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AARC Senior and Staff Artchiving Exhibit AARC Senior + Staff ARTchiving is organized by Van Doan, Miranda de la Rea, Jin Kim, and Sharon Tong with the AARC Senior Program, Quinn In and Sraavya Chintalapati with the AARC’s exhibit program, and Akiko Kodama, Jane Wu, Marina Islas, and Jacqueline Smith-Francis with the Austin History Center.

About the Exhibit:

Senior + Staff ARTchiving centers the stories and voices of seniors and staff members at the Asian American Resource Center (AARC) who make it an intergenerational space of belonging and healing. The project not only aims to showcase the personal and family histories of each of these community members but also their personhood.

This exhibit was made possible and in conversation with the Asian American Community Archivist Program at the Austin History Center (AHC) and the Senior and Exhibits Programs at the AARC. The project began in 2019 to bring greater visibility to seniors part of the center’s Senior Program who can often be silenced and ignored. The project later expanded to include the perspectives and stories of AARC staff members from various ages who play a key role in creating spaces of belonging and healing for Asian American communities in Austin at the center.

Senior and Staff Artchiving Exhibit: Senior Entry, Images Courtesy of the Artist.

Each frame includes archived photos of objects or memories important to AARC seniors and staff members, providing glimpses into specific moments in their and their families’ lives. These pictures are accompanied by a caption written by the seniors and staff members, describing their interpretation of the stories behind these artifacts. Lastly, the frames feature collages created by each senior and staff member from different materials that illustrate the colors, textures, images, and emotions they attribute to these narratives. Through its visual, descriptive, and creative elements, Senior + Staff ARTchiving not only highlights the AARC seniors and staff members’ understandings of their personal and family histories, but reveals parts of their humanity as well.

Senior and Staff Artchiving Exhibit: Staff Entry, Images Courtesy of the Artist.

AARC Senior + Staff ARTchiving is organized by Van Doan, Miranda de la Rea, Jin Kim, and Sharon Tong with the AARC Senior Program, Quinn In and Sraavya Chintalapati with the AARC’s exhibit program, and Akiko Kodama, Jane Wu, Marina Islas, and Jacqueline Smith-Francis with the Austin History Center.

Senior and Staff Artchiving Exhibit: Staff Entry, Images Courtesy of the Artist.
Senior and Staff Artchiving Exhibit: Staff and Senior Entries, Images Courtesy of the Artists.