Our History
THE NEW YORK KOREAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (NYKPAC) is a 501(c) non-profit performance company that endeavors to preserve, cultivate, and disseminate traditional Korean culture in the North America
Members of The New York Korean Performing Arts Center (NYKPAC) consist of professionals of the Korean traditional music and dance from Korean-American community in New York area who are dedicate to promoting intercultural understanding and appreciation of Korea’s artistic heritage and history.
The organization founded in 1986 by Sue Yeon Park as the 'Korean Traditional Arts Community.' Along with growing community support, the association later adopted its name, Korean Traditional Performing Arts Association (KTPAA) in 1990. In 1993, the organization was formally recognized by the State of New York as a non-profit organization, and since 1998, it has been receiving annual grants from the Folk Arts Program of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). In 2010, KTPAA opened a studio (currently closed), The New York Korean Performing Arts Center (NYKPAC) near Korean Town in midtown Manhattan to get close to the Korean community. The organization officially changed the name from Korean Traditional Performing Arts Association (KTPAA) to The New York Korean Performing Arts Center (NYKPAC) since then. The organization has played an instrumental role in instilling pride of Korean culture to second generation Korean American and Korean adoptee, and in fostering intercultural dialogue with the American society at large.
SUE YEON PARK 박수연 Founder & Artistic Director 2008 NEA National Heritage Fellow
Sue Yeon Park learned dance and music from Master Yi Mae-Bang, designated a Living National Treasure by the Government of Korea. She herself has now been given the honorific titles of yisuja for achieving the highest level of mastery of the salpuri-chum (Shaman ritual dance) and seungmu (Buddhist ritual dance) by the Ministry of Culture of South Korea. Immigrating to the United States in 1982, she founded the cultural group Korean Traditional Performing Arts Association (changed to The New York Korean Performing Arts Center in 2010) in order to teach young people and to continue performing Korean music and dance traditions. In 2004, Sue Yeon Park received the New York State Governor’s Award for Excellence for her contributions to the presentation and preservation of Korean traditional arts. In 2008 Sue Yeon Park was named as a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow. She received this honor as a Korean musician and dancer in recognition of her work, for nearly three decades, bringing traditional Korean arts to American audiences. She is the first Korean American artist to receive this honor. Her performing group Sounds of Korea has been featured at festivals and in performing centers across the United States. Park also has been a regular instructor at Camp Friendship, an organization in New Jersey that serves Korean-born adopted children. One of her nominators says of her: "She is humble, selfless, poised, and unswerving in her strength of mind to share with and teach people about Korean traditional arts."