Terry Evans, “,” archival inkjet print on Hahnamuhle paper, paper size 13 x 15 inches, image size 12 x 12 inches. All images courtesy of CAAU
Following a horrifying number of in recent months, a group of artists and activists in Chicago have teamed up for an ongoing fundraiser, . The artwork and book sale is organized by (CAAU) and launched last week with a wave of support—many of the pieces sold within the first day—with proceeds going toward , an organization that’s been hosting bystander training and other advocacy and civic engagement endeavors as a way to build racial equity.
CAAU director and co-founder tells Colossal that the fundraiser and broader organization grew organically from a network of artists and art writers who had been in conversation prior to uniting formally. “We’ve long been affected by anti-Asian sentiment, both the recent spike, its consistent regularity throughout our lives, and historically—but after the Atlanta shootings some of us got together and decided to mobilize our collective art networks and practices to try to make a direct impact,” he says.
Drawing on the experiences of its sibling organization , CAAU solicited 137 donations from 79 contributors, an unexpected outpouring of support that Bae says quickly raised the fundraising goal from $5,000 to $15,000. “Chicago art communities responded with a lot of love. Our friends and allies, too, are very sick and tired of hate and were happy to support us,” he shares.
Art Advancing Justice coincides with Asian Pacific American Heritage month and runs through May 22. Shop available pieces on the , and follow the organization on to stay up-to-date with its efforts, which include plans to partner again with Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago and other activist projects focused on building anti-racist communities.
Ali Aschman, “” (2020), graphite on paper, 16.5 x 23 inches
Kimberly Kim, “” (2021), glazed stoneware, two objects, each 3 x 5 x 5 inches
Ellen Rothenberg, “” (2008), signed silkscreen poster with a personal dedication, 18 x 24 inches
Hana Jiang, “” (2019), woodcut print on rice paper, 11 x 14 inches
Megan R. Diddie, “” (2017), colored pencil on paper, 8 x 11 inches
Hương Ngô, “” (2016-2017), hectograph, 24 x 19 inches