[iDiversity] Wing Luke Asian Museum to Honor Former Gov. Gary Locke's Legacy with Library & Community Heritage Center

Thu Apr 7 15:56:25 PDT 2005

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Contact: 
Joann Natalia Aquino, Public Relations Manager
(206) 623-5124 ext. 106, jaquino at wingluke.org

Wing Luke Asian Museum to Honor Former Governor Gary Locke's Legacy 
Gov. Gary Locke Library and Community Heritage Center at the new museum

SEATTLE, WA- The Wing Luke Asian Museum recently announced a $1 million fundraising campaign to honor Washington State's former Governor Gary Locke to build the Gov. Gary Locke Library and Community Heritage Center as part of its ongoing capital campaign for the new museum.

Everett Billingslea, Martha Choe and Fred Kiga, who all worked for Locke during his governorship, will chair the fundraising drive for the Library and Community Center.  "I leapt at the opportunity to help create a permanent institution to remind us all of the impact Gary Locke had on the Asian Pacific American community, Washington State, and the world.  Like Wing Luke, long after he is gone Gary Locke will be remembered.  This is a fitting way to do that, " stated Billingslea, Locke's former chief counsel.

"I am humbled to be honored in this way by my colleagues.   It is especially meaningful to be part of the future home of the Wing Luke Asian Museum, an institution with an unparalleled reputation for providing a place and space to share the rich and diverse Pan Asian Pacific American experience," Locke expressed with appreciation.

The Gov. Gary Locke Library and Community Heritage Center will feature documents, photographs and artifacts from Locke that he donated to the Museum's permanent collection.  Other items at the Library will include books, journals, news articles, videos and films spanning Locke's career.  The first Asian American governor in the continental United States, Gary Locke served as the governor of Washington State for two-terms, first elected in 1996 and reelected in 2000.

The Wing Luke Asian Museum is the only pan-Asian Pacific American museum in the country, and the first Smithsonian Institution affiliate in the Pacific Northwest. It has redefined the role of museums by pioneering a model of community-based service that embraces the stories of immigrant populations that have enriched and strengthened the American experience.

The Museum has embarked upon an extraordinary journey to transform a building and a community through a $24.7 million capital and endowment campaign. The capital phase-to raise $23 million to rehabilitate the east Kong Yick Building on the corner of King Street and Eighth Avenue South in Seattle's Chinatown/International District as a permanent home for the Museum-is underway. Similar to the Anne Frank House and the Lower Eastside Tenement Museum in New York, the Museum will preserve a significant historic edifice as a living cultural center. From its new home, the Museum will expand its role as an economic and community resource for a distinctly diverse neighborhood, as one of Seattle's historic and creative treasures, and as a cultural institution of national significance.   To date, we have raised $12 million (52% of our capital goal.)

The capital phase of the campaign will be completed in November 2006 and doors will open in 2007. The endowment phase of the campaign, to launch in 2006 and complete in 2009, will build a $1.7 million seed fund that will secure our living treasure for generations to come.

For more information about the capital campaign and the Gov. Gary Locke Library and Community Heritage Center, please contact Joy Shigaki, Capital Campaign Manager, at (206) 623-5124 ext. 110 or e-mail jshigaki at wingluke.org.

The Wing Luke Asian Museum is located at the heart of Seattle's historic Chinatown/ International District at 407-7th Avenue South.  Founded in 1967, the Museum has a regional and national significance, and celebrates its namesake of the first Asian American elected to public office in the Pacific Northwest, Wing Luke.  The Wing Luke Asian Museum- an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the 1995 recipient of the National Award for Museum Service, and the 2004 recipient of the City of Seattle Distinguished Human Rights Award- is dedicated to engaging the public in exploring issues related to the culture, art and history of Asian Pacific Americans.

**********************************
Joann Natalia Aquino
Public Relations Manager
Wing Luke Asian Museum
407-7th Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98104
phone: 206.623.5124 ext. 106
fax: 206.652.4963
www.wingluke.org
e-mail: jaquino at wingluke.org
joannnatalia_aquino at publicist.com

About the Wing Luke Asian Museum:
The Wing Luke Asian Museum is located at the heart of Seattle's historic Chinatown/ International District at 407-7th Avenue South.  Founded in 1967, the Museum has a regional and national significance, and celebrates its namesake of the first Asian American elected to public office in the Pacific Northwest, Wing Luke.  The Wing Luke Asian Museum- an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the 1995 recipient of the National Award for Museum Service, and the 2004 recipient of the City of Seattle Distinguished Human Rights Award- is dedicated to engaging the public in exploring issues related to the culture, art and history of Asian Pacific Americans.

A museum like no other- The Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle, Washington is the only pan-Asian Pacific American museum in the country.  It is nationally recognized for its award-winning exhibitions and community-based model of exhibition and program development.  The Museum has embarked upon a remarkable journey to transform a building and a community by raising $24.7 million to rehabilitate the Kong Yick Building as its new permanent home in the heart of Seattle's Chinatown-International District.

To learn more about current exhibitions and exciting programs and events at the Wing Luke Asian Museum, please visit www.wingluke.org.

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Joann Natalia G. Aquino
Graduate Student, Department of Communication
University of Washington
E-mail: jnaquino at u.washington.edu, herstory at joannnataliaaquino.com

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, 
live along some distant day into the answers." -Rilke