Ford Foundation Awards MOCA $3 Million In 'America's Cultural Treasures' Initiative

The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) is gratified to announce that it has been named one of 20 "America's Cultural Treasures" through an extraordinary initiative led by the Ford Foundation in partnership with other leading U.S. foundations and philanthropists, and that MOCA has been awarded a grant of $3 million which will be distributed over four years to provide much-needed support to ensure MOCA's continued sustainability.

As an "America's Cultural Treasures" grant recipient, MOCA will use these funds to not only aid in the recovery and resilience of its operations during COVID-19 but as a source of funds to stabilize general operations as MOCA continues to serve as an inspiring leader, bold pioneer, and transnational anchor contributing to the diversity and richness of the American narrative.

MOCA is excited to build on Ford's designation to broaden the dialogue with MOCA's fellow awardees to advance historically marginalized narratives and build coalition to ensure our part in redefining the American narrative.

"Ford's leadership gift is not just a much-needed funding allocation, it is the gift of a new arts and cultural paradigm in America-one that looks at untold stories, forgotten histories, remarkable contributions, missed celebrations. At a time of public health crises, political volatility, and economic uncertainty that have contributed to anti-Asian racism, there is an urgent need for MOCA's work now more than ever," said Nancy Yao Maasbach, President of the Museum of Chinese in America.

Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation said, "These organizations represent the very highest ideals of artistic excellence and are truly America's cultural treasures."

Accredited journalists are invited to attend a Press Briefing via Zoom on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2020 from 11 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. EDT with Nancy Yao Maasbach, President of the Museum of Chinese in America, who will make a statement and several special announcements with Q&A afterwards.

Journalists should register on Zoom at:
https://mocanyc-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpduGrrTwsGd0jOu2a0Rig5S2tpASgZVdJ

This transformative gift comes in a year when MOCA's resilience has been tested by a five-alarm fire on January 23, 2020 at MOCA's Collections and Research Center that has left its archives of nearly 200 years of irreplaceable Chinese American history in need of years of repair, rehousing, and conservation; over 2,000 reports of hate crimes against Asian American Pacific Islanders and Asians; xenophobia coupled with the coronavirus pandemic that together have crippled the neighborhood economies of Chinatowns nationwide; a substantial loss of revenue from the Museum's shuttered operations due to COVID-19; and fraught U.S.-China relations and its impact on people of Chinese descent in America.

Founded in 1980, MOCA has been telling the untold stories in the making of America through the lens of the Chinese immigrant and Chinese American experience for over 40 years. MOCA's Collections comprise more than 85,000 artifacts, making it the largest organization in the U.S. dedicated to Chinese American history with an in-house collection. MOCA welcomes over 50,000 visitors annually and reaches over 4 million unique users annually through its social media platforms.

Since the closure of its physical site on March 15, 2020, MOCA has successfully pivoted to providing its curatorial, collections, and educational content via digital, online, social media and live-streaming. It has continued its community outreach and hosted over 100 no-fee live virtual programs and talks, with an average of 200 registrants for every program. MOCA recently has launched new monthly virtual programs such as the MOCA Spotlight series featuring intimate, off-the-record conversations with Chinese American icons and MOCA Treasures on the Road where guests present their distinct artifacts, antiques, and collectibles and the stories behind those items while engaged in conversation with an expert scholar.

The Ford Foundation's selection of MOCA as an America's Cultural Treasures grant recipient, and Ford's ongoing dedication and thought partnership with MOCA provides encouragement and validation of MOCA's vision to be a permanent, national anchor for the American narrative through the telling of Chinese American journeys.

"America's Cultural Treasures" is a two-pronged national and regional initiative that has raised more than $156 million from 16 major donors and foundations to support Black, Latinx, Asian, and Indigenous arts organizations in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has devastated America's arts and cultural landscape. The funding includes $85 million from the proceeds of the Ford Foundation's historic social bond offering announced earlier this year.

MOCA's grant is allocated from the national component of the initiative that will award a total of $81 million, comprising $50 million from the Ford Foundation and additional support from five other donors: Abrams Foundation, Alice L. Walton Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Tom and Lisa Blumenthal, and Barbara and Amos Hostetter, to 20 national organizations.