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Mission: 

EMW’s mission is to empower individuals and communities to realize their creative potential through artistic expression. We provide innovative programming and a dynamic creative community space at the intersection of art, technology and social justice. Our activities are rooted in values of sharing, trust, respect, and mutual support. By using our space as a launchpad for community innovation, we strive to expand the concept of family to our immediate community and the world.

History: 

In 1999, the husband and wife team of Professors, Jin Au Kong of MIT and Wen Kong of UMass Boston, opened the Chinese-language bookstore East Meets West to empower communities through scholarship. In 2004, their son David Sun Kong and legendary poet Giles Li revitalized the bookstore for the Asian American community, organizing events that include the longest running Asian American open mic on the east coast. In 2011, David sought to expand the space’s impact to include technology and other art forms. He and co-founders Abel Rey Cano, Monique Nguyen, and Jack DeBoe established EMW: Art | Technology | Community. Together with world class innovators and organizations, EMW works to Expand imaginations, Make dreams real, and Write our own history.

What we do: 

We are the community space of the 21st century, at the frontiers of creative placemaking. EMW is equipped with a mixed-use store front and stage, co-working space, full music studio, fab lab, and a forthcoming bio lab. Our Team develops and delivers cross-disciplinary programs and events, like EMBeats and the Storyteller Project, while collaborating with like-minded partner organizations to expand our collective impact.