July 27, 2006

[Originally published in the 2005 Expo newspaper]

Without much breathing room in between the two, the Expo for the Artist and Musician 2005 will be followed by another fabulous Bay Area arts event.

Two weeks. More than 100 artists. Five artistic disciplines. SomArts. Countless volunteers and works of art. Other stuff.

Let me explain.

Planning & improvisation
Flashback to September 14, 2004: the vinyl lettering for the gallery opening, which doubled as the festival kick-off event, had abruptly been confirmed as not just late, but not coming.

This happened an hour before the doors were scheduled to open to the 250 folks attending the launch of the sixth annual "APAture: A Window on the Art of Young Asian Pacific Americans."

It kind of sucked. The vinyl lettering, while not necessary, would have added a certain je ne sais quoi to our visual exhibition. We could do without, but damn, we really wanted that vinyl picture of the strange little unicorn child atop the motorized horse, with the cord looping into nowhere.

This vision had erupted from the fertile and expansive imagination of APAture 2004 graphic designer Julie Munsayac.

Suddenly, the mishap was resolved: APAture visual curator and artist Derek Chung suggested we use actual extension cord to spell out the APAture logo. Three-dimensional signage: much better. Semi-crisis transformed into serendipitous opportunity for improvement.

This fusion of intensive planning and last-minute improvisation captures the spirit of Kearny Street Workshop's "APAture," a one-of-a-kind festival that is now entering it's seventh absurdly dynamic year.

"Volunteering their time"
APAture is, to many local Asian and Pacific Islander (API) artists, the moment of the year. The festival showcases the work of more than 100 local emerging API artists in literary, music, film/video, performance and visual arts. Kicking off with a visual exhibition opening reception at SomArts Cultural Center's Bay Gallery, and featuring a film and video screening, a literary and performance evening, APAture culminates in a 12-hour expo of nonstop performances, workshops, and panel discussions on two stages, plus a full comics/zines expo in SomArts' main gallery. This year's festival will go up in full glory from September 13-24, 2005.

"I've attended APAture every year, and each time I left inspired by the energy and creativity in the space," says Herna Cruz, this year's APAture coordinator, who added that she's honored to be at the helm of this year's festival.

APAture's success and growth didn't come out of nowhere; it is a program of Kearny Street Workshop (KSW), the oldest multidisciplinary APA arts organization in the country. KSW has been putting together multidisciplinary programs for the SF Bay Area community since 1972--from writing and printmaking workshops to visual exhibitions, jazz festivals and film screenings. APAture, a festival for young, emerging artists, is firmly grounded in over three decades of KSW history.

Since KSW's paid staff is a small but hardcore four people, APAture is almost entirely volunteer-organized and curated. That volunteer-run characteristic, shared by many a hardscrabble arts non-profit, is part of what drives the festival's continued sense of creativity and dynamism each year.

"Everyone's volunteering their time because we really care about it," says Han Pham, a writer and performer who joined the APAture 2005 general planning committee after moving up from Los Angeles earlier this year. "APAture organizers have a real opportunity to shape the festival, in ways that volunteers at other organizations don't," she added. "Each year, the committee has the opportunity to adjust the format, select artists and run the show. We're all terrifically invested in the process."

Featured artists
One of the tasks of the volunteer APAture organizers is to select more than 100 artists, including the seven "Featured Artists" who demonstrate outstanding achievement and development as an emerging artist in their discipline. Their work is highlighted at the festival via longer performance slots or more prominent visual presentation.

This year's seven featured artists include zinesters Jing Bentley and Mark Miyake of Punkpunk; hip hop duo Native Guns; writer/performer Sean San Jose; filmmaker James T. Hong; speculative fiction writer Claire Light; dancer/choreographer Erin Mei-Ling Stuart; and visual artist Rebecca Szeto.

"It's an incredible line-up," says Cruz. "We're really thrilled to have these artists participate in the festival, and the range in terms of genre, content, and the kind of audience each artist draws is a real benefit to reaching new folks."

"I'm looking forward to everything coming together again this year," said three-year APAture organizer and artist, Derek Chung. "We have a lot of new artists and new ideas."

Like comedy and beer. This year, the APAture festival will feature a night of standup comedy performances, a beer garden, a live tattoo booth, and a barbecue in addition to the collection of performances, workshops and panel discussions.

"It's a tremendous undertaking every year," says Chung, "but the result is an exhilarating celebration of creativity and community."

Which brings us back to the initial anecdote of the missing vinyl turned sudden sculpture signage: in addition to the finely-tuned schedule of performances at this year's APAture, what kind of artistic crises and surprising transformations can we look forward to? It's part of the wonder of APAture.

Check it out yourself: www.kearnystreet.org.