Executive Director's Corner
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I hope everyone is enjoying the rest of the Summer! Even though we had not had a lot of onsite activities, we had been busy collaborating with other organizations on community-based events.
As you can see, we are gearing up for Mid-Autumn Festival, a harvest festival celebrated in China and other East Asian countries on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. This year, Mid-Autumn Festival falls on September 24.
Also called the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, it is celebrated when the moon is believed to be the biggest and fullest, and mooncake is the main most characteristic festival food.
We have TWO events in September to celebrate this important festival, so please join us for fun and games, food, and of course, mooncakes!
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Each month we feature a board member, staff member, or volunteer in our Monthly Spotlight segment. This month, we present one of our newest staff members, Caili (Grace) Li.
Grace first came to the U.S. in 2005 and had studied English at Pui Tak Center for 6 years. She has experience working in different fields, from the fashion industry to the healthcare industry. She has been working as a Guest Services Associate for the museum since May 2018, and she uses her previous work experience to help with our Museum shop. Chances of meeting different people from all over the world is one of the main reasons she likes to work at the museum. She also enjoys learning about Chinese American immigration stories.
We asked Grace to share her story as a Chinese American immigrant:
“I was born and raised in China and have been living in the United States for 13 years. As a Chinese American immigrant, I feel related in many different ways to the stories in our exhibition on the second floor. It’s not an easy journey to move here and live here, I didn’t speak English when I came here and I had never thought that language could be such a difficulty. I have plenty of work experience and professional skills, but I can’t use them and I need to start from the basic job here because of the language. Gradually I understand the cultural differences and start a new life here with my family. At the same time I feel the importance of Chinese people letting the future generations learn Chinese culture because that’s our culture.”
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It was wonderful to have artist
Summer Lee
talk after the screening of "
Requiem
" about her personal journey about
Bone Boxes
and the significance of physical and spiritual repatriation of Chinese who died in the US during the time of the
Chinese Exclusion Act
.
Click
here
for more photos.
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Roots & Routes Initiative
and
Chinese American Museum of Chicago - Raymond B. & Jean T. Lee Center
would like to invite everyone to a special night out in a hidden gem along the lakefront!!
Saturday, September 15 at 5 PM-8 PM
Enjoy: Chinese Lantern Making, Community Planting, Storytelling.
Contact: rootsnroutes@fieldmuseum.org // 773-669-7404
Location:
31st STREET PARKING LOT, WEST OF LAKE SHORE DRIVE >>> ENTER THROUGH PARKING LOT WITH TALL FENCE, look for our tent and lanterns!
Set in Stone Gathering Space in the Burnham Wildlife Corridor
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Saturday, September 22 at 2 PM – 4 PM
Location:
Come celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with the Chinese American Museum of Chicago with music, food, storytelling, arts and craft, and more!
Also called the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, it is celebrated when the moon is believed to be the biggest and fullest, and mooncake is the main most characteristic festival food. Mid-Autumn Festival is a harvest festival celebrated in East Asian countries on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. This year, it falls on September 24, so let's get the festivities started early!
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T
his event is currently sold out. However, a waitlist is available. If you wish to attend, please put yourself on the waitlist and you will be notified if a spot opens.
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This September 23rd World Dumpling Fest returns to celebrate local and global culture, produced by the
Chicago Cultural Alliance
in collaboration with World Music Festival Chicago at Navy Pier’s Polk Bros Park Performance Lawns (600 E. Grand Ave.). The 2017 inaugural event was a monumental success with over 6,000 people in attendance at Millennium Park, selling out of dumplings in the first few hours.
We will have a booth demonstrating Chinese calligraphy and arts and crafts. Stop by while you're enjoying the music and sampling the different dumplings from various cuisines!
September 23, 2018
Navy Pier Polk Bros Park Performance Lawns
600 E Grand Avenue, Chicago, IL
1:00pm-7:30pm
All Ages
General Admission: FREE
3-Dumpling Tasting Pass: $10
9-Dumpling Tasting Pass: $25
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Saturday, September 29 at 2 PM – 4 PM
Location:
The neighborhoods that make up Chicago’s rich cultural landscape have been defined by the restaurants that anchor them. In Local Flavor, the popular food writer Jean Iversen chronicles eight beloved local eateries, from Chinatown on the South Side to Rogers Park in the far North, tracing the story of how they became neighborhood institutions.
Including recipes for popular dishes from each restaurant that readers can try at home, Local Flavor weaves together ethnography, family, and food history into a story that will enthrall both food and Chicago history lovers.
Come and hear about the restaurants that have shaped Chicago and especially Chinatown's Wow Kow Restaurant, which sadly closed in February this year.
Light refreshments to highlight Chinatown's diverse cuisines will be provided.
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Sunday, September 30 at 11:30 AM – 3 PM
Location:
The Chinese American Museum of Chicago premiered the Director’s Cut of “The Chinese Exclusion Act” in February and has since received numerous requests for an encore presentation.
In collaboration with the Chicago South Side Film Festival, we are very excited to bring you the theatrical release of this excellent documentary.
Light refreshments will start at 11:30, and the screening will begin at noon. The film lasts about two hours, after which filmmakers Ric Burns and Li-Shin Yu will join us via video for Q&A.
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It was good to see the friends we’ve all made come together to bid Consul General Hong Lei farewell.
Check out the photos (
here and
here)
and this
video
of Consul General Hong Lei demonstrating his multi-talents.
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August 25 was the last day for our intern Vivian Auduong
. She joined us in June to learn about the daily operations of a small nonprofit and had been very valuable with providing insight from a young person's perspective, especially in new ways to reach a wider and younger audience.
Vivian will be starting her freshman year at Stanford in September. We wish her all the best and know she will visit us from time to time when she is in town.
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The now permanent law allowing tax-free gifts from IRAs for those age 70½ and older makes it easier than ever to minimize the tax bite associated with IRA-required minimum distributions (RMDs). It’s a simple and highly effective way to reduce or eliminate the tax on income you are forced to take, but may not need. Start planning your tax-free IRA gift today!
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A transfer from your IRA to the Chinatown Museum Foundation (up to $100,000) counts toward your RMD, and no tax is due!
To qualify for the tax benefits associated with this type of gift, IRA owners must:
- Have reached a minimum age—at least 70½
- Instruct their IRA custodian to make a direct transfer from an IRA account to UIF
How much is your RMD?
If you are planning an IRA Charitable Rollover gift, we’ll be happy to help you explore the many ways you can make an impact at CMF and to assist you with transfer information.
Be sure to consult your tax and financial advisors when considering any planned gift.
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The mission of the Chinese American Museum of Chicago - Raymond B. & Jean T. Lee Center (CAMOC) is to promote the culture and history--through exhibitions, education, and research--of Chinese-Americans in the Midwest.
The museum building, formerly the Quong Yick Co., is located in Chicago's Chinatown, at 238 West 23rd Street in Chicago. The Museum opened to the public on May 21, 2005. After a devastating fire in September of 2008, the Museum was closed for renovation and reopened in 2010.
CAMOC is governed by the Board of Directors of the Chinatown Museum Foundation (CMF), a 501(C)(3) non-profit corporation located in Chicago, Illinois.
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