July 31, 2006

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to support the continuation of ArtSlam, a slide presentation event of emerging artists organized by the Asian American Arts Centre.

As an emerging artist who had recently graduated from the Master of Fine Arts program at the time, I was invited by Robert Lee, the Executive Director of the Asian American Arts Centre, to participate in the ArtSlam in 2005. ArtSlam had offered me a rare opportunity to present and discuss my work in front of a large group of captive audience, and allowed me the experience to engage in a dialogue with them while receiving their immediate feedback in real time. I cannot quantify the impact that ArtSlam has brought to my art career since the event, but the confidence that I got from the success of the event was tremendous, and gave me the strength and belief required to further pursue and sustain my practice in the art which eventually led to more valuable opportunity and endeavors.

I personally felt that an event like ArtSlam had brought me closer to the audience than any solo or group exhibitions that I participated in. For the most part, audiences rarely have the opportunity to discuss the artwork at length with the artists during an exhibition. Whereas slide presentations are more dialogue and exchange driven, where the ideas and concepts discussed can shape the way artists develop their work to fine tune their “message” and effectiveness to the audience in the future.

New York City is a very competitive market place for artists, especially for emerging artists. ArtSlam is offering a venue for emerging artists to mature their craft by giving the opportunity to engage with audiences. I sincerely wish the continuing and sustaining growth of ArtSlam. Please don’t take their funding away.

Yours truly,

Eugenie Tung