CAM’s Vision Statement:

The Chinese American Museum hopes to become a primary educational resource for the diverse communities of Los Angeles through our exhibits and educational programming. We aim to further strengthen and expand our community partnerships and collaborations to ensure that our programs are reflective of our entire community. Through the quality of our exhibits, programming, and community partnerships, we will become a nationally recognized, leading museum.

CAM’s Objectives:

• To present exhibits on Chinese Americans illustrating their rich culture and heritage;
• To define and interpret their role in establishing the California community;
• To provide educational programs to the visiting public and to schools;
• To collect and curate historical to contemporary arts, documents, images, and artifacts; and
• To serve as a research center on the 150-year Chinese American experience in California.

Museum Site:

CAM is housed inside the oldest surviving Chinese buildings in Southern California—the Garnier Building and an adjacent historic structure (425 North Los Angeles Street). The Museum site stands inside El Pueblo Monument, a 44-acre public park located at the City’s “birthplace” in downtown Los Angeles.

Organizational Background:

The Museum is jointly developed and operated by the Friends of the Chinese American Museum (FCAM) and El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument (El Pueblo), a department of the City of Los Angeles. FCAM is an educational, charitable, nonprofit corporation serving as the support group and community link for the Museum. It consists of a 25-member Board of Directors and is headed by Board President, Terry R. Loo.

Audience:

The central location of El Pueblo places CAM before a vast and diverse audience. This popular city park annually hosts 1.5 million tourists from Southern California and from all over the world. Of the visitors who come each day, one-third are local school children on field trips. During 2000, El Pueblo hosted student visits from over 103 elementary, middle, and high schools from the Greater Los Angeles area. In addition, during February 2002, the Museum’s First Annual Lantern Festival drew a crowd of 10,000 persons for the entire day. CAM is committed to using its prime location to provide events and programs for its diverse ethnic, cultural, and geographic audiences, especially within Southern California.

Previous Exhibitions:

James Wong Howe (1992); Early Chinese American Community in Los Angeles (1993); Brushstrokes of Old Chinatown (1994); Los Angeles Chinese American Veterans of World War II (1995); Gold Mountain Families: Discovering Chinese American Roots (1996); Portraits and Voices (1997); From Hearth to Heaven: Chinatown Living (1999); Chinese Americans in San Gabriel Valley (1999-2000); and Inspiring Lines: Chinese American Pioneers in the Commercial Arts (2001-2002).

Activities/Programming/Services

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