The Gentrification of Chinatown- The Museum's Role

Authors:

• Meilani Mandery, Museology Graduate Program
• Chair: Lane Eagles
• Jasmine Mahmoud
• Jeff Hou

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Abstract:

Within Museum Studies, few researchers interrogate the impacts museums have on their neighborhoods through the lens of gentrification. Building off literature in other fields such as Urban Studies and Cultural Studies that discuss gentrification in Chinatowns, this article analyzes the role of the museum using the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle, Washington’s Chinatown-International District as a case study. Interviews with nine community members and Museum staff conducted in 2023 are the basis of critique and recommendations. Study results confirm the need for museum accountability to their communities through expanded access, values-centered decision-making, and relinquishing power. This article builds the foundation for understanding gentrification, commodification of culture, and place identity to contextualize the work of the Wing Luke Museum and to answer the questions: (1) How are community-based museums complicit in erasure and displacement; (2) How can arts and culture both facilitate gentrification and act as a weapon against it? Though this article sits at the intersection of gentrification, Chinatown, and museums, the recommendations are applicable to museums committed to progressive institutional change.