Awards and Residencies
2022
Visionary Artist Award, Chinese Culture Center, San Francisco
2022-24 Artist Residency, CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, Creatives Rebuild Artist Employment Grant, Mellon Foundation
2022-23 Community Activator in Residence (CAIR) Immigrant Social Services NY
Robert Rauchenberg Foundation Award, Chinatown Art Brigade
2021 -24
Visiting Scholar, A/P/A Institute at NYU. Co-founder, A/P/A Voices: A Covid-19 Public Memory Project https://apavoices.org/
2020
Monument Lab 2020 Transnational Fellow
2019
Headlands Center for the Arts McLaughlin Award for Social Practice
Laundromat Project Create Change Residency, Chinatown Art Brigade
2018
(ex)Change public art commission, Asian Arts Initiative/Pew Foundation for the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Laundromat Project Create Change Fellowship, Chinatown Art Brigade
Magnum Foundation Project Development Grant
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Creative Engagement Grant, Chinatown Art Brigade
Fourth Arts Block (FABnyc) Storefront Residency, Chinatown Art Brigade
Visiting Scholar, NYU Asian Pacific American Studies Institute
2017
Wavehill Winter Residency, NY
Culture Push Fellowship for Utopian Practice, Chinatown Art Brigade
2016
National Lifetime Achievement Award, Women's Caucus for Art, presented at the National Museum of Women in the Arts
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Creative Engagement grant for "Here to Stay", a project of the Chinatown Art Brigade
A Blade of Grass 2016 Fellowship for Socially Engaged Art, Chinatown Art Brigade
Asian Women's Giving Circle, Women Arts & Progressive Social Change Grant for 'Here to Stay'
2013
Asian Women's Giving Circle Women, Arts and Activism grant for "Portraits of New York Chinatown Project"
Visiting Scholar, NYU Asian Pacific American Studies Institute
Puffin Foundation Award
2012
Professional Development Fellow, Creative Change Program, The Laundromat Project
2011
Visiting Artist, Bowdoin College, Maine, Marvin Bileck Printmaking Project
2010
2009
Asian Arts Alliance Honoree
Artist in Residence, Museum of Chinese in America
Artist Fellowship, Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, New York City
2008
Arts and Activism Grant from the Asian Women Giving Circle for collaborative exhibition entitled “The Archeology of Change: Mapping Tales of Gentrification in New York City’s Chinatown”. Sponsoring organization: The Museum of Chinese in America,
2007
Artist in Residence, Haveford College, PA
Urban Artists Initiative Grant, awarded by Asian American Arts Alliance and the NYFA
2006
Artist Residency, The Center for Book Arts
2005
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum Artist Residency to create a window installation for 97 Orchard Street and conduct a series of community workshops with ESOL students.
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Artists & Communities Residency Grant, sponsored by the Asian Arts Initiative, Philadelphia, PA.
2004
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Artists & Communities Residency, sponsored by CEPA, (The Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Art), Buffalo, NY
2003
Manhattan Community Arts Fund Grant to develop a BiCultural/BiRacial Profiling Survey, sponsored by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
2002
Women’s Studio Workshop Artist Residency Grant Six week residency to produce a portfolio of solar plate etchings entitled, “Momotaro/Peachboy”.
1999-2000
Artists & Communities: America Creates for the Millennium Artist Residency, three month residency sponsored by Self-Help Graphics, Los Angeles, CA. , through a grant from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and the NEA.
Longwood Cyber Residency, nine month artist residency sponsored by the Bronx Council on the Arts, with support from Verizon to create a Web project
1999
Women’s Studio Workshop 21 for 25 Visual Arts Grant
Asian Pacific American Studies Program Artist in Residence, one year residency at New York University,NY
1998
Phoenix Award , New York Asian Women’s Center, NYC
Anonymous Was A Woman Award 1997
Visiting Artist Fellowship, Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia, PA
1996
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Visual Arts Residency sponsored by Asian Arts Initiative, PA
1995
New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for Printmaking/Artists Books
1994
Joan Mitchell Foundation, Inc. 1994 Grant Award
Cathrine Boettcher Fellow for 1994, the MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH
Artist in Residence, Art in General, New York
National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artists Fellowship for Works on Paper
1993
New York Foundation for the Arts, Artist-in-Residence
1991
New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for Printmaking
Artist in Residence, Workspace Program, Dieu Donne Papermill
Studio Residency/National Studio Program, P.S. 1 Museum/Institute for Contemporary Art, NYC
Creative Time Citywide Grant, Memories of New York Chinatown Banner Project, NYC
1989
Artist in Residence, Cummington Community of the Arts, Cummington, MA
Artist in Residence, New York State Council on the Arts, sponsored by the New York Chinatown History Museum, NYC
1988
Artist in Residence, Avocet Silkscreen Workshop, Art Awareness, Lexington, NY
Artist in Residence, Special Editions Program, Lower East Side Printshop, NYC
1985
Artist Fellowship, The Printmaking Workshop, NYC
Public and Private Commissions
2017
(ex)Change:History Place Presence commissioned artwork for the Asian Arts Initiative 25th Anniversary sponsored by the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, Philadelphia
2014
‘Portraits of NY Chinatown”, commissioned artwork and installation for the Museum of Chinese in America, NY
2012-13
San Francisco Art Commission and the SF MTA: Public Art Commission to design and fabricate architectural glass artwork for the Central Chinatown Subway Station. Projected installation date: 2018.
