*At Home in Chinatown* Opening Reception, Photo Credit: Mel Taing

Join us for the opening of our next gallery, At Home in Chinatown: A Residence Lab Retrospective, an exhibition highlighting four years of Pao Arts Center’s unique Residence Lab Arts Residency program (ResLab), in partnership with the Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC). The opening reception will take place on Thursday, July 27, from 5:30 to 8:30 pm at Pao Arts Center. The exhibition will be on view from July 27 through October 13, 2023. Learn more about ResLab and stay tuned for more details.

The closing exhibition, At Home in Chinatown: A Residence Lab Retrospective, features six past projects by artist-resident teams from each year that gives insight into ResLab’s distinctive creative process.

Participating Artists and Residents: (‘19) Tarik Bartel, Joyce Chen, and Maggie Chen, (‘19) Crystal Bi, Lily Xie , Pihua Lin, and Yuyi Li, (‘20) Maria Fong, Sylvia Chen, and Po Chun Chow, (‘21) Yuko Okabe, Kathy Wu Amy Lam, and Elaine Liang, (‘22) Ann Dinh Alison M, and Winnie Yuen, and (‘22) Amanda Beard Garcia, Yanna Chen, and Xingyao He.

Curated by: Lily Song, an urban planner, scholar-activist, and Assistant Professor of Race, Social Justice & the Built Environment at Northeastern University.

History of Residence Lab

Since 2019, local artists and Chinatown residents have taken part in Residence Lab (ResLab), a yearly artist residency that activates spaces in Boston Chinatown through culturally affirming co-designed public art. Over the last four years, this community-driven residency program has contributed to Chinatown’s contemporary cultural identity and spaces. Community members, program alumni, and the public are invited to celebrate the conclusion of the ResLab program with this retrospective exhibition and reception, interactive workshop, and September alumni panel.

ResLab’s curriculum merged neighborhood histories with unique strategies for creating community-centered public art while highlighting the dignity, vibrancy, and imagination of its inhabitants in the face of a long history of gentrification and institutional neglect toward Chinatown residents. The resulting projects, co-designed by artist and resident fellows, were temporarily installed each year at key sites across Chinatown.

Each year, Pao Arts Center and ACDC selected a theme to inspire and inform the program’s workshops and co-creative public installations, based on the 2020 Chinatown Master Plan. Past activation sites and themes include the Chinatown Backyard at the Hudson Street Lot (“Oasis” + “Portal”), Mary Soo Hoo Park (“Collective Care”), and the Tufts Community Common on the Tufts University’s Health Sciences Campus (“Radical Inclusion”).

Register for the opening reception

Upcoming Public Program Dates at Pao Arts Center

Opening Reception: Thursday, July 27, 5:30 – 8:30 pm

“Remembering and Remaking Chinatown” Workshop: Thursday, July 27, 6:00 – 7:45 pm

Residence Lab Alumni Spotlight Panel: Saturday, September 23, 1:00 – 3:00 pm

Contact arts@bcnc.net for more information

About the Artists

Tarik Bartel

Tarik Bartel (they/them) is a trans and non-binary Thai-American artist based in Providence, RI. Tarik is a photographer, an award-winning filmmaker, and a spoken word poet. Tarik has worked as a teaching artist, youth worker, and community organizer in the Greater Boston area since 2014. Tarik is passionate about: making art more accessible, letting young people do things, and the color yellow.

Tarik Bartel (他們) 是在羅德島州普羅維登斯 (Providence, RI) 的跨性別和非二元性別泰裔美國藝術家。 Tarik 是一位攝影師、屢獲殊榮的電影製片人和口語詩人。自 2014 年以來，Tarik 一直在大波士頓地區擔任教學藝術家、青年工作者和社區組織者。Tarik 熱衷於：讓藝術變得更容易接觸，讓年輕人做事情，以及黃色。

Crystal Bi

Crystal Bi (she/they) is a queer, first generation, mixed race, Taiwanese American, multimedia artist working in the public realm. Her participatory art projects explore themes of radical imagination, creative archiving, and belonging. As a public artist, educator at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, former Boston Public School art teacher and former Creative Civic Design Lead with Design Studio for Social Intervention, Crystal works with communities to design creative interventions that imagine possible futures. She is currently fulfilling a dream of building a phone booth through the Public Art for Spatial Justice cohort.

Crystal Bi(她/他們)是一名酷兒，第一代混血兒，台裔美國人，在公共領域工作的多媒體藝術家。她的參與性藝術項目探索激進的想像、創意歸檔和歸屬感等主題。作為一名公共藝術家、麻省藝術與設計學院(Massachusetts College of Art and Design)的教育家、波士頓公立學校(Boston Public School)的前藝術教師和社會幹預設計工作室(Design Studio for Social Intervention)的前創意城市設計主管，Crystal 與社區合作設計創意幹預措施，以想像可能的未來。她目前正在通過空間正義的公共藝術(Public Art Spatial Justice)團隊實現建造電話亭的夢想。

Lily Xie

Lily Xie (she/they) is a Chinese-American artist and educator whose socially-engaged work explores desire, memory, and self-actualization for communities at the margins. In collaboration with local residents and grassroots organizers, she facilitates creative projects with a focus on public space, housing, and racial justice. The work they create together often takes the form of animation, print media, and public art. Lily is currently an Artist-in-Residence for the City of Boston.

