and shortlisted for CALIBA’s Golden Poppy Award for Poetry. She is the inaugural poet laureate of El Cerrito, CA. Win’s previous collections include Invisible Gifts and two chapbooks, Ruins of a glittering palace and Score and Bone. Win often collaborates with visual artists, musicians, and other writers and her Process Note Series features poets on their process. She teaches poetry in the MFA Program at the University of San Francisco. Along with Dawn Angelicca Barcelona and Mary Volmer, she is a co-founder of Maker, Mentor, Muse, a new literary community. Win’s full-length collection Percussing the Thinking Jar (Omnidawn) is forthcoming in October, 2024. photo by Mary Kalin-Casey
Kim Requesto is a Philippine born, Mission District raised Cultural Worker and Interdisciplinary Artist based in unceded Ramaytush Ohlone Territory also recognized as San Francisco, California. With an artistic foundation in Philippine folk dance, Requesto has dedicated herself to cultural expression and advocacy through movement, photography, and community outreach. Requesto has been part of the Philippine Folk Dance community since 2005 and is currently with Parangal Dance as part of their Artistic Team.
Houyee (she/her) is a first generation, queer, biracial, multidisciplinary artist, and educator from San José, CA. She earned her bachelor’s degree at San Francisco State University in Studio Art with a minor in Philosophy. During the day, she works at a non-profit managing a free arts and multimedia program for youth. She uses painting, mixed media, and public art to depict themes of culture/ancestry, queer experiences, and the exploration of oneself. Houyee makes art to heal from her life and to grow into a better person. She invites you to reflect, explore, and feel connectivity with her work.
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