COMING HOME

Annual Dinner & Auction | Saturday, March 23rd, 2024

THANK YOU FOR COMING HOME

Dear Supporters,

We are grateful for your support of Wing Luke Museum and the work we do. You are helping us to tell the stories of our community, to engage with youth through our education programs, and to be a place where people can discover and make history.

Because of your incredible generosity, we raised over $765,000 to continue to be a space where people gather to celebrate, create, and connect.

And of course, a huge thank you to our volunteers for supporting this event and the Museum! You help make the magic happen each year and we are grateful to you for sharing your time and talent. Our community is only as vibrant as the people who make it so. And you showed up!

YOU are home. WE are home. Together.

Thank you, from your auction committee,

Event co-chairs, Chera Amlag, Jamie Ford, Shannon Lee

Katherine Cheng, Nanette Fok, Maya Mendoza-Exstrom, Christine Johnson, Pat Norikane Logerwell, Julien Loh, Donna Lou, Sarah Mac, Midori Matsui, Le-Vy Nguyen, and Mark Takagi.

P.S.

Please save the date!

Next year’s Annual Dinner & Auction will be held on Saturday, March 22nd, 2025 at the Sheraton Grand Seattle!

Questions?

Thank you to MXT Visuals for providing our event photography and heyfunday for providing our photobooth!

ABOUT THE ARTIST: JANHTRIA SAPEARN

The Blooming of the Jade Dragon. Janhtria Sapearn

Growing up I spent the majority of my time north of Seattle, except for when I was younger when my mom would drive my sister and I to learn traditional Khmer dances near Chinatown/International District. As an adult I’ve started dedicating more intentional time to connect and contribute my part to our community, and I’ve been doing that through art -- digital art. Within this last year I found my artistic style, which is story-telling with colors and attention to detail. As an optimistic person by nature, vivid colors and line-work helps portray the emotions and liveliness to my artwork that I want to share with others! The colors and details are heavily inspired by traditional Cambodian textiles, and I continue to be more inspired from other cultures as well!

I call this piece The Blooming of the Jade Dragon, as it’s inspired by the Chinese zodiac of 2024, year of the dragon. Since the Wing Luke Museum is hosting their gala around spring time, it made me think of the cherry blossoms blooming, and the warm colors washing back in after the last few months of darkness. Creating this was somewhat difficult, as it was hard to create an accurate perspective of CID, while trying to fit historical buildings and representation of other cultures. It was important to me that I try to incorporate as much architectural structure in CID, so I spent many weekends visiting the area and taking photographs and videos so I can fit as much detail as possible. What I’m most proud of is mixing both the traditional colors of the city with my own color palette to create a more “whimsical” feel.

PROGRAM

AUCTIONEER: SASHA SUMMER COUSINEAU

Sasha Summer Cousineau, owner of Revel Rouser events, is a fundraising auctioneer, gala emcee, wedding officiant, fundraising and event planning consultant based in Seattle, WA. Sasha believes her clients make up the heart and moral compass of our communities which is why she is living her "OccuPassion" every time she gets to serve local non-profit organizations and education institutions.

EMCEE: CHERA AMLAG

Chera Amlag is the founder and co-owner of Hood Famous Bakeshop and Hood Famous Café + Bar. Chera is self-taught in the kitchen with a career background in education and community building. She aims to bring the intersections of her culture and cuisine into Hood Famous. Chera received a James Beard Semi-Finalist nomination for Best Chef, Pacific Northwest, and Star Chef’s Rising Star award for her contributions to the industry. Her most important work is raising her two boys.

EMCEE: SHANNON LEE

Shannon Lee is the Chair of the Bruce Lee Foundation, CEO and Owner of the Bruce Lee Family Companies, and the daughter of the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee. She is the creator of Camp Bruce Lee and other community initiatives through the Bruce Lee Foundation. Shannon hosts the Bruce Lee Podcast and executive produces HBOMax’s Warrior. Her first book, Be Water, My Friend, offers insight into how to use her father’s philosophies toward a more fluid, peaceful, and fulfilling life.

Photo: Eric Heidle

WELCOME SPEAKER: JAMIE FORD

Jamie Ford is a New York Times bestselling author and his latest novel is The Many Daughters of Afong Moy. His honors include fellowships from Yaddo, Ragdale, and Ucross, the 2018 ArtsFund Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts, and the Historic Hotels of America Historian of the Year. He was selected as a judge for the 2024 National Book Awards. Jamie is the great-grandson of Nevada mining pioneer, Min Chung, who emigrated from Hoiping, China to San Francisco in 1865.

Photo: Shann Thomas

READER: ALEKSA MANILA

Aleksa Manila is Seattle's sweetheart of fundraising and everything fabulous! She's a former Miss Gay Filipino, Miss Gay Seattle, and Empress of Seattle. Aleksa is recognized for her social activism and community leadership by Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, The Greater Seattle Business Association, Seattle Women's Pride, Public Health - Seattle & King County, The Filipino Community of Seattle and so on. She is featured in GLAAD and Emmy-nominated PBS documentary, CARETAKERS.

PERFORMER: DEKOBOKO TAIKO

Dekoboko Taiko is a nonprofit Japanese drumming ensemble founded by Taiko Kai at the University of Washington alumni. Since 2017, the group has grown in membership and original songs. With a desire to create and experiment with new and old sounds, Dekoboko Taiko’s repertoire ranges from traditional to modern classics to songs self-composed by its members.

PERFORMER: THE SHANGHAI PEARL

The Shanghai Pearl is an internationally celebrated burlesque performer known for her extravagant costumes, conceptual acts, and pulchritudinous performances. As an events producer, she brings multi-disciplinary & inter-generational shows to a wide range of audiences. An instructor in drama and burlesque since 2006, she brings a deep love and knowledge of the craft to share with her students. Ms. Pearl travels widely to perform and teach close to home and as far away as Paris, France.

PERFORMER: GUMA’ GELA’ BAND

The Guma' Gela' Band is a collective of Trans and Queer Pacific Islander singers, song writers, musicians, and performers. Offering chants and songs of love, joy, grief, and cultural appreciation, The Guma’ Gela’ Band takes listeners on a journey to the Mariana Islands. You will hear multi-part harmonies, driving drums, calming acoustic guitar, and solid steady bass along the way

THANK YOU TO OUR EVENT SPONSORS:

LEAD SPONSORS

PRIME SPONSORS

MAJOR SPONSORS

SUPPORTING SPONSORS

PARTNER

KITSAP BANK

METIS CONSTRUCTION

FRIEND

EVERGREEN GOODWILL

LUMEN FIELD

SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE