Chinese Culture Center

Chinese Culture Center (CCC), under the aegis of the Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco, is one of the leading and most prominent cultural and social centers in the city of San Francisco.

The mission of the CCC is dedicated to elevating underserved communities and giving voice to equality through education and contemporary art.

Founded in 1965, Chinese Culture Foundation opened its primary program site, Chinese Culture Center in 1973. Our work is based in Chinatown and San Francisco’s open and public spaces, and other art institutions.

In 2014, CCC opened 41 Ross, an experimental community art space located in one of the most historic alleyways in Chinatown.

CCC has five decades of experience embedded in the community leading complex public art projects and events supported by Grants for the Arts, San Francisco Arts Commission, the SF Municipal Transportation Agency, among others. Recently, the CCC was selected for the prestigious “Our Town” grant funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

CCC core activities are:

1. Community ­based, citywide, national and international sharing of innovative contemporary art through exhibitions, performances, touring and online projects housed in the CCC Visual Art Center. Its signature exhibition series are XianRui (Fresh and Sharp) to promote exceptional but under-recognized artists of Chinese descent, and Present Tense, examining current trends with emerging artists’s work
2. Community engagement activities housed under the Him Mark Lai Learning Center educates participants about Chinese American history and culture, and provides insight into the sources and inspirations of featured artists’ work. Annual festivals are Spring Festival, Chinatown Music Festival and Dance on Waverly, as well as year-long Chinatown tours for schoolchildren and visitors, and study-excursions.
3. Creative placemaking approaches designed to make Chinatown a “museum without walls” through the use of public spaces for festivals and art interventions. “Sunrise” public art on the Dr. Rolland and Kathryn Lowe Community Bridge, Central Subway Public Art Murals at Wentworth, Ross Alley, and Walter U Lum Place are recent additions.