The Lunar Foundation, an organization that advocates for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) artists in Greater Austin, is launching a new initiative to gather data on its community's needs. At a public launch party on June 4, the foundation will also launch a speaker series and raise funds for the Austin-based Japanese-American punk band Peelander-Z, who were injured in a tour van crash.

The launch party will take place at the Hope Outdoor Gallery, a once-defunct graffiti gallery that reopened in late 2025.

Called "Austin Creates Together: Greater Austin's Survey on AANHPI Arts and Culture," the initiative will survey AANHPI artists with help from Nielsen, a large media audience measurement firm. A press release says the survey will cover "how their cultural work is created, experienced, and supported within Austin’s changing cultural landscape." Nielsen's volunteers through the Data for Good program helped design and create the survey.

Lunar Foundation executive director Andrew Lee explains that there is little data available about the intersections of AANHPI artists' careers, cultural identities, and economic stability while seeking new opportunities. Learning more about the community will help the foundation decide what to prioritize going forward.

"We're not just programming events, we're working to build real economic pathways for AANHPI artists," said Lee in the release. "Our artists shouldn't have to build careers that depend on perpetual fundraising. We're designing an economic development model that helps them earn sustainable income through their craft."

The launch party, hosted in partnership with the Hope Campaign, will serve to announce the survey and sign people up via registration stations. It will also draw folks in with DJ tunes and food trucks. Those who miss the event can still stop by and register for the survey in person until July 31.

While at the launch event, attendees can help support Peelander-Z by donating to an existing GoFundMe campaign that has raised nearly $200,000 at the time of this article's publication. A $20 donation at the event gets the donor a free T-shirt from NightMarket.fun (a nonprofit festival by the foundation), and guests can also buy Peelander-Z merch with 100 percent of proceeds going to the band. The three bandmembers have a serious recovery ahead of them, but other music industry community members have been stepping up to support them.

"Peelander-Z are beloved in Austin and a true expression of the joyful, boundary-breaking spirit that AANHPI artists bring to this city,” said Lee. “They've always been so generous with their talent, including performing at our inaugural NightMarket.fun. When we heard what happened, it felt right to make space at our launch[.]"

Finally, June marks the launch of the Illuminate Speaker Series, which will spotlight "distinguished AANHPI artists and industry professionals," the release says. Each moderated discussion will be free for anyone to attend, with a Q&A and community networking built in.

The Lunar Foundation is collecting RSVPs for the launch event via Partiful. The event runs from 5-8 pm at 741 Dalton Ln.