STANFORD, CA.- The Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University has announced the promotion of Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander to the position of Robert M. and Ruth L. Halperin Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, and the appointment of Kathryn Cua as the Curatorial Assistant for the Cantor’s Asian American Art Initiative (AAAI)—a cross-disciplinary, institutional commitment at Stanford University dedicated to the study of artists and makers of Asian descent co-founded by Alexander. Both Alexander’s promotion and Cua’s new permanent position demonstrate Cantor's commitment to supporting the AAAI and its mission to support Asian American artists and artists of the Asian diaspora, while fostering new scholarship in this field.

John and Jill Freidenrich Director Veronica Roberts says of the appointments: “We are proud to promote Aleesa for the incredible contributions she has made to the Cantor and in recognition of her important curatorial voice. Through co-founding the Asian American Art Initiative, she has significantly expanded our collection and has helped establish the museum as the leading academic and curatorial center of this understudied field. Kathryn Cua’s academic achievements and passion for museums make her the perfect candidate to help further realize the Initiative’s vision. This position allows us to deepen our commitment to Asian American art and to foster the next generation of curators and scholars focused on this growing area of study.”

Since joining the Cantor in 2018, Alexander has curated such hallmark exhibitions as The Medium Is the Message: Art since 1950 (Feb. 23, 2019 – ongoing); The Faces of Ruth Asawa (July 2022 – ongoing), which served as the inaugural exhibition of the AAAI; and the major survey East of the Pacific: Making Histories of Asian American Art (Sept. 28, 2022 – Feb. 12, 2023), which foregrounded Asian diasporic artists from 1860 to the present that have long been excluded by mainstream art institutions. Through co-founding the AAAI with assistant professor of art history Marci Kwon, Alexander has worked to transform the Cantor into a preeminent institution for the collection, display, and study of Asian American/Asian diasporic art in the United States. Cultivating relationships with community members, donors, artist estates, and living artists, Alexander has helped build the museum’s growing collection of Asian American art, which is now one of the best in the United States. Alexander has contributed to multiple exhibition catalogs and publications, most recently writing about Ruth Asawa, Dominique Fung, and the role of university art museums. In 2021, she co-edited, with Kwon, an “In the Round” section on Asian American art for Panorama: Journal of the Association for Historians of American Art, where she also serves on the advisory board. She has been invited to present her research widely and her scholarship has been supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design, and the American Craft Council. Born in Bangkok, Thailand, Alexander grew up between that city and others in the Pacific Northwest. A first generation college graduate, she received her Ph.D. in art history from the University of California, Santa Barbara, studying under feminist contemporary art historian Jenni Sorkin.

Alexander says: “I am honored to take on my new role at Cantor and further the AAAI’s mission to champion work by Asian American and Asian diasporic artists. As the Bay Area has served as a longtime locus of the Asian American community in the United States—and the place where the term “Asian American” first originated—the Cantor is uniquely positioned to engage and preserve these histories. By advocating for the work by Asian American and Asian diasporic artists through the AAAI, and fostering long-term relationships in the region and beyond, I hope to fundamentally change the identity of this museum, and support those artists and narratives that have long been overlooked. Alongside my colleague, Marci Kwon, and Director Veronica Roberts, we’re doing just that through hundreds of significant acquisitions, an exciting exhibitions program, and so much more. We’re only getting started.”

Kathryn Cua’s professional experience in the arts spans curatorial work, development, arts administration, and communications. In her new role as Curatorial Assistant, Cua will support the museum's collection, exhibitions, acquisitions, publications, public programs, and campus engagement as they relate to the AAAI. Her graduate study and thesis entitled halo-halo: Forging a Politics of Transfiguration in Filipinx-American Art explores ideas central to the AAAI, specifically the subjectivity of Filipinx-Americans working in contemporary art in America. The project aims to redress the oppressive knowledge about Filipinx people that is perpetrated and perpetuated by the U.S. colonial archive. Cua has worked in galleries and museums such as Sager Reeves Gallery in Columbia, Missouri; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri; and the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2019, Kat was selected to participate in the Lagos Biennial’s inaugural curatorial intensive in Nigeria. She will be joining the AAAI at the Cantor from the Department of Prints and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, assuming her new position at the end of June.

Cua adds: “I am honored to inaugurate this new curatorial position dedicated to supporting the Cantor’s Asian American Art Initiative. This is the perfect opportunity for me to continue my research and do work that is deeply personal and meaningful to me. I am grateful to be able to support Asian American art and artists through the AAAI, and I look forward to continuing the Initiative’s ambitious work and expanding its reach and influence within Stanford University and beyond.”

Installation view, East of the Pacific: Making Histories of Asian American Art, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, September 28, 2022–February 12, 2023. Photo credit: Johnna Arnold. Courtesy of Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University.

THE ASIAN AMERICAN ART INITIATIVE

Based at the Cantor Arts Center, the Asian American Art Initiative (AAAI) is dedicated to the study of artists and makers of Asian descent. Founded by Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander, Assistant Curator of American Art at the Cantor, and Marci Kwon, Assistant Professor of Art History at Stanford, and publicly launched in January 2021, the AAAI encompasses a range of activities, including: collecting and exhibiting works of Asian American and Asian diaspora artists; preserving archival materials; fostering undergraduate and graduate education; and cultivating community collaboration and dialogue through public programming.

The AAAI aims to establish Stanford as a leading academic and curatorial center for the study of Asian American and Asian diaspora artists. Rather than a discrete identity category, the AAAI approaches the term “Asian American” as a diverse and relational term that signifies the interplay of social inclusion, exclusion, and racialization, as well as connections among East, Southeast, and South Asia; the Pacific Islands; and the Americas. The AAAI strives to foster innovative, interdisciplinary research into the work by Asian American and Asian diaspora makers.