East West Bank Pledges Record Gift to USC Pacific Asia Museum, Funding All Exhibitions For Next 20 Years

Pasadena-based East West Bank will sponsor all exhibitions at USC Pacific Asia Museum for the next two decades under a gift the university describes as the largest single donation in the museum’s history.

The Pasadena-based bank announced the commitment January 22 at its North Los Robles Avenue world headquarters. The museum sits less than a block away, at 46 North Los Robles Avenue. Under the agreement, the bank will also underwrite free museum admission during the week of Lunar New Year, throughout Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May, and on opening and closing weekends of major exhibitions.

The first exhibition under the new sponsorship, “Mythical Creatures: The Stories We Carry,” opens February 14. Admission will be free that opening weekend, February 14-15, and again during Lunar New Year week, February 18-22.

“The arts have always been a core part of USC’s mission to enrich the human mind and spirit,” USC Interim President Beong-Soo Kim said in a statement. “East West Bank shares our commitment to build understanding, encourage dialogue, and connect our global community through art.”

Kim, who became interim president in July 2025, is the first Asian American to lead USC. His parents both attended graduate school at the university.

Three museum spaces have been renamed in recognition of the gift: the East West Bank Exhibition Hall, the East West Bank Galleries, and the East West Bank Courtyard. The dollar amount of the gift was not disclosed.

“Art is a universal language that speaks to us across time and place and illuminates our shared human experience,” said Dominic Ng, chairman and CEO of East West Bank and a USC trustee. “East West Bank’s philosophy is rooted in the belief that art has the power to build bridges, connecting cultures, communities and generations.”

Ng, who was born in Hong Kong and moved to the United States to study at the University of Houston, joined East West Bank in 1991 and became CEO in 1992. Under his leadership, the bank has grown from a savings and loan association into a commercial bank with assets of $80.8 billion, according to the company’s most recent financial report.

The museum’s director, Bethany Montagano, said the gift will allow the institution to pursue a new direction.

“The East West Bank Exhibition Hall, Galleries and Courtyard will become dynamic spaces where science and art, research and imagination, and past and future converge — and where art meets people right where they are,” Montagano said.

USC Pacific Asia Museum is the first university museum in the United States dedicated to the arts and cultures of Asia and the Pacific Islands. Its collection includes more than 13,000 objects spanning more than 5,000 years. The museum was founded in 1971 and became part of USC in December 2013.

“Mythical Creatures: The Stories We Carry,” the exhibition opening February 14, was conceived by Los Angeles-based Korean American artist and muralist Dave Young Kim. The museum-wide installation spans 12 rooms and draws approximately 100 objects from the museum’s collection, blending them with new media technology and works by more than 20 contemporary artists.

Visitors will move through environments including a shadowy night crossing, a reconstructed airplane cabin with wraparound video, and an immigrant’s first apartment. Dragons, cranes, guardian spirits, and shapeshifters appear throughout as metaphors for the immigrant experience.

The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Parking is free in the museum lot at the corner of Los Robles Avenue and Union Street. More information is available at pacificasiamuseum.usc.edu.

The next free admission period begins February 14-15 for the exhibition opening weekend, followed by free Lunar New Year week admission February 18-22 and free admission throughout May for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

“We are proud to support institutions like USC and USC PAM that share this mission,” Ng said, “helping us reach further together and expand horizons.”