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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.

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As of Summer 2024, we have completed the in-house lighting and projection systems. We are still working finalizing installation of stage equipment, adding to necessary inventory for the media rooms, and furnishing our office and kitchen spaces. We look forward to welcoming everyone to our space and we continue to update our space.

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Land Acknowledgement This AIRMW arts hub is located on traditional, unceded homelands including the heart of the Bodewadmiakiwen (Potawatomi) Nation, as well as lands of the Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo), Myaamia (Miami), Oceti Sakowin (Sioux), and Peoria Nations. For time immemorial, the region has been a center for indigenous people to gather, trade, and maintain kinship ties. Most tribes were removed to states including Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and other western states. Chicago, due to the 1956 Indian Relocation Act removing tribal members from their tribal lands to cities, is now a city with one of the largest urban American Indian communities in the United States. Members of this community (representing 175 tribes) continue to contribute to the life of this city and to celebrate their heritage, practice traditions, and care for the land and waterways. We embrace our commitment to Indigenous rights, racial justice, and cultural equity.

The Dojo Project sponsored in part by the Chicago Cultural Treasures Grant by IFF

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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.

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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.

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If you would like to contribute to help our move, or our ongoing and future organizational activities, you can make a tax-deductible donation below:

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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. 

– Behind the Scenes –

When we bought the building it was mostly unfinished, so we have installed doors, windows, electricity, plumbing, HVAC system, and more for our move. Take a look at the development of our space below. We continue to update the interior as we begin to make this building our home and community hub.

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