ABOUT THE
VC ARCHIVES
As one of the first and one of the largest AANHPI community archives in the nation, the VC Archives encompasses histories rooted in resistance, perseverance, and joy with over 1,000,000 photographic images, 1,500+ titles in the media library, 500+ film and video productions, and 250+ hours of oral histories.
VC is built on the legacies of the people and the movements that brought us here. The VC Archives makes sure those legacies are remembered. It is a community archive focused on preserving the histories of our communities that are often overlooked and undocumented. Through our emphasis on memory work, the Archives celebrates the resilience of the AANHPI communities whose stories are rooted in culture, but are affected by colonization, imperialism, and oppression. Our repository serves as a place of healing, empowerment, and generational connection. The materials in the VC Archives preserve the traditions and wisdom carried down through generations, ancestral knowledge that shows us how solidarity and storytelling can guide us towards collective liberation. The Archives helps our communities trace where we have been and how far we have come.
The VC Archives serves as a living resource for community utilization, education, and artist interpretation. To date, VC materials have been used in numerous films, videos, educational materials, publications, and major exhibitions around the world.
MEET THE VC ARCHIVES STAFF
ABRAHAM FERRER, VC Archives Specialist
Abraham Ferrer (he/him) is a longtime staff member at VC. A studio art major while at UCLA, Abe has served in numerous capacities at VC since coming aboard in 1985, ranging from collateral, identity and publication design, exhibition design and fabrication, training and education assistance, and public presentation in the areas of film and media exhibitions and photographic exhibitions. He has extensively utilized the still and moving image collections in VC’s Archives as both a creator and user, and has additionally written extensively on a variety of subjects pertaining to Asian American and Pacific Islander art, cinema, and popular culture.
CHEEYEON PARK, VC Archives UCLA MLIS Intern
Cheeyeon Park (she/her) is a second-year MLIS student specializing in Archival Studies and pursuing a graduate concentration in Asian American Studies. Before beginning her MLIS, she worked as a book buyer for a contemporary art bookstore affiliated with a global art book distributor in New York City, and later in bilingual art publishing in Seoul. These experiences made her increasingly aware of the transnational inequities that shape which histories, languages, and narratives gain visibility across borders. Her interest in how artists and histories are documented and made visible now informs her work as the UCLA Community Archives Mellon Intern at the Visual Communications Archives.
GILLIAN GEE, VC Archives Specialist
Gillian Gee (she/her) is a proud Chinese and Filipino archivist serving as one of the caretakers of the VC Archives. She earned degrees in English & Gender and Women’s Studies from UC Berkeley, and became involved in community work through the Asian Pacific American Student Development office. At Berkeley, she was inspired by student movements in the 1960s and 1970s, and explored the intersections between community, history, and storytelling. Organizing with her community became the catalyst for Gillian to earn her MLIS from UCLA, where she focused her studies on community archives and their impact on intergenerational healing and community connections. Through her work in the VC Archives, she honors the people that came before her with the preservation of their experiences. When she’s not exploring libraries and archives, Gillian can be found baking sweet treats or writing silly stories with her friends.
KAYLEEN KIM, VC Archives, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Kayleen Kim (she/her) is a 4th-year at UCLA majoring in Public Affairs and minoring in Music Industry. Born in Los Angeles and raised in Chino Hills, she is a second-generation Korean American who loves music, dance, and connecting with people through their stories. Through her involvement in UCLA’s Samahang Modern Dance team and her work in artist support and interpretation at KCON LA and other live events, she has explored how arts can bring people from different backgrounds together. Her interest in entertainment and community storytelling drew her to Visual Communications, where she hopes to preserve Asian American histories and make them accessible to a wider audience. Working with the archives firsthand has encouraged her to appreciate the everyday lives, relationships, and experiences captured in photographs and films. She looks forward to discovering the stories within these collections and helping others connect with them. Kayleen can be found learning the latest dances, baking something sweet, or snacking.
JASON TIANGCO, VC Archives Operations Manager
Jason Tiangco (he/him) is a Filipino-American creative from Harbor City, CA, and the Archives Manager at Visual Communications. As caretaker of the VC Archives, he works towards the preservation and access of Asian Pacific American materials. Jason aspires to create safe spaces for underrepresented communities including individuals with disabilities, deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals, and those dealing with mental illness. A 2021 graduate of CSU Long Beach with a BA in Film and Electronic Arts, Jason brings a deep-rooted passion for cinema and dreams of changing the world through the arts. He works to inspire generations of all ages to channel their personal stories and internal struggles into healthy, artistic outlets. He finds renewal in traveling the world, going to shows, and getting lost in new spaces with a camera.
LAUREN KIM, VC Archives, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Lauren Kim (she/her) is a senior at UCLA pursuing degrees in Sociology and Public Affairs. Lauren has a lifelong love for stories and is dedicated to finding ways to preserve them. She is the president of RefineLA, a sustainable fashion collective and a music journalist at UCLA Radio. Lauren has also led communications strategies at KCRW, Flaunt Magazine, Perfectly Imperfect, Depop, and more. Lauren was born and raised in Los Angeles, and looks forward to exploring the rich history of the diasporic communities she grew up with. She is passionate about the arts as a catalyst for social change and strongly believes that an attentiveness to the past is a precursor to progress. She looks forward to cataloging, digitizing, and creating communications materials for the archives. In her free time, you can probably find Lauren sampling speciality lattes, sketching with her oil pastels, or knitting under a tree.
CONTACT US
If you're interested in using materials from the VC Archives for an exhibition, showcase, article, or educational resource, please complete this form or email us archives@vcmedia.org