Thank you to everyone who attended our smashing 30th Anniversary Holiday Party, and an incredibly huge thank you to Hyon Chough for hosting it at her one-of-a-kind residence. We were joined by eight out of sixteen awardees, five of which traveled from out of state! Artists in attendance were (left to right): Yun Dong Nam (1992), Sook Jin Jo (1994), Yunhee Min (1996), Maria Park (2002), Jena H. Kim (2004), Kakyoung Lee (2010), Olga Lah (2014), Robert Rhee (2016).

Legendary curator Howard Fox gave remarks to the attendees, and we have permission to share his glowing speech here. During the party, he put away his notes and spoke from his heart, which was incredibly special.

“…A diverse range of artists, all of Korean heritage working in the US, but participating in a highly cosmopolitan, global art context.

It’s wonderful to see so many of you here this evening, especially those of you founding members whom I’ve known since I first served as an awards juror in 1993- that’s 26 years! More than a quarter century!!! I’m getting old. For that matter, I guess a number of us are getting old.

But with that age comes the recognition that times have changed. Groups of international artists working in the United States- or in many other countries where they were not originally born- do not present themselves fundamentally as ethnic groups maintaining ancient traditions in their new diaspora. Rather, they consider themselves as uniquely creative individuals operating in an international context; if their art reflects an awareness of their native cultural traditions, fine; If not, that’s fine too. The international art community of galleries, museums, art publications, the internet, and most important of all the artists themselves are immensely vital, communicative, and creative ocean that all continents draw upon for intellectual stimulation, cultural understanding, and pure aesthetic pleasure.

We’re here tonight to express our thanks to all artists working around the world, and especially to KAFA for recognizing the numerous artists it has supported, some of whom are here with us tonight.

And now about KAFA itself. The founding members of KAFA were astute- both idealistic and wise- in their recognition that transnational cultural interaction in a newly global art world was the new, not the former, side of history, and they established an unrestricted grant to encourage artists of Korean heritage in the United States (whether Korean-born or American-born, or who migrated here from yet another country) to pursue their own art and if bi-cultural background. KAFA is cosmopolitan- international, multicultural, and inclusive, in its embrace and its support for the visual arts ranging from painting, to sculpture, to performance art, to site-specific installation, to video, to animation.

That they have recognized the diverse insights, inquiries, and questions of so many talented artists reflects very well on the sterling aspirations of KAFA’s founding members. That KAFA has for thirty years played such a significant role in the Korean-American artistic community is a testament to its ongoing and newer supports- and most especially!- to the many talented visual artists supported by KAFA’s supporters and its broadly representative selection committees of art world professionals- scholars, educators, museum curators, critics, and- perhaps most important- other artists.

Please join me in applauding the artists, the KAFA board, and yourselves as friends and supporters of the Korea Arts Foundation of America- and also our wonderful host Hyon Chough, for her always gracious and warm hospitality. Thank you all for your support of KAFA’s mission.”

-Howard Fox

You can enjoy photos of the KAFA 30th Anniversary Party by Sara Pooley here.