Art for the Community: A Short History of Basement Workshop in New York

Getting Started
Basement Workshop was started by a group of fellow urban planners and artists in 1971 on Elizabeth St. in New York Chinatown. It began with projects such as the Asian American Resource Center, which compiled information on Asian American communities, a magazine named Bridge, which was widely read, and a cultural publication called "Yellow Pearl."

A Part of the Movement and the Community
They started with furniture scavenged on the street in a tenement that probably didn't meet building codes. They raised money by holding fundraising events like benefit dance where they collected the guns from gang kids.

They networked with, argued with, and were inspired by groups such organizations as Yellow Brotherhood, Gidra Newspaper, Visual Communications in L.A. and Kearny Street Workshop, the International Hotel Support Committee, Asian American Theater Workshop and Japanese American Media Workshop in San Francisco. From the west coast artist and activists visited and stayed at Basement, just as Basement activists returned the favor.

The Basement started to seek funding, at first from cultural funders, and grew quickly. Basement was very loose and different artists pursued different interests, but they saw their art in the context of their communties. In 1973 Amerasia Creative Arts formed, which worked collectively on projects, programs and workshops. They shared and taught each other. They contributed to community issues by providing publicity materials, graphics and posters. One night, they screened 2,000 posters for a community wide demonstration against police brutality at City Hall. They did oral histories of senior citizens and to begin an old photograph collection. They also taught ESL and Citizenship classes, an afterschool Arts and Crafts program for forty children and a Neighborhood Youth Corps program in the summer with a staff of twelve youth workers administrating the program.

A Split
In late 1973 however members of the Workers Viewpoint Organization, a very destructive organization that affected many parts of the community, started to campaign against the leadership of basement to win control of the organization and its resources. Eventually Basement's four sites were divided.

For the Artists
After this difficult period, Basement began to develop its activities outside of Chinatown, primarily supporting Asian American artists. They began a gallery that would hold a citywide show a year. Basement organized a literature program and supported the Morita Dance Company. The Center for Educational Equity began under Basement. This center organized projects around questions of race, sex and class, including a girls' video project at the local junior high school. But because of the difficulties of maintaining an ethnic arts organization, Basement Workship eventually had to shut its doors.

Its Legacy
Basement endured until the late 1980's. Out of it came Asian American arts organizations that continued today including the New York Chinatown Museum and the Asian American Dance Theater. Artists like the Joanne Miyamoto, Frank Chin, and Jessica Haggedorn began their work at Basement. Out of its sweat and tears grew much of the Asian American arts community in New York.