2010
Smithsonian Institution: 5’ x 8’ Banners for the 2010 Folklife Festival, National Mall, Washington DC
2008
MTA Arts for Transit; Public art commission to design and fabricate faceted glass artwork for the landmark Pelham Parkway Station, White Plains Road Line, NYC. (Richard Dattner, Architect.)
2002
Asian Cinevision, commission to create commemorative artwork for the 25th Annual Asian American Film Festival held at the Asia Society, NY.
2001
Philadelphia Department of Recreation Mural Arts Program, public art commission to design and paint a 20' x 17' exterior mural for Philadelphia's Chinatown community
Riverside Church, public art commission to design and fabricate a 28’ etched glass mural memorializing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for the Martin Luther King Jr. Wing , 490 Riverside Drive, NYC
2000
San Francisco Art Commission, public art commission to develop a design proposal for an 800 square foot glass wall system; a streetscape improvement project for the Fillmore Street Bridge, sponsored by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency.
NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for Art Program, public art commission to design and fabricate a 60’ mosaic mural for the lobby of the new Children’s Center for the NYC Administration for Children’s Services, 29th and First Avenue, New York; Richard Dattner, Architects.
1998
The Cambridge Arts Council, public art commission to create a silkscreened mural for the lobby of the newly renovated Morse School, Cambridge, MA
Arizona Humanities Council, Phoenix, Arizona, commissioned portfoliio of prints, created in conjunction with “Transforming Barbed Wire” a project commemorating the forced internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation.
U.S. General Services Administration Art in Architecture Program, public art commissionto create a silkscreened mural for the Interior Memorialization of the African Burial Ground, Federal Office Building lobby, 290 Broadway, New York.
1997
NYC School Construction Authority, SITES for Students Program public art commission to design and fabricate a ceramic tile mural for the cafeteria of P.S. 217 Brooklyn, NY
1995
NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Per Cent for Art Program, public art commission to design and fabricate a terrazzo floor and glass block wall for the lobby of P.S. 130 Manhattan.
1993
Bread and Roses Cultural Project, Inc. commission to design a poster for Women of Hope: African American Poster Project, NY
1992
National Endowment for the Arts, Interarts grant for the design and installation of six silkscreened 45' long banners entitled ‘Remembering NY Chinatown”; a site-specific public work for the stairwell of a community center located at 70 Mulberry Street, NY.
Washington State Arts Commission, Art in Public Places Program, purchase for South Seattle Community College, the Stillwater Elementary School, and the Hawthorne Elementary School, Seattle, WA.
1991
National YWCA of the USA, commission to design and print silkscreens in an edition of 12, to be used as 1991 Racial Justice Awards, New York Headquarters.
Solo Exhibitions and Installations
2014
Portraits of NY Chinatown, Museum of Chinese in America, NY Curator: Herb Tam
2013
Tomie Arai:Tales from Home, Featured Artist Exhibition, Center for Book Arts, NY
2010
Tomie Arai: Finding Home, Princeton University Fields Center
2008
Tea/Time Recent Works by Tomie Arai, Lower East Side Printshop, NY
2007
Tomie Arai: Artist in Residence, Haverford College, Humanities Center Gallery
2005
Untelling: A Mid-Career Retrospective, CEPA Gallery, Buffalo. Curator: Millie Chen
2005
Re:mixed, a window installation for the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, NYC
2003
Urashima: An Installation by Tomie Arai; Conversations with the Permanent Collection Series, The Bronx Museum of the Arts
2003
Resident Aliens: A Collaborative Installation with Siddartha Joag, A/P/A Studies Gallery, NYU, official launch of website: BiCultural/BiRacial Profiling Survey.
