DOJO PROJECT
Welcome to the AIRMW Cultural Hub!
AIRMW is delighted to share that we now own a permanent home at 4875 N. Elston in the North Mayfield neighborhood. In February 2023 we officially opened to the public and have since been hosting our in-house rehearsals, affiliate programming, and performances.
As of February 2024, we have mostly completed the stage lights, in-house sound and lighting systems. We are still working finalizing install on some equipment for the stage, media rooms, and office spaces; but look forward to welcoming everyone to our space and we continue to update the AIRMW building.
The Dojo Project sponsored in part by the Chicago Cultural Treasures Grant by IFF
At AIRMW our mission is to build a vital, self-empowered Asian American community in the Chicago area by maintaining traditional practices and recontextualizing them within the contemporary arts landscape—keeping traditions alive while informing new works with an underlying artistic value. As we consider the sustainability of our organization and cultural mission, we began our Dojo Project Campaign to officially fund our move to a new space in 2019. We envision our new space to be not only AIRMW’s foundational base but as an art center that can support other smaller organizations, projects and individual artists within the Chicagoland community. We are looking to create a small black-box theatre space to support performances and productions of AIRMW and by other artists and organizations within the community.
We would like to thank our early fundraising donors, dedicated organization members who shape our programs, community supporters, and the Chicago Cultural Treasures Grant by IFF for making this dream possible. We could not have done it without your investment and support.
Campaign
Asian Improv aRts Midwest is a registered 501(c)3 organization
February 2023: Soft Opening!
On February 24 & 26, AIRMW hosted a two-day private celebration at our new arts hub at 4875 N. Elston. Our very first event at the space included a warm welcome from the Pulaski Elston Business Association and local Alderman, support from the Consul-General of Japan, our affiliates from the West Coast, and concluded with a traditional kagami-biraki ritual.
