EXHIBITIONS______VISIT______COLLECTIONS______SUPPORT rrrrrrrr CONTACT

Per the Tier 3 mitigations issued by our Governor JB Pritzker the Chinese American Museum of Chicago (CAMOC), has been closed since Friday, November 20, until further notice. Our staff is working remotely, and is available to answer any questions by email.

We have to close our Museum again! Nobody wanted to see this from happening again but it did. Since we reopened our door on July 1 after the first closure, we have already been facing stiff financial challenges. Now, times are even more difficult ahead.

We just sent out our year-end appeal letters via mail and email to CAMOC (Chinese American Museum of Chicago) community. Here is a copy of the letter. Our year-end goal is to raise $25,000. I hope you can support us during these difficult times. Your donation, however big or small, will really go a long way and help us to keep afloat. Some of our board members already pledged to match dollar to dollar up to $500 donations not from the board received through the end of the year through our year-end appeal. Kudos to Mabel Menard, Ed Jung, Mark Chiang, John Rohsenow and Andrea Stamm for taking the lead in pledging to match.

We also participated in #GivingTuesday campaign which is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. This campaign falls on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving each year. This year it is on December 1, 2020 which is tomorrow. Giving Tuesday is the perfect day to donate money to a cause you believe in. Please choose CAMOC when you make a donation on their website. Thank you in advance.

Ben Lau

Executive Director

We have relied on the generous donation of members and donors like you to fund our exhibitions and public programs but have encountered serious setbacks due to COVID-19. We now need your support more than ever. Your generosity will allow us to host exhibitions and public programs to help us inspire the next generation of young people to take on a greater role in their communities to promote education and cultivation of the Chinese American culture. This action helps to define and strengthen our communities.

CAMOC Partners with AARP for "Faces of Care" Photo Mural with Coverage by ABC7

November is National Family Caregivers Month! We partnered with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) to showcase a photo mural of local Chinatown seniors and their caregivers. ABC7's talk show Windy City Live featured the project and the Chicago Sun-Times published a full spread with the portraits in the newspaper. Thank you photographer Peter Tsai and AARP's Monika Wnuk for installing these meaningful portraits of our community on our Museum walls! Stop by this month and see the work in person. You can find a list of all 6 of the mural sites around the city here.

Thank you to those who joined us for last month's panel discussion: Honor and Duty: The Chinese American WWII Veterans. Thank you to veterans Fang A. Wong and Frank Shirer, author E. Samantha Cheng, and ED Ben Lau for moderating the discussion!

If you were not able to attend the event, you can view a recording of the event below on the Museum's YouTube channel.

People love us on Yelp! This month, the Museum received congratulations from Yelp for being one of the most highly rated and best reviewed businesses in our area. Thank you for your many visits and reviews over the years. We couldn't have done it without you and we hope to see you soon!

You can now find CAMOC on ViMuseo, a worldwide museum search engine, along with thousands of other museums. We have also added coverage of our temporary exhibit Attic Treasures II. We are excited to be able to connect with the more than two billion potential museum visitors around the world to share about Chinese American history!

Chinatown Museum Foundation, which governs the Chinese American Museum of Chicago, is forming an Associate Board with the purpose of generating new opportunities for the Museum, especially with programming for high school and college students and young professionals. All skill sets will be considered. If interested in serving on the Associate Board to expand the Museum's public programming and fundraising efforts, please email a letter of interest/cover letter with your resume/curriculum vitae to [email protected].

An old Chinese saying, 時勢造英雄 (Shíshì zào yīngxióng ), which means a hero is made in the time of misfortune aptly describes how people rally together in the pandemic. During this challenging time we are deeply moved by the proactive steps and incredible acts of generosity and support exhibited by the Chinese Americans. Thousands of individuals and organizations have been raising money, donating personal protective equipment, and providing free meals to those in need, especially to front-line healthcare workers and others. CAMOC is inviting you to help us preserve these heroic moments by sharing the stories to our Together Against Covid-19 Special Collection.

CAMOC started this special collection with the goal of recording the experiences and stories of individuals, families, and organizations during these unprecedented times. The Together Against Covid-19 Collection will include various forms of content, which can be photos, videos, articles, audios, letters, paintings, certificates, or any form you can think of. If you are not sure whether your content fits our collection or you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Please send your story to [email protected] , with the subject Together Against Covid-19 Collection. And please include your contact information , including full name, organization or community if applicable, email, phone number, and mailing address.