Please support the study of Asian American and Pacific Islander art and culture at UCSC!
The Pacific Art & Visual Studies (PAVS) Fund was established to advance innovative approaches to the study of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) arts and cultures. The PAVS mission is to support educational and professional development for students (paid internships, workshops, guest speakers, field trips). It also enables student-faculty research collaboration and the publication of Pacific Arts, the only international open-access journal dedicated to Pacific Islands art (check out our latest issue here!).
UCSC is the only institution in the U.S. that offers a full undergraduate curriculum and a Ph.D. program in Pacific Islands visual studies, as well as a Ph.D. program in Asian American/Diaspora visual studies.
Your donation strengthens our mission to lift, honor, and celebrate AAPI arts, cultures, and heritages. PAVS contributes to the understanding of humanity—of our past and its relationship to our present as expressed through art, cultural objects, photographs, performances, and other forms of creative activity. These are at the center of community activism—expressing identities, healing, maintaining ties to histories and ancestors, transmitting cultural knowledge, creating a sense of place and belonging, and forging sustainable futures.
Given that Pacific Islander communities are among the most underrepresented groups in higher education, combined with heightened anti–Asian American discrimination, it is especially urgent to advance AAPI voices and perspectives. Your support will have a significant impact on AAPI arts in higher education!
The PAVS Fund is housed at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC)—an Asian American & Native American Pacific Islander–Serving Institution (AANAPISI)—but relies entirely on extramural funding.
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