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Pao Arts Center was established in 2017 as a visionary program collaboration between Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC) and Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) as Chinatown’s first arts and cultural center. Pao Arts Center’s mission is to celebrate and strengthen the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community of Chinatown and Greater Boston through access to culturally relevant art, education, and creative programs. Pao Arts Center sits on a historically significant piece of land, Parcel 24, where hundreds of Chinatown residents were displaced in the 1960s in order to build a highway on-ramp. The redevelopment of this land as a place to celebrate and explore Asian culture represents a powerful shift towards community-oriented development in the face of gentrification and the belief that investing in arts, culture, and creativity are vital to the health, well-being, and vibrancy of communities.

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate and support the Closing Community Celebration for our “Tracing Our Footp...
10/23/2026

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate and support the Closing Community Celebration for our “Tracing Our Footprints/Carving Chinatown’s Future” exhibit on 10/17!

The Closing Community Celebration brought to life the goals outlined in Chinatown’s Cultural Plan, and we are delighted to see so many people come together to celebrate history and learn how to carve a better future for Chinatown through joy, family, and community.

Thank you to the exhibit curator, Ananth Udupa; activity designers Northeastern Anti-Displacement Studio, Amanda Beard Garcia, Nell Valle, Yuko Okabe, and Copenger; and our partners, Asian Community Development Corporation, Chinatown Community Land Trust, and Rose Kennedy Greenway.

A special shout-out to our volunteers and all the community members who helped bring everyone together to celebrate art and history. We are also grateful for the generous support of Tufts Medicine – Tufts Medical Center.

Read more about the Closing Community Celebration: https://www.paoartscenter.org/news/tracing-closing
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Next month - we are welcoming some ghouls to Pao Arts Center. You don't want to miss the spooky stories and haunting fol...
10/22/2026

Next month - we are welcoming some ghouls to Pao Arts Center. You don't want to miss the spooky stories and haunting folky melodies of . 👻⚰️
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Legend has it that Omen Roy arrived in America from Taishan, China in the mid-1800s as a railroad worker and never left. Nearly two centuries later, he still wanders the American landscape, using music and necromancy to summon forgotten stories buried beneath the American dream.

On November 20, Omen Roy and the Undead bring their necromancy show to Pao Arts Center for a 60-minute theatrical experience where Americana concert, musical theater, and multimedia collide.

Omen Roy and the Undead resurrect the voices of Asian immigrants whose stories have too often been left out of Americana: railroad workers, laborers, lovers, rebels, and survivors whose dreams helped build the country while history forgot their names. Drawing from classic Americana while twisting it into something gothic, surreal, and contemporary, the show asks: Who gets to belong in the American story?

📅Friday, November 20, 7:00 PM

Register today: https://www.paoartscenter.org/events/2026/omenroy

Wow! The list of artists and activities for the "Tracing Our Footprints/Carving Chinatown's Future" Community Closing Ce...
10/15/2026

Wow! The list of artists and activities for the "Tracing Our Footprints/Carving Chinatown's Future" Community Closing Celebration on Saturday, October 17, at 2 PM keeps growing.

Pao Arts Center’s current Artist-In-Residence Amanda Beard Garcia will be at the Community Closing Celebration to share more about her project on Boston Chinatown’s family restaurant legacy. You’ll also get the chance to create your own paper plum blossoms to contribute to a collective tree, which will ask you to consider your own relationships to history, elders, and the neighborhood.


Community Closing Celebration

Date: Saturday, October 17

Time: 2:00–4:00 PM

RSVP through our website at https://www.paoartscenter.org/events/2026/tracing-closing

Light refreshments and Mandarin and Cantonese interpretation will be provided
Closing Community Celebration Lead Sponsor: Tufts Medicine – Tufts Medical Center

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Join us in celebrating the opening of "Emerging from Rupture: Chinese Adoptee Voices" on Thursday, November 12, from 6:0...
10/15/2026

Join us in celebrating the opening of "Emerging from Rupture: Chinese Adoptee Voices" on Thursday, November 12, from 6:00-8:00 PM. This exhibition is one of the first to feature solely Chinese adoptee artists raised in the United States.

The curator will be joined by many of the exhibiting artists, who will each share a peek into their artmaking process and journey. RSVP through the link in bio.

Graphic design by Dana Balletta

Lead sponsor: Tufts Medicine - Tufts Medical Center @
Partner: CCI

This exhibit is part of Building, Belonging, and Becoming, a narrative change program for AANHPIs around Massachusetts. This program is part of the AAPI Arts & Culture Collaborative, a key initiative of The Asian Community Fund at the Boston Foundation.

A few spots remain for our October brush painting class happening this Saturday, October 17 at 2pm. Spend the afternoon ...
10/14/2026

A few spots remain for our October brush painting class happening this Saturday, October 17 at 2pm.

Spend the afternoon learning from master artist Xiaoyong Liu and learn the techniques of this traditional art style in our popular workshop series.