2003
Stories from La Colonia China, The Caribbean Cultural Center, NYC
2002
Momotaro/Peach Boy, Center for Photography at Woodstock , NY
2001
Printed Matter, Asian Arts Initiative, Philadelphia, PA
2000
Selected Work, Galeria Otra Vez, Self Help Graphics & Art, Los Angeles, California
1999
Tomie Arai/New Work, Cheryl McGinness Gallery, NY.
1998
Momotaro/Peach Boy, Asian Pacific American Studies Institute Gallery, New York University, NYC (as part of an artist residency, 1997-98)
1998
Double Happiness, Bronx Museum of the Arts, NY. Curator: Lydia Yee
1997
The Kitchen, Collaborative installation with Millie Chen, Art in General, NY
1996
Evidence of Memory: Work by Tomie Arai and Lynne Yamamoto, Collaborative installation, Whitney Museum of American Art at Champion, Stamford, CT. Curator: Eugenie Tsai.
1996
The Way We Remember: Work by Tomie Arai, District 1199 Gallery, Bread And Roses Cultural Project, NY.
1995
There to Here: A Collaborative Installation with Lynne Yamamoto, Williams Center for the Arts, Lafayette College, Easton, PA. Curator: Michiko Okaya
1995
Tomie Arai: A Family Album, Augusta Savage Gallery, New Africa House, University of Mass.
1995
Tomie Arai: Stories, InterAmerican Art Gallery, Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, FL
1993
American Heirlooms: Selected Works, York College Gallery, York College, NY
1992
Framing an American Identity, Artists of Conscience Series, Alternative Museum, NY
1992
Shattered Images: Reflections on the Legacy of Pearl Harbor, December 7,1941-December 7, 1991, window installation, Washington Sq. Windows, Grey Art Gallery, NY. Curator: Tom Sokolowski
1992
Tomie Arai, Works on Paper: Memory and Celebration, Soho 20 Invitational Space, NY
1991
Women's Wheel, window installation, Art in General Gallery, NY. Curator: Holly Block
1989
Memory-in-Progress: Silkscreen Prints by Tomie Arai, NY Chinatown History Museum, NYC
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019
What is Here is Open: Selections from the Treasures of the Trash Collection, Hunter East Harlem Gallery, NYC
Focus on the Flatfiles, curated by Mildred Beltre, Kentler Int’l Drawing Space, Brooklyn NY
Widening Circles: Portraits from the Joan Mitchell Foundation Artist Community at 25 Years, Joan Mitchell Foundation, NYC
The Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, The Broad Museum, Los Angeles, CA
2018
Wavehill Winter Residency Open Studio, Wavehill NY
Disillusionment, Taller Boriqua, NY
2017
Shifting Movements: Art Inspired by the LIfe & Activism of Yuri Kochiyama, co-sponsored by the Asian American Women Artists Association and the API Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA
2016
CTRL+ALT: A Culture Lab on Imagined Futures, Chinatown Art Brigade. Curator: Adriel Luis, Smithsonian APA Center
Loving Blackness, Asian Arts Initiative, Philadelphia, PA. Curator: Jaishri Abichandani
The House on Mango Street, National Museum of Mexican Art. (traveling) Curator: Cesareo Moreno
2015
Color Polemics, Gateway Project Gallery, Newark, NJ. Curator: Jasmine Wahl
Japanese American Women Printers, The Japanese American Culture & Community Center, Los Angeles, CA
Tricontagon: A Celebration of 30 Years of the Artists Fellowship Program, NY Foundation for the Arts
2014
Serve the People, Interference Archives, NY. Curator: Ryan Wong
2013
War is For the Living, Sylvia Wald/Po Kim Gallery, Curators: Midori Yamamura, Chuong-Dai Vo
I Want a Wide American Earth, traveling exhibition, Smithsonian Institution
2012
Operating System, Sylvia Wald/Po Kim Gallery, NY.Curator: Heng Gil Han
Infinite Mirror, Tulane University, Newcomb Gallery, New Orleans LA
2011
Peacable Kingdom, William Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba, NY
2010
Urban Archives: Happy Together, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, NY Curator: Alexandra Chang
Inscrutable, University of Delaware Crane Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2010-13
Infinite Mirror, Syracuse University Gallery. A traveling exhibition which will tour to Fort Wayne Museum, Indiana, spring 2012 and Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, March 2013
Hand, Voice & Vision, Grolier Club, NY
2009
Out of the Archive: Process and Progress, Asian American Arts Center, NY. Curator: Angel Shaw
Out of the Incubator: Collaborations from the Women’s Studio Workshop, Islip Art Museum
Racism: an American Family Value, Center for Book Arts, NYC. Curators: Amos Kennedy Jr. and Alexander Campos
Past Present, Printmaking Council of New Jersey, Curator: Aileen Bassis
2008
1968: Then and Now, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Curator: Deborah Willis
Diversity and Dynamism, Hewitt Gallery of Art, Marymount College, Curator: Millie Burns
Other,Other…Longwood Art Gallery @Hostos, Curator: Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz
Resistance, John Cotton Dana Library, Rutgers University
2007
Treasures from the Library of Congress Archives, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Featured Artist Project: 2006 Artist Workspace Program, Center for Book Arts. NY
Caras Vemos Corazones no Sabemos: Faces Seen, Hearts Unknown, The Human Landscape of Mexican Migration, Snite Museum, University of Notre Dame (traveling exhibition)
2006
Transplant/Transculture, Wave Hill Glyndor Gallery, NY Curator: Jennifer McGregor
Ghosts of Little Boy, Artists for Peace, Nat’l Japanese American Historical Society, SF, Calif.
