Joël Tan was named executive director of Seattle’s Wing Luke Museum in 2022. Tan is committed to racial equality, social justice and creative expression. He has more than three decades of experience in cultural advocacy and leadership in the arts, public health, civic engagement, community development and sustainable tourism. Before joining the Wing Luke Museum, Tan held leadership positions at the East Hawaii Cultural Center, Kalani Retreat Center, and Touching the Earth Farm.
In 2018, he helped to establish Vibrant Hawai’i, a community-based leadership organisation. Prior to that, he served as the director of community engagement at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for 11 years. Additionally, Tan was Hawai’i Island’s 2018 Pride Grand Marshall and was featured in Out magazine’s top 100 most influential LGBTQIA+ individuals in 2008. He holds a BA in ethnic studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MFA in creative writing and literature from Antioch University.
“Joël is a changemaker and his positive energy, passion and good humor are infectious,” said Ellen Ferguson, board co-president at the Wing Luke Museum. Jill Nishi, board co-president, said the museum is “thrilled to have Joël’s vision, creativity, and importantly, unequivocal commitment to using arts and culture to share and celebrate the stories and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and advance racial equity and social justice”.
The Wing Luke Museum is an art and history museum focusing on the culture, art and history of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. It is located in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District. Established in 1967, the museum is a Smithsonian Institution affiliate and the only pan-Asian Pacific American community-based museum in the United States.