In this session, we will explore the elegance and power of horses.

Class size is limited to 16 to ensure time for individual attention from Mr. Liu. The class is conducted in Mandarin with English-language support.

$30 a class. All supplies will be provided.

https://www.paoartscenter.org/events/2026/octbrush

☔While Experience Chinatown was rained out a few weeks ago, we’re bringing our artists activities to Pao Arts Center dur...
10/13/2026

☔While Experience Chinatown was rained out a few weeks ago, we’re bringing our artists activities to Pao Arts Center during our Closing Community Celebration on Saturday, October 17, 2:00 – 4:00 PM.🔆

🎨Discover our murals with a family-friendly scavenger hunt available in Chinese and English designed by artists Nell Valle! Win a prize if you complete the hunt!
🪡Contribute to a community quilt with an activity designed by Copenger (photo credit Russell Laman)
🥬Create your own friendly veggie steamer basket designed by artist Yuko Okabe.

Be sure to register! Light refreshments, and Mandarin and Cantonese interpretation will be provided.

https://www.paoartscenter.org/events/2026/tracing-closing
Community Closing Celebration
Date: Saturday, October 17
Time: 2:00 – 4:00 PM

Closing Community Celebration Lead Sponsor: Tufts Medicine – Tufts Medical Center

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We’re working with Northeastern’s Anti-displacement Studio for our closing event on October 17th. Students, under the d...
10/12/2026

We’re working with Northeastern’s Anti-displacement Studio for our closing event on October 17th. Students, under the direction of Lily Song, have been meeting with community partners to conceive and execute 6 activities that uplift priorities from the Chinatown Cultural Plan. You won’t want to miss the interactive, creative ways we come together to explore how arts and creativity can preserve Chinatown for generations to come.

Be sure to register through the link in our bio and learn more about Chinatown through activities. Light refreshments, and Mandarin and Cantonese interpretation will be provided.

Community Closing Celebration
Date: Saturday, October 17
Time: 2:00 – 4:00 PM
Closing Community Celebration Lead Sponsor: Tufts Medicine – Tufts Medical Center.

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🎨 We are pleased to welcome Olivia Schnock (she/her), a fourth-year Communication Design student at Massachusetts Colleg...
10/08/2026

🎨 We are pleased to welcome Olivia Schnock (she/her), a fourth-year Communication Design student at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, to Pao Arts Center as a communications intern!

Olivia will work with our team on both marketing and graphic design, creating promotional materials for our exhibits, including posters, newsletters, and social media content. She is excited to join a community-based effort to learn about and preserve the culture she grew up in, while gaining real professional experience in her field of study.

Olivia's internship is a collaboration with MassArt CACP’s PartnershipWORKS program.

Swipe to see some of the thoughts Olivia shared about our current exhibit, "Tracing Our Footprints/Carving Chinatown's Future," which closes 10/17. All are welcome to join us for the closing ceremony!"

🎓 Introducing Carlos Del Cañal Fernández (he/him), our Tisch Scholar!Carlos is a sophomore at Tufts University, where he...
10/07/2026

🎓 Introducing Carlos Del Cañal Fernández (he/him), our Tisch Scholar!

Carlos is a sophomore at Tufts University, where he studies International Relations and Spanish Literature with a minor in Art History and Architecture. His internship is a collaboration with the Tisch Scholar Program at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life.

Over the next year, Carlos will work with our team to assist with exhibition planning and support communication among partner institutions, artists, and community members.

Carlos is particularly excited to learn about the intersection of public arts programming and civic engagement. Coming from an immigrant family, he looks forward to working alongside Pao Arts Center to promote art from immigrant communities and strengthen AAPI voices in Chinatown and the greater Boston area.

Swipe to see some of the thoughts Carlos shared about our current exhibit, "Tracing Our Footprints/Carving Chinatown's Future," which closes 10/17. He strongly encourages everyone to come see it before it ends, and all are welcome to join us for the closing ceremony!

Thank you to Tufts Medicine – Tufts Medical Center for being a Lead Sponsor for our Closing Community Celebration. Becau...
10/07/2026

Thank you to Tufts Medicine – Tufts Medical Center for being a Lead Sponsor for our Closing Community Celebration. Because of their support, we are delighted to bring a day of uplifting activities that highlight Boston Chinatown’s history through the storytelling of art. Make sure to come to Pao Arts Center on October 17th for the celebration.

Community Closing Celebration
Date: Saturday, October 17
Time: 2:00 – 4:00 PM

RSVP today: https://www.paoartscenter.org/events/2026/tracing-closing

Light refreshments and Mandarin and Cantonese interpretation will be provided.

Address

99 Albany Street
Boston, MA
02111

Opening Hours

Wednesday 1pm - 5pm
Thursday 1pm - 6pm
Friday 1pm - 5pm
Saturday 1pm - 5pm

Telephone

+16178639080

Website

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