Bronx Bound, Lehman College Gallery, NY. Curator: Susan Hoetzel
Unstitched, Unbound: Imprints for Change, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Curator: K. Guancione
Chinatown InFlux, Asian Arts Initiative, Philadelphia, PA
2005
The City, Contemporary views of the Build Environment, Lehman College Art Gallery, New York
Arrival! Intimate Spectacles, Flushing Town Hall, NYC. Curator: Heng gil Han
City Art: New York’s Percent for Art Program, Center for Architecture, NYC
2004
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Gendai Gallery, Toronto, Canada. Curators: Aiko Suzuki and Marilyn Jung
Domestic Affairs, Locus Gallery, New York. Curator: Marcia G. Yerman
Mostly Photography: Art Since 1980 from the Collection, Williams College Museum of Art, Williams, MA. Curator: Deborah Rothschild
2003
Fresh Talk Revisited: New York Artists from Fresh Talk/Daring Gazes, Asian Pacific American Studies Gallery, NYU, NYC. Curator: Margo Machida
Only Skin Deep Online: website for the exhibition Only Skin Deep: Changing Visions of the American Self, curated by, Coco Fusco and Brian Willis for the International Center of Photography, NYC. www.icp.org/exhibitions/onlyskindeep/
2002
A Legacy of Printmakers, curated by Self Help Graphics, Pico Rivera Centre for the Arts, CA
{Sober Realism}An exhibition of prints from Brandywine Workshop, Nathan Cummings Foundation, NYC
2001
Memory, Longwood Arts Gallery, Bronx, NY. Curator: Eddie Torres
Fifteen Asian American Artists, Staller Arts Center, Stonybrook University, NY. Curator: Rhonda Cooper
2000
A Plurality of Truths, Schick Gallery, Skidmore College, New York (catalogue) Essay by Laura Hoptmann
Good Art is the Best Business, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY
LAtitudes: A Collaborative Installation, Self Help Graphics & Art, Los Angeles, CA
1999
Recent Acquisitions from the Permanent Collection, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Curator: Marisol Nieves
Les Reves: Tomie Arai, Nashormeh Lindo Bomani Gallery, 251 Post Street, San Francisco, CA
Familiarity, Bronx River Art Center and Gallery, NY. Curator: Amir Bey
1998
Album : 30 Years at the Lower East Side Printshop, West Chelsea Arts Building, NYC. Curator: Nancy Princenthal
1997
Eye of the Beholder: Photographs from the Avon Collection, International Center of Photography, New York
Transferring Culture, LaMama La Galleria, NY. Curator: Sarah Lowe
Inside/Out: Japanese and Japanese American Artist Prints, Brandywine Workshop, PA.
Precious Objects, Painted Bride Gallery, Philadelphia, PA. Curator: AM Weaver
Bases Loaded: A Tribute to the Negro Baseball Leagues, Augusta Savage Gallery, U of Mass.
The Sense of Touch: Women Printmakers, Ceres Gallery. Curator: April Vollmer
1996
Is It Art? Transgressions in Contemporary Art, Traveling exhibition, Exhibition Management, Inc. Sept. 1995: Virginia Center for the Arts. 1996: Albany Institute of History and Art, Knoxville Museum of Art, (TN), The Katonah Museum of Art, (NY). Curator: Linda Weintraub.
Cultural Economies: Histories from the Alternative Arts Movement, NYC, The Drawing Center, NY. Curator: Julie Ault
1995
Multiple Affinities: A Convergence of Printmaking and Photographic Practice, CEPA Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Curator: Adele Henderson
(dis) Oriented: Shifting Identities of Asian Women in America, Steinbaum Krauss Gallery, NY. Curated by Margo Machida
Heads or Tales: An Exploration of Contemporary Self Portraiture, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI . Curated by Maureen Sherlock
Workspace Program: 5 Years, Dieu Donne Papermill, New York
In and Out of Character, The Roger Smith Gallery, New York. Curated by Jill Brienza.
