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This September, the public is invited to get a first peek inside Chinatown’s iconic Empress of China building at a free, festive, and family-friendly community open house on Saturday, September 12, 2026 from 11am-4pm. Newly acquired in 2026 by the Chinatown Media & Arts Collaborative (CMAC), The Empress enters a new era of community stewardship as a hub for arts and culture in Chinatown with this joyous housewarming event featuring opening performances, artist-created archival photo and film projections, hands-on art and wellness activities, and more.
Long a home for celebrations, civic gatherings, and the collective memories of generations of Chinatown families, The Empress, built in 1966 and celebrating its 60th year, was shuttered in 2016 and has been closed to the public since. Now, CMAC is transforming the iconic landmark into a cultural campus where artists, cultural organizations, and neighborhood residents will collectively shape exhibitions, performances, public art, and community programming—ensuring that The Empress continues to evolve as a living center for creativity, belonging, and Chinatown's future.
“The Chinese name for this open house event is 皇后有請, which translates to ‘The Empress is Inviting You In.’ We hope people will walk through these doors, feel a deep sense of ownership, and recognize that this space is theirs to shape,” says Mabel Teng, co-Executive Director, CMAC. “CMAC was founded on the conviction that Chinatown has the agency to tell and amplify its own stories, and our transformation of the iconic Empress of China is a vital step in this direction.
“CMAC is undergoing long-range planning to transform this landmark into a dynamic cultural campus—a place where the community and visitors can find a safe sense of belonging. This open house is a warm invitation to everyone to join the conversation. Together, we can transform Grant Avenue into a constellation of art hubs driven by community architecture, design, and creativity,” says Stephen Gong, co-Executive Director, CMAC.
Open house attendees will find the first floor of The Empress reimagined by artist Summer Lee as a comfy living room that offers opportunities to gather, connect, and explore the building’s past and future. Local artists Lenore Chinn, Anna Eng, and Stephen Gong each contribute projected compilations of archival images and film that are sure to stir nostalgia for the building and neighborhood. Artist Stephan Xie contributes a community photography project that reveals the lived experience of contemporary Chinatown, and poet and calligrapher Ben Chu offers an installation of traditional couplets. Event partner RAMS, Inc. will lead hands-on art and wellness activities for all ages throughout the afternoon including shadow puppets with Caryl Kientz from Shadow Light Productions.
The afternoon begins with performances by First Nations drummer Mike Ballenger, chanting by Buddhist leaders, the Young Women’s Choral Projects, and Lion Dance ME, and ends with one of the Bay Area's most recognizable and cherished musical ambassadors, Alice Liu, who will provide a musical finish to the celebration with her group Alice and the Wave.
Says Lee, organizer of the day’s festivities, “The Empress is woven into my family's story, the place where we celebrated weddings, birthdays, and the moments that became part of who we are. To see this building return after sitting dark feels like a kind of homecoming. It can once again become a place where people gather—not only to honor the profound artistic and cultural traditions of Chinese Americans and the Chinese diaspora, but to imagine new futures together through art. We are opening the doors wide so people can wander through familiar rooms, linger with old memories, reconnect with one another, and dream together about what The Empress can become for generations to come.”
The Empress Re-Imagined is generously supported by Svane Family Foundation, Grants for the Arts, San Francisco Arts Commission, and San Francisco Foundation.
About Chinatown Media and Arts Collaborative (CMAC)
The Chinatown Media and Arts Collaborative (CMAC) is a cultural nonprofit that drives economic and social equity by preserving community-owned properties through the arts. We believe community ownership is foundational to Asian Americans shaping our own narrative, especially in solidarity with communities facing unprecedented hate and displacement.
Founded in 2017 by six leading Asian American nonprofits, CMAC unites decades of expertise across art, historic preservation, community development, and civil rights, informing our unique interdisciplinary approach.
Following the landmark acquisition of 800 Grant Ave. and the historic Empress of China building (838 Grant Ave.), we are transforming this courageous vision into an arts and cultural campus—a vibrant constellation of spaces serving as a sanctuary for belonging, imagination, and the cultural future of San Francisco.