In honor of America’s 250th anniversary, MOCA will dedicate 2026 to celebrating the enduring contributions of Chinese Americans. Through special exhibitions, public programs, performances, and storytelling, MOCA will be honoring Chinese American historymakers not included on the official list created for the National Garden of American Heroes in Washington, D.C. The MOCA Luminaries for America250 span historical eras and pursuits, but they are all individuals who are deserving of recognition for upholding and embodying American ideals of equality, fairness, inclusivity, hard work, civility and creativity. See the complete list below.

The Luminaries, compiled by MOCA staff and scholarly advisors, includes those who are already household names like Bruce Lee and I.M. Pei, to more obscure figures like Dr. Faith Sai So Leong, the first Chinese American woman to be a licensed dentist. We recognize individuals who played a central role in major historical events like Vincent Chin and Mamie Tape as well as some of the first documented Chinese in America like Afong Moy, brought to New York to help sell Chinese products in the mid-19th century and Ashing, Achun, and Accun, crew members aboard a merchant ship that landed in Baltimore in 1785. The MOCA Luminaries have a local flavor with Chinatown legends like influential community leaders Harold Lee and Shui Mak Ka, a key organizer of the 1982 Chinatown garment workers’ strike.

Our year of semiquincentennial programming includes biographical exhibitions about award-winning children’s book illustrator Ed Young (opening in May) and Hollywood icon Anna May Wong (opening in October). In the spring, we will be unveiling a newly-donated mural by seminal Asian American artist Dong Kingman. For AAPI Heritage Month in May, we will be exploring the multi-faceted life of activist Wong Chin Foo through a one-man performance by Richard Chang.

Check back on our website and social media @mocanyc for program updates and ticketing.