In Celebration of Harriet Gans: Artists of the MacDowell Colony, Krasdale Foods Gallery, White Plains, New York. Curated by Susan Hoeltzel, Lehman College Art Gallery.
1994
Fables, Fantasies and Everyday Things: Children's Books by Artists, The Whitney Museum of American Art at Champion, Stamford, Connecticut. Curators: May Castleberry and Eugenie Tsai
Picturing Asia America: Communities, Culture, Difference, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX. Curator: Monica Chau
Art For Learning: Public Art in Public Schools, Municipal Art Society, NY. Curated by: Tom Finkelpearl, NYC Percent for Art Program
Political Art Documentation & Distribution: The PAD/D Archives, The Museum of Modern Art Library, Curators: Barbara Moore and Mimi Smith.
Four Story Building, Lehman College Art Gallery, NY. Curator: Skowmon Hastanan (catalogue)
Gathering Medicine, Art in General, NY. Curated by Coast to Coast
1993
The Return of the Cadavre Exquis, The Drawing Center, NY
Breda Fotographica '93, International Photofestival, de Beyerd Museum, the Netherlands
Sexuality, Gender and Race: Realities of Asian American Artists, Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia, PA. Curator: A.M. Weaver
The Curio Shop, Artists Space, NY. Curated by Skowmon Hastanan for Godzilla. (catalogue)
Contacts/Proofs, Jersey City Museum, NJ. Curator: Gary Sangster
Engendered Species, The Interarts Center, NY. Curator: Birgit Spears.
1992
Art + Politics: Mixing it Up Again, Center for Constitutional Rights, NY. Curator: Lucy Lippard
Women's Art, Women's Lives, Women's Issues, Tweed Gallery, NY. Curator: Janet Henry
At the Heart of Change: Women Artists Explore Color and Culture in Contemporary America, Kennesaw State College Art Gallery, Marietta, Georgia. Curator: Roberta Griffen (catalogue)
Spirit of the Object, Humphrey Gallery, NY. Curators: Daniel Ferris, China Marks (catalogue)
Fingerprints, The Gallery at Hastings on Hudson, NY. Curator: Joyce Goldstein
1991
The Decade Show, A collaborative exhibition curated by the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art, The New Museum of Contemporary Art and the Studio Museum in Harlem (catalogue)
Crossing Over/Changing Places: An Exhibition of Collaborative Print Projects and Paperworks, curated by Jane Farmer for the Print Club. Traveling internationally under the auspices of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S.I.A. (catalogue)
Images of Labor: the 90's, Celebrating 20 Years of Gallery 1199, Bread and Roses Cultural Project, Gallery 1199, NY. Curator: Moe Foner
SITEseeing: Travel and Tourism in Contemporary Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Downtown at Federal Plaza. Curators: Karin Higa, Jonathan Casely, Pamela Lee (catalogue)
International Studio Program Exhibition, P.S. 1 Museum/Institute of Contemporary Art, NY. Curators: Rebecca Quaytman and Ryszard Wasko. (catalogue)
Prints and Books From the Lower East Side Printshop, Pyramid Atlantic, Baltimore, MD
Prints From the Lower East Side Printshop, Gallery 1199, NY.
The Abortion Project, Simon Watson Gallery, NY. (Traveling -Real Art Ways Gallery, Conn., Oct 1991, Hallwalls, Buffalo NY, New Langton Art Center, San Francisco, CA, 1992)
The Creative Process, Cityarts, Inc. (Traveling: Cork Gallery, Brooklyn Museum, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Snug Harbor) Curators: Tsipi Ben Haim, Charlotta Kolik, William Zimmer
Visions of Life, Islip Art Museum, NY. Curator: Marcia Yerman
Center Margins, Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, MA. Curator: Jeri Slavin
The War on Women, 10 on 8 Window Installation. Curator: Antoinette Coniglio
Five Artists from the Decade Show, Gwenda Jay Gallery, Chicago, Ill. Curator: Gwenda Jay
1988
Committed to Print: An Exhibition of Recent American Print Art With Social and Political Themes, Museum of Modern Art, NY. Curator: Deborah Wye, Department of Prints, MOMA; traveling: Newport Harbor Art Museum , CA, , New York State Museum,NY, Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas,(1990); Glenbow Museum, Alberta, Canada; The Peace Museum, Chicago, IL, (1989); (catalogue)