 The museum in 2015 | |
 | |
| Established | 1980 |
|---|---|
| Location | 215Centre Street New York, NY 10013 USA |
| Type | Art,Cultural,History museum |
| Director | Michael Lee |
| Curator | Herb Tam |
| Public transit access | Subway:Canal Street, 2 blocks away (         trains) |
| Website | www |
TheMuseum of Chinese in America (traditional Chinese:美國華人博物館;simplified Chinese:美国华人博物馆;pinyin:Měiguó Huárén Bówùguǎn;Jyutping:Mei5gwok3 Waa4jan4 Bok3mat6gun2; abbreviatedMOCA) is a museum inChinatown, Manhattan, New York City, which exhibitsChinese American history. It is anonprofit501(c)(3) education and cultural institution that presents the living history, heritage, culture, and diverse experiences of Chinese Americans through exhibitions, educational services and public programs. Much of its collection was damaged or destroyed in a fire in January 2020. The museum reopened to the public on July 15, 2021.[1][2] It has been criticized by some Chinatown residents due to concerns related togentrification.[3]
Founded in 1980 inManhattan's Chinatown, the museum began as the New York Chinatown History Project by historianJohn Kuo Wei Tchen and community resident and activist Charles Lai to promote understanding of theChinese American experience and to address the concern that "the memories and experiences of aging older generations would perish without oral history, photo documentation, research and collecting efforts."[4] From 1997 to 2006,Fay Chew Matsuda served as director of the museum.[5][6]
In 2005, the museum received part of a $20 million grant from theCarnegie Corporation, made possible through a donation by then-New York City mayorMichael Bloomberg.[7][8]
The museum moved to a new site at 215Centre Street in 2009.[9] The space was designed by architectMaya Lin and was six times as large as the old site.[10][11] The permanent exhibition,With a Single Step, was designed by Matter Practice.[12] In May 2011,Herb Tam became curator and director of exhibitions.[13]
In 2019, the museum relaunched their gift store with a new partner, the Asian American retail brandPearl River Mart. Called MOCA Shop by Pearl River, the store is a "curated collection of items that hold great meaning in Chinese American culture."[14] In the same year, the museum was awarded $35 million from New York City's broader $50 million disbursement toward community projects in Chinatown as part of a deal to allow the expansion of a jail there. The decision has been scrutinized by certain members of the Chinatown community, who have accused the museum of furtheringgentrification in the neighborhood. Subsequently, there were consistent protests from Chinatown residents and business owners, as well as several exhibited artists rescinding their artwork.[3]
In January 2020, a fire damaged the building at 70 Mulberry Street, where the museum's collection was held, with about 85,000 items potentially affected by water damage.[15][16][17] While it was initially believed that nearly all of them might have been lost, a substantial part was determined to be "very much salvageable" several days after the incident.[18] Around 35,000 items had been digitized and backed up before the fire.[18] Much of the collection was restored by disaster-relief specialists who worked to prevent mold growth and preserve structure.[19] After its closure for over a year, the museum reopened to the public on July 15, 2021.[1]
In 2022, it was announced that the museum would partner yet again with Maya Lin for another renovation "that will cost an estimated $118 million and nearly quintuple the institution's size, to about 68,000 square feet." Originally, the museum was intended to close at the end of 2023 to allow for construction through to a 2025 completion date.[20] However, such construction has been postponed in anticipation of a plan to raise and consolidate the necessary capital.[21]
In February 2024, the museum was able to purchase its main building at 215 Centre Street for $51.1 million.[22] In March, the museum's board chose Michael Lee to serve as a new director, replacingNancy Yao.[21] Later, in September, the museum announced its first-ever performing artist residency program that would run from October through February 2025.[23]
The core exhibitionWith a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America discusses over 160 years of Chinese American history and is augmented annually with two to four rotating exhibitions on thematic, historic, and artistic subjects.
