Upcoming events
Community Safety, Carceral Design, and Dreaming Otherwise
Building on years of organizing, this conversation brings together artists, organizers, and community members to examine the impact of the Borough-Based Jail Plan (BBJP) in New York City, with a focus on the skyscraper jail being constructed in Chinatown. Situating the project within a broader landscape of mass incarceration and displacement—from the police takeover of Park Row to the expanding carceral reach in Chinatown—we ask: what does community safety mean and who gets to define it? In place of a jail, what else could be here?
The program explores the role of artists and cultural workers in the aestheticization of carceral systems through design, and how art can obscure the violence of incarceration even as it can also serve as a tool of resistance. We invite participants to reflect on what it means to refuse participation in carceral design and to imagine alternative futures grounded in care, collective well-being, and worlds beyond punishment.
Resist Recycle Regenerate
Come celebrate the Resist Recycle Regenerate cohort at their Final Showcase on June 13 at Chatham Square Library from 12:30 to 3:00 pm. It has been such an incredible year of RRR: fellows learned new artmaking skills, built a community of trust and care, voiced their opposition to ICE and the military industrial complex, attended protests, and facilitated papermaking workshops for their peers and the Chinatown community. Big shoutout to RRR’s staff —all former RRR fellows— making this all possible. In this final phase fellows have been hard at work on their final projects on themes including collectivity, prison abolition, cultural organizing, and more!
The event will begin with a gallery walk of each fellow’s final project, followed by a panel featuring the cohort. Light refreshments will be provided. See you there!
When: Saturday, June 13 from 12:30 to 3:00 pm.
Where: Community Room on the third floor of Chatham Square Library 33 East Broadway NY, NY
The library is fully accessible.
Labor, Cultural Work, and More Ways to Organize the City
This conversation draws crucial connections between cultural work and labor organizing in working-class communities across New York City. Bringing together organizers, artists, and community members, the event traces how struggles over labor and land are deeply intertwined—from tenants organizing against evictions in Chinatown to campaigns resisting casino development in Flushing, and movements to decriminalize sex work—we ask: are there other ways to organize the city? What forms of solidarity are necessary to build communities rooted in care? By placing past and present organizing in dialogue, this program invites us to consider what forms of organizing are needed in this moment, and how we build toward more sustainable futures for Chinatown residents and all working-class communities.
Whether you’ve been part of W.O.W. since the beginning or are just getting to know the work, we welcome you to join us for an evening of reflection, celebration, and community.
Storefront Origins, Arts Activism, and the Worlds We Build
In this opening conversation, Mei Lum and Diane Wong will revisit the origins of W.O.W—from their early kitchen table conversations to its evolution into a community arts initiative that centers women, queer, non-binary, and trans Asian youth as stewards of Chinatown’s creative culture. Grounded in personal stories and collective memory, this dialogue invites us to pause and to consider how spaces like W.O.W. speak to the possibility of a neighborhood defined by people rather than by profit, where value is measured through cultural continuity and collective belonging rather than speculative capital. The conversation also opens up questions about the tensions and possibilities of doing cultural work in a moment shaped by ongoing struggles over land, safety, and displacement—and how we might imagine the next decade together.
The conversation will be moderated by current and former youth leaders Sasa Yung and Angela Chan. Whether you’ve been part of W.O.W. since the beginning or are just getting to know the work, we welcome you to join us for an evening of reflection, celebration, and community. RSVP Here.
2026 High School Fellowship applications due!
Learn more about this year’s High School Fellowship HERE!
Applications are due at 11:59 PM on May 4, 2026. Apply HERE!
RRR Confetti Papermaking Workshop
Come to Resist Recycle Regenerate’s papermaking workshop on Saturday, May 2 at Chatham Square Library (33 East Broadway)! The fellows collected lots of colorful confetti on Super Saturday — now help us turn it into recycled handmade paper!
The workshop is FREE and open to all agesDonate – stop by the Community Room on the third floor any time between 12:00 and 2:00pm. The library is wheelchair accessible.
RSVP HERE preferred; walk-ins welcome.
Please email yuki@wowprojectnyc.org with any questions or concerns.
Super Saturday and RRR Confetti Collection
Come collect discarded confetti with RRR during Super Saturday. We will be wandering down Mott St. towards Canal. Look out for our red jumpsuits!
W.O.W. the Crowd Street Performance: Love as Resistance
Join us for our annual street performance as we take over Mosco St. and share in the LNY spirit of mutual support, resistance, and people power through song, ritual, rhythm, and dance.
Abrons Arts Afternoon 2026
Abrons Arts Center, lucky risograph and The W.O.W. Project hosts an afternoon of all-ages arts activities, karaoke, and a lion dance performance to celebrate the year of the fire horse. We invite you to imagine what an abundant new year will look like for the Chinatown and Abrons communities.
This event is free and open to the public.
RSVP Link here !
Storefronts as Sites of Cultural Resistance Exhibition Opening Reception
From Chinatown, With Love programming is officially kicking off with the opening reception of our FCWL Exhibition: Storefronts as Sites of Cultural Resistance next Thursday 1/29 evening in collaboration with Abrons Arts Center, lucky risograph, and Midnight Projects ! The W.O.W. lions will be performing, speeches from participating biz owners & some snacks and bevs all to kick off our FCWL season.
Designed by Weiyun Chen & Supatida Sutiratana of Midnight Projects, with featured works by Letterform Archive, Cynthia Yuan Cheng & Sophie Wang, Mischelle Moy, and Singha Hon the exhibition celebrates the grit and resilience of Chinatown small businesses and explores how everyday acts of care and mutual aid become forms of cultural resistance and regeneration for a neighborhood like Chinatown. The show will be up throughout March.
RSVP here!
Maps and Altars: TDOR
Gather with community to build an altar for our queer and trans Chinatown ancestors. Stop by between 6 and 8 pm to bring an offering for our community altar.
We’ll have copies of our new compilation zine “Maps and Altars: Queer and Trans Chinatown” available for sliding scale donation. The zine features writing and visuals from contributors to our past Queer Chinatown walking tours, as well as reflections from other community members on their relationships with Chinatown as a queer and trans space. The zine also honors our beloved W.O.W. team member Em, who was a creator of the Queer Chinatown tour and who passed away this year.