UNITED STATES OF ASIAN AMERICA FESTIVAL 2022

GENERATIONS OF POWER

 
The Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center of San Francisco announces and celebrates the 25th Annual United States of Asian America Festival.

Each year, the United States of Asian American Festival (USAAF) presents up to 20 different programs reflecting the artistic accomplishments and cultural diversity of San Francisco’s Pacific Islander and Asian American communities. USAAF showcases artists representing a diverse range of ethnic and cultural groups and aims to heighten the visibility of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) artists working in all disciplines - theater, music, dance, film, literature, visual arts, and more! Our goal is to nurture and empower these groups to be self-sufficient while providing the support they need to grow. 

This year’s USAAF is funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, California Arts Council, Zellerbach Family Foundation and startsmall. 

In celebration of USAAF and APICC's 25th Anniversary, this year’s theme, Generations of Power, explores the following:

• How can we harness the legacies of power that have been built to (re)tend the soil, seeds of yesterday and tomorrow for AAPI communities?
• How is AAPI power rooted in cultivating solidarity among our BIPOC communities and how do our communities intersect?

Photo by Marie Fontejon: Singers on the TNT SideCaraoke mic belt out the last song of the evening at the USAAF 2021 event at Kapwa Gardens. 

Click below to skip to a certain section:

USAAF 2022 CALENDAR   •   FESTIVAL ARTISTS   •   WORKSHOPS   •   CALL FOR PROPOSALS (NOW CLOSED)

USAAF 2022 CALENDAR

Click to view the FULL CALENDAR or the full list of events organized by date on the CALENDAR-AT-A-GLANCE and sign up to volunteer!

FULL CALENDAR   •   CALENDAR-AT-A-GLANCE   •   SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER

FESTIVAL ARTISTS

APICC is proud to announce the names of the artists participating in the 25th annual United States of Asian America Festival:

Artists and programs in this year's festival were selected by a panel of jurors including:

Aureen Almario, educator, artist and Artistic Director for Bindlestiff Studio
Ravi Chandra, San Francisco based M.D. psychiatrist, writer and compassion educator
Yukiya Jerry Waki, spoken word artist, writer, creator and host of The Buffet Show podcast

Stay tuned for program and events produced by these artists to take place in celebration of API Heritage, this May-June 2022!

PUBLIC WORKSHOPS

Available to all artists and producers participating in USAAF 2022, workshops are also free and open to the public to register.
Click each workshop link below to register and learn more (all times are Pacific Time):

Budget & Fundraising
Wednesday, January 19 @ 6pm

Marketing & Publicity
Monday, January 31 @ 6pm

Hybrid Programming
Monday, February 14 @ 6pm

Taxes for Artists
Monday, March 14 @ 6pm

Land Acknowledgements
(Formerly the Indigenous Protocol workshop, postponed from February)
Monday, March 28 @ 6pm

ASL interpretation and live automatic captions will be available via Zoom for all remaining workshops.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS NOW CLOSED

 
SUBMISSION DEADLINE
Monday, November 22, 2021 at 11:59PM PST

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Individual artists, art groups, and art organizations are welcome to submit applications for art events occurring in May-June 15, 2022.

FESTIVAL THEME

Subject(s) of your program(s) and/or event(s) focus on themes related to Pacific Islander and Asian American themes and culture, connecting specifically to this year’s theme, Generations of Power:

• How can we harness the legacies of power that have been built to (re)tend the soil, seeds of yesterday and tomorrow for AAPI communities?
• How is AAPI power rooted in cultivating solidarity among our BIPOC communities and how do our communities intersect?

 
USAAF SUPPORTS

All mediums of art and culture (e.g., theater, storytelling, stand-up comedy, dance, performance art, solo performance, literary, panel discussion, music, visual art exhibition, performance poetry, film, spoken word, variety showcase, multimedia productions, multi-art productions, etc).

ELIGIBILITY

In order to be eligible to participate in USAAF:

• Pacific Islander and/or Asian American artists must be centralized within the artistic creation process, and constitute a majority of participating artists.
• Lead producing artist(s) must be based in the Bay Area (if outside Bay Area, contact Artistic Director Melanie Elvena at [email protected] to assess participation).
• Lead producing artist(s) must be over 18, but artists participating in the program can be all ages.
• Lead producing artist(s) must demonstrate the ability to produce their own event (i.e., including managing and executing all production, creative, technical, promotional, etc. responsibilities).
• Events must occur in May through June 15, 2022.
• Agree to attend APICC’s professional development workshops (it is highly recommended that you attend all workshops, dates listed below).
• Be able to meet all marketing and artistic deadlines (see below).
• Be a legal resident of the United States (if you are not a legal US resident, contact Artistic Director Melanie Elvena at [email protected] to assess participation).

 
USAAF DOES NOT FUND

• Benefits and fundraisers.
• Events not open or accessible to the general public. 

 
LEVELS OF SUPPORT

This year's award categories and levels of support have been adapted with consideration of health and safety guidelines around public gatherings at this time. 

Click here to review the new award levels and the types of events that will be supported.

DEADLINE & SUBMISSION FORMAT

ALL SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE AT 11:59PM PST ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2021. No late submissions will be accepted. All files must be submitted through the online submission form.

If you have any problems with the submission form, please contact APICC's Artistic Director Melanie Elvena directly at [email protected]. No phone, post-mail, or in-person submissions will be accepted. Incomplete or incorrectly formatted submissions will also NOT be accepted.

Students and emerging artists are encouraged to apply.

APPLICATION CHECKLIST

It's recommended you draft your proposal on a separate document before submitting it through the application.

Click here to view a checklist of important items required to submit through the application.

IMPORTANT DATES

1:1 Application Workshops – Available until November 19, 2021 (sign up below)
Application Deadline – Monday, November 22, 2021 at 11:59PM PST
Artists Notified – Week of December 20, 2021

For selected producing artists:
Mandatory Orientation – Thursday, January 6, 2022
Contract Deadline – Thursday, January 6, 2022
Marketing Copy Deadline – Friday, February 25, 2022
Workshop Dates – January-March 2022 (Specific Dates TBD)
Festival Kick-Off – Friday, April 29, 2022 (Open to the public)

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED 

 
APPLICATION WORKSHOPS 

One-on-one application workshops were available by appointment via Calendly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays until November 19, 2021.