To everyday passersby, the red brick building at 831 Chicago Ave. may not stand out. Standing at just two stories tall with a modest exterior, the abandoned property seems like any other vacant building.
But, Melissa Raman Molitor, the founder and director of Evanston Asian, South Asian and Pacific Islander Americans, has a vision — an Asian American Art and Cultural Center.
“We want a place dedicated to the research, preservation, celebration and creation of Asian American history, art and culture, and that building is perfect for it,” Molitor said.
Although Evanston ASPA has not yet secured the property, Molitor said she is determined to bring the concept to fruition.
If successful, the center — a space that would celebrate all Asian, South Asian and Pacific Islander American ethnicities across generations — would be the first of its kind in the Midwest, Molitor said.
“We have a lot of Asian cultural institutions in the region, but they’re ethnicity-specific,” said Molitor, who is Filipina-Indian American. “With this center, we want it to reflect our community, and our community is an umbrella of many different Asian cultures and ethnicities.”
According to Molitor, efforts to put the center in motion started over a year ago.
The rise in anti-Asian hate at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic was a “wake-up call,” she said.
“There was this realization that there is zero representation in the community where 10% of Evanstonians identify as Asian American,” Molitor said. “It became important for us to claim space in the city.”
Early months of planning were focused on community surveys and discussions with Evanston stakeholders, Molitor said. From early 2022 to late 2023, she led a proposal in the participatory budgeting pilot, though her proposal did not receive funding from the program.
In the midst of that process, Molitor enlisted the support of Josina Morita, the Cook County Commissioner for the 13th…
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