Calling on the power of art to build communities, the Committee for the Asian Centennial under the leadership and direction of Professor Francis Tanglao Aguas will award artists in the fields of fine arts, film, and the performing arts to engage the William & Mary community and its experience as it pertains to the inclusion of students of Asian, Pacific Islander and Middle Eastern descent. In doing so, the hope is for the artists and the community to also reflect on the exclusion of the African American community and other historical hallmarks involving race, social justice and diversity.
San Francisco based actor and singer Rinabeth Apostol joins W&M as the Asian Centennial Distinguished Theater Fellow. Apostol will be collaborating with Professor Francis Tanglao Aguas in creating a solo show to premiere during Filipino American History Month in October 2021. In April 2022, Apostol will also be performing Lloyd Suh's THE CHINESE LADY, a stage play on the life of Afong Moy, on record as the first ever Asian woman to migrate to the United States in 1834.
Emmy Award winning Marissa Aroy heralds the program as the first ever Asian Centennial Distinguished Film Fellow. Winner of the Emmy Award for her documentary "Sikhs in America," Ms. Aroy will create a documentary on the APM story at W&M.
Local and home grown artist Roberto Jamora, whose paintings are now in national collections, is the first Asian Centennial Distinguished Fine Arts Fellow. Also an adjunct professor at VCUarts and in the Asian & Pacific Islander American Studies program at W&M, Professor Jamora will collaborate with students in visualizing the W&M APM community.