The museum in January 2015 presentedWaves of Identity: 35 Years of Archiving.[24] The title of the exhibit was inspired by a Chinese proverb, "Each wave of the Yangtze River pushes at the wave ahead."[25]
Source:[26]
As of early 2020, MOCA's Collections and Research Center contained more than 85,000 artifacts, photos, memorabilia, documents, oral histories, and art work.[29] The collection covers a timespan of 160 years and includes e.g. historical Chinese restaurant menus, boat tickets, family photographs, and wedding dresses.[18]
The museum's previous gallery space on 70 Mulberry Street is used as an archival center and serves as a research center. The Research Center contains applications, such as Web-based versions of gallery exhibitions and an interactive timeline of Chinese American history. The center also provides resources on topics such as immigration and diversity.[30] The Research Center was damaged by fire in 2020.[15]
Special collections include:[31]
| Name of Collection | About Collection |
|---|---|
| Recovering Chinatown: The 9/11 Collection[31] | Recovering Chinatown: The9/11 Collection includes images, videos, oral history, brochures, posters, reports, books, scrapbooks, T-shirts, and other artworks that the museum began collecting shortly afterSeptember 11 attacks, which occurred near Chinatown. |
| Fly to Freedom Collection[31] | MOCA's Fly to Freedom Collection includes 173 paper sculptures created by passengers of the shipGolden Venture, which ran aground on June 6, 1993. Many of the nearly 300 passengers, most of whom were illegal immigrants from China, were held in detention by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, some for up to four years. Detainees created sculptures first as gifts to pro-bono lawyers who took up their cases, and later, to pass time during their days spent incarcerated. |
| Oral History Collection[31] | MOCA conducted approximately 350 interviews that make up its 7 oral history collections. The conducted between 1980 and 2013, documenting memories and narratives related to the Chinese American experience. |
| Marcella Dear Collection[31] | Donated in 2006 by a longtime museum supporter and area resident, the Marcella Chin Dear collection includes dozens of textiles, hundreds of imported books, numerous boxes of old records, posters, game sets, instruments, family photographs and letters, store signs, ceramics, pieces of furniture, and tools from the family's home and businesses. The Chin family had remained in Manhattan's Chinatown for five generations. |
| Qipao/Cheongsam Collection[31] | MOCA's firstqipao/cheongsam collection, donated by Pamela Chen, includes 77 Chinese dresses that were custom-tailored in the 1930s and 1940s and once owned by her mother, Phoebe Shou-Heng Chen (1917–1993). MOCA's second qipao/cheongsam collection, donated by Angela King and her sister Fern Tse, includes 367 family dresses. Angela King's mother was a fashion designer and was involved in the designs of her dresses, usually ordering specific requirements from China. MOCA donated 262 pieces from this collection to the New York Chinese Cultural Center in 2012. |
| Hazel Ying Lee Collection[31] | Comprising primary artifacts including original personal photographs, family letters, documents, newspaper articles, and memorabilia, the collection describesHazel Ying Lee's experience as a Chinese American woman aviator during the 1930s and 1940s. It was donated by Hazel's sister, Frances M. Tong, as well as filmmaker Alan H. Rosenberg. |
| CMTA Collection[31] | The Chinese Musical and Theatrical Association (CMTA) collection is composed of approximately 26 intricateopera costumes, 24 rare musical instruments, 20 pairs of shoes, 20 hats, 41 fabric samples, 6 shawls, 21 stage props, and numerous related documents. These items depict the Cantonese opera clubs in North America's Chinatowns from the 1930s to the present. These items also reveal how Chinese immigrants adapted opera to modern settings, as well as how opera clubs became culturally important to immigrants. |
At MOCA's 2015 Legacy Awards Gala, the museum honored several people and organizations for their roles in Chinese-American culture. Honorees were theC.V. Starr Scholars, Hong Kong-born American actorNancy Kwan, andKohn Pedersen Fox Associates founding design partner William C. Louie.[32]
2023 honorees included:[33]
2022 honorees included:[34]
2014 honorees included:[35]
2013 honorees included:[35]
2012 honorees included:[35]
2011 honorees included:[35]
2010 honorees included:[35]
2009 honorees included:[35]
Previous awardees:
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40°42′58″N73°59′58″W / 40.71611°N 73.99944°W /40.71611; -73.99944
