Northeast Ohio Asisan American Arts (NEOA3) officially launched on October 15.A graphic designer and illustrator who seems to know everyone in Northeast Ohio and a Cleveland-based lawyer-activist have established a new nonprofit that aims to bring together and support Asian American artists.

Artist Jordan Wong (aka WONGFACE) and attorney Elaine Tso hosted a launch party for Northeast Ohio Asian American Arts (NEOA3) on Thursday, Oct. 15 at printmaking studio Zygote Press on Perkins Avenue in Cleveland’s AsiaTown neighborhood.

“When I talk about the Asian art community, I honestly tell people that we don’t have one,” Wong, 36, told about 100 invited artists and art supporters at the party. “We have Asian artists—there’s a lot of them.

“We were all silent and disconnected—until now,” Wong continued. “That was really the genesis of this brand new nonprofit that I’m so honored to have co-founded.”

NEOA3 will organize potluck meals, where Asian American artists can meet, socialize and discuss their work.

The nonprofit will also look for ways to increase the visibility of Asian art in Cleveland.

Additionally, Wong says he plans to lead workshops showing artists how they can “level up” their business practices so they can earn a living and scrap the “starving artist” concept.

NEOA3 membership is open to artists with families originating from anywhere in Asia. Wong says NEOA3 defines art broadly as music, literature, and spoken-word—not just visual art.

Supporters, patrons and collectors of Asian art can also join NEOA3.

“Even enthusiasts of Asian art are very crucial,” Wong says. “We need you all, for sure, especially as we start to build this community. It extends beyond just the artists. It’s also for those who provide opportunities to artists.”

One of those enthusiasts is Kevin Greewood, curator of Asian art at the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College. He’s a member of the NEOA3 Board of Trustees and attended the Oct. 15 launch party.

Jordan Wong“I’ve always been a big fan of Jordan’s work,” Greenwood says. “He’s a very enthusiastic guy and has his fingers in a lot of pies.”

Greenwood is working on an exhibit of Wong’s work that will be on display at the Allen museum in 2028 and 2029.

“Jordan asked me to be part of NEOA3 and bring a connection between the academic world and the organization, so that NEOA3 can help Asian and Asian American artists negotiate the world of museums,” Greenwood says. “I might be good at advising up-and-coming artists in that aspect of the art business.”

Elaine TsoNEOA3 board president is Eva Kwon, who has created and taught ceramic sculpture for more than 40 years. Kwon met Wong when he had an exhibit at the Akron Art Museum years ago. More recently, Wong asked her to lead the board.

“Asian art probably has the lowest representation in the city or actually around the country,” Kwon says. “We haven’t had much advocacy.”

Reconnecting with culture
Wong, a third-generation Chinese American and Pittsburgh native, struggled with cultural and ethnic identity as a child.

“I grew up in a place where no one looked like me,” Wong said at the launch party. “There were no Asian families. There were no Chinese families. I was pretty much the only one in the classroom and on the playground.”

Wong says he felt so alienated that when his parents tried to teach him Mandarin or Cantonese, he refused to learn. That refusal created a barrier between him and other Asians and Asian Americans.

“I existed in this third space and really struggled with identity and a sense of belonging,” Wong says. “Those themes show up in the work that I do today.”

As a boy, Wong was influenced by anime, a style of Japanese animation commonly seen in video games, and manga, the printed version of Japanese comics. The art forms inspired Wong because the characters transformed from weakness into strength. They became heroes.

Today, Wong’s artwork, with its bright colors and movement, is clearly influenced by both anime and manga. But his work is different in that it doesn’t tell a linear narrative. It’s abstract, requiring the viewer to search for meaning.

Wong’s infatuation with anime and manga also allowed him to reconnect to his Asian heritage. He developed a passion for helping other Asian American artists. In 2022 he started a workshop series entitled “No More Starving Artists.”

“This series was created to empower artists to think more strategically about their art practice, about their careers as artists, to be more strategic in how they connect opportunities, and to view things in a more entrepreneurial lens, and start to sharpen some of their business acumen,” Wong says, “so they can start moving toward thriving financially.”

Defining moment
A turning point for Wong came in 2024 and 2025 when he was one of seven artists chosen from more than 100 applicants for the city of Cleveland’s Transformative Arts Fund program (TAF).

The city, using funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, distributed $3 million in grants to selected artists, who were asked to create work that promoted diversity and richness in Cleveland’s neighborhoods.

Wong received a $449,750 TAF grant, produced several pieces that are collectively entitled “For Those Who Call Here Home” in AsiaTown. The installation—which included an entrance gate, a lightbox that illuminated the site, planters, and ping-pong tables with UV-printed vinyl artwork and playful seating—honored immigrants who came to Cleveland and raised families.

During that experience, Wong reached out to other Asian American artists for assistance. He realized the depth of talent in the Asian American community when 20 artists offered to take part.

About 100 artists and art supporters attended the Northeast Ohio Asian American Arts launch party at Zygote Press.“Twenty may not sound like a big number, but I wondered how great it would be if those artists got together,” Wong recalls. “Nothing like that existed yet.”

Wong envisioned the formation of a group of Asian American artists and their supporters but didn’t believe he had the time to take on that task. He was simply too busy with his own art.

That changed after Wong was nudged by attorney Tso, who has nonprofit experience as the former CEO of Asian Services in Action, a nonprofit that ensures Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants have access to healthcare and social services.

Tso met Wong in 2019 after she had seen some of his art in AsiaTown. Over the years she encouraged him to form a nonprofit for Asian American artists, showing them how they could earn a living just creating.

Wong hesitated but Tso never gave up encouraging him. Finally, he told her he could not do it alone.

The short answer to Jordan was, “‘I got you, no worries’” Tso says. “[I told him], ’I can be the backbone for the organization, and [you] can continue to be the creative mastermind that [you are]. And we can work together to help local artists develop professionally and personally, and build this community so that there are no more starving artists.’”

Chow & Snacks
NEOA3 activities have already begun. A potluck meal series called “Chow Potluck for Asian Artists + Creatives” was introduced in August as an opportunity for Asian American artists to connect. A second Chow potluck is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 12 at Cleveland Foundation.

Meanwhile, a casual NEOA3 meetup series called “Snacks,” a networking opportunity for artists, was held for the first time in September at Cleveland Institute of Art. NEOA3 plans to schedule another “Snacks” event for December.

Wong says he will also lead a professional development workshop with featured speakers in 2027. NEOA3 is still ironing out the details.

Wong is clear that NEOA3 is not just about him. He says he wants other Asian American artists to take ownership, get together on their own, and attend exhibitions together. But he needs artists to join and get active.

Johnny Wu—filmmaker, cofounder of the Cleveland Asian Festival, founder of the Silk Road Cultural Collective, and cofounder of the International Horror Hotel Film Festival—attended the NEOA3 launch party, and was invited to be part of the new nonprofit.

“It’s time for Cleveland to support the Asian art community and provide artist outlets so that we don’t have poor artists anymore, so that artists have a better future,” Wu says.

Another launch party attendee was Margaret Li, an illustrator, motion-graphics designer, video editor and professor at Cleveland Institute of Art. She met Wong a couple of years ago at a CIA faculty exhibit.

“I feel like in Cleveland we’re in our little bubbles as artists,” Li says. “It’s great to have a centralized safe space where we can gather and network and share our love of artmaking.”