[2] Initially a small part of the Painted Bride Art Center, the Asian Arts Initiative (AAI) was created by Gayle Isa, a 1993 graduate of Swarthmore College, who envisioned creating a community of artists which could contribute to the growth of the neighborhood and to its cultural revival.
In 1996, the AAI separated from the Painted Bride Art Center, becoming an independent nonprofit organization and moved into their own building located in the heart of Chinatown.
In the same year, the Rap Series was created as a way for Asian American artists to be able to meet, dialogue and get involved in the community.
The Asian Arts Initiative was forced to relocate in August 2008, "due to the expansion of the Philadelphia Convention Center,"[5] to a "three-level, 24,000 square-foot building at 1219 Vine Street",[6] in the northern part of Chinatown.
[7] With funding from the City of Philadelphia, the State of Pennsylvania and private sources, the organization renovated part of the building into a multi-media facility that includes a gallery space and exhibition area, a theater, a media lab and library, and a generous space for workshops and meetings.