About the Museum
Founded in 2014, Heritage Museum of Asian Art showcases a wide range of art forms, spanning many cultures and time periods of Asia. The museum’s collection includes archaic and modern jades, Neolithic pottery, imperial porcelains, Chinese snuff bottles, scholar’s objects, textiles, bronzes and more. Classical Chinese furniture also adorns the galleries. The museum provides an interconnection between the arts and cultures of Asia for the residents of Chicago and for visitors from all around the world.
Mission Statement
The Heritage Museum of Asian Art is dedicated to preserving and promoting the diverse traditions of Asian art—not only through visual works and artifacts, but also through music, dance, performance, and lived cultural experience. The museum strives to enrich present and future generations by offering education, cultural insight, and meaningful opportunities for community engagement. As a platform for cultural exchange and storytelling, it celebrates the richness of Asian heritages while fostering dialogue across racial and ethnic boundaries.
Non-profit: Heritage Museum of Asian Art is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Support for the museum’s collections and general operations is provided by generous individuals, corporations, and donations from the visiting public.
History
The Heritage Museum of Asian Art is the only museum in the Midwest exclusively dedicated to exhibiting Asian art, and one of only three Asian art museums in the United States. Its collection spans diverse regions and historical periods, including jade carvings, pottery, bronzes, imperial porcelains, textiles, furniture, architectural components, and more.
The museum’s founder grew up in a working-class immigrant family in Chicago’s Chinatown in the 1940s–50s. His parents held labor-intensive jobs, and he began working at age 13 to help support the family. Though he had a deep love for Asian art, he had little access to it. That early gap inspired a lifelong commitment: to create a space where Asian art could be preserved, studied, and shared with people of all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Founded in 2014 in a small storefront on 23rd Street, the museum first displayed archaic Chinese jades, export silver, Han and Tang pottery, and classical furniture. In 2018, it expanded into an 18,000 sq ft building on 26th Street, adding galleries, a library, a theatre, and event spaces. Sustained primarily by collector donations, it operated as a display-focused institution.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced a two-year closure and halted fundraising, resulting in the loss of the 26th Street building. In late 2022, the museum reopened in a rented space in Bridgeport with three galleries and a new vision. This marked a generational shift—from exhibition-only to a community-centered, engagement-driven institution.
In 2023, the museum launched its Educational and Community Engagement Initiative, offering field trips, free neighborhood nights, hands-on workshops, and special events. We’ve since hosted 120+ programs, welcoming over 5,000 visitors. Today, we are committed to becoming a vibrant platform for cultural exchange—not only within the Asian community, but across Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other communities through art, dialogue, and shared experiences.
The Heritage Museum of Asian Art acknowledges and appreciates support from:
