ABOUT
LITTLE MANILA QUEENS BAYANIHAN ARTS
is a collaboration between artists and cultural workers who support community-based arts and creative placekeeping efforts by who support the diasporic Filipino community in Woodside, Queens and the greater NYC area.
MISSION STATEMENT
Despite the 50+ years of Filipino American presence, the dynamism of the community is oftentimes overlooked. We believe in the power of creative placekeeping via public art interventions to build visibility—to engage in a series of community conversations with the Queens-based Philippine diaspora. This is with the understanding that residents, non-profits, businesses and the arts can co-create in the thrivance of an already vibrant neighborhood and collectively co-author the change we want to see in our community.
Our goal is to be of and in the bayanihan spirit;
to increase representation of Filipinos and their concerns in the public sphere;
to advocate for the betterment and thrivance of our Little Manila community;
to bring creativity and abundance to the work we do.
THEORY OF CHANGE
If Filipino artists engage with local Filipino businesses, then the collective creativity of the community will be activated.
If creativity is activated, then our collective histories, dreams, and realities will be visibillized.
If our experiences are visibilized, then our communities can work towards catalyzing healing and growth.
HOW WE WORK
We identify as artists who organize, and engage in social practice, community-based public art interventions, events, and campaigns. We are not a 501c3. We operate as a not-for-profit, grassroots effort. This is a labor of love outside of our day jobs. We work on a project-to-project basis and collaborate with partner community organizations—to work in the bayanihan spirit to uplift the Little Manila community.
What is social practice?
According to Tate:
“Socially engaged practice, also referred to as social practice or socially engaged art, can include any artform which involves people and communities in debate, collaboration or social interaction. This can often be organised as the result of an outreach or education program, but many independent artists also use it within their work.”
WHO WE ARE
LEAD ARTISTS
Xenia Diente
Jaclyn Reyes
KEY COLLABORATORS
Rocco Cetera
Michael Garrovillas
Julie Jamora
May Madarang
Ezra Undag
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
National Alliance for Filipino Concerns - Northeast
Filipino American National Historical Society
Woodside on the Move
SUPPORTERS
Asian Pacific American Voting and Organizing to Increase Civic Engagement (APA VOICE) • Asian Women Giving Circle • BronxNet Television • En Foco, Inc. • The Laundromat Project • The Monument Lab • Queens Museum • Wave Farm