Lily Xie（她）是一位美籍華人藝術家和教育家，她參與的社會作品探索邊緣社區的慾望、記憶和自我實現。她與當地居民和基層組織者合作，推動了一些專注於公共空間、住房和種族正義的創意項目。他們共同創作的作品是通常採用動畫、印刷媒體和公共藝術的形式。 Lily 目前是波士頓市(City of Boston)的藝術家駐留。

Maria Fong

Maria Fong (they/them) is an artist from Berkeley, California. A 2021 graduate of the BFA program at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, they work in hand drawn and stop motion animation, drawing, performance art, and bookmaking. Maria's collaborative artworks explore racialized and politicized spaces, community building, and participatory storytelling.

Maria Fong（他們）是一位來自加利福尼亞州伯克利(Berkeley, California)的藝術家。他們於2021年畢業於塔夫茨大學美術館學校(the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University)的藝術學士學位，從事手繪和定格動畫、繪畫、表演藝術和書籍製作工作。 Maria的合作藝術作品探索種族化和政治化的空間、社區建設和參與性的故事講述。

Kathy Wu

Kathy Wu (she/they) is an artist, writer, and educator based in Providence RI (Narragansett). She is currently an MFA candidate at Brown University Literary Arts where she is working on an artist book about histories of science, place and space. She also loves to make zines and facilitate bookmaking and art workshops, and is passionate about community art practices and holding space for young people.

Kathy Wu（她/他們）是一位居住在普羅維登斯羅德島州 (Providence RI)（納拉甘西特 Narragansett）的藝術家、作家和教育家。她目前是布朗大學 (Brown University) 文學藝術學院的藝術碩士候選人，正在撰寫一本關於科學、地方和空間歷史的藝術書籍。她還喜歡製作雜誌、促進書籍製作和藝術研討會，並熱衷於社區藝術實踐和為年輕人提供空間。

Yuko Okabe

Yuko Okabe (she/they) is an illustrator and cultural worker playing at the intersection of youthful whimsy and community engagement. She likes making characters, stories, curriculums, murals, and other colorful things.

Yuko Okabe(她/他們)是一位插畫家和文化工作者，在年輕人奇思妙想的想法和社區參與的交叉點上遊玩。她喜歡製作人物、故事、課程、壁畫和其他豐富多彩的東西。

Ann Dinh

Ann (she/they) is an emerging designer based in Philadelphia, specializing in industrial design, architecture, and graphic visualization. She recently graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, earning her Master of Industrial Design. Ann's approach involves developing products tailored to the needs of particular communities, ensuring that context and culture are thoughtfully embedded in the product's form and materiality.

Ann(她/他們)是費城 (Philadelphia) 的一名新興設計師，專業於工業設計、建築和圖形可視化。她最近從羅得島設計學院 (Rhode Island School of Design) 畢業，獲得了工業設計碩士學位。 Ann的設計方法包括開發適合特定社區需求的產品，確保環境和文化被深思熟慮地嵌入到產品的形式和材料中。

Amanda Beard Garcia

Amanda Beard Garcia (she/they) is a multiracial Chinese American muralist, illustrator, and brand designer. She holds a BFA in Illustration from RISD. Her work typically incorporates punchy colors, typography, and portraiture while exploring concepts surrounding belonging and activism. Amanda is principal of Likemind Design, a custom mural and branding studio in Dracut, MA. She has been a participant of many local public art initiatives and has designed custom artwork and brand identities for small businesses all over Greater Boston.

Amanda Beard Garcia (她/他們) 是一位多種族的華裔美國壁畫家、插畫家和品牌設計師。她擁有羅德島設計學院(RISD)插畫藝術學士學位。她的作品通常結合了強烈的色彩，排版和肖像，同時探索圍繞歸屬感和行動主義的概念。 Amanda是「志同道合設計」 (Likemind Design) 的負責人，這是一家位於馬薩諸塞州德拉古特 (Dracut, MA) 的定制壁畫和品牌工作室。她參與了許多當地的公共藝術活動，並為大波士頓地區的小企業設計了定製藝術品和品牌標識。

About the Residents

Maggie Chen

Maggie Chen (she/her) is a long-time Chinatown resident leader and organizer. Boston Chinatown provided her a sense of going back to China, feeling very kind and very lively. She hopes Residence Lab can make people more focused on Chinatown. She hopes that, through this project, it can attract more young people’s attention to Chinatown, which could help this area to get more energy.

陳潔霞 (Maggie Chen) 是唐人街的長期居民領袖和組織者。波士頓唐人街給了她一種回到中國的感覺，感覺很親切和很熱鬧。她希望《居民與藝術》(Residence Lab) 能讓人們更加關注唐人街。她希望通過這個項目，能夠吸引更多年輕人對唐人街的關注，讓這個地區獲得更多的活力。

Joyce Chen

Joyce Chen (she/her) is a long-time resident and active community member in Chinatown. Joyce is a mother with three children, whose daily life is made easier with access to Chinatown. She hopes for her children to pass the Chinatown culture on to the next generation.

彩嬌 (Joyce Chen) (她) 是唐人街的長期居民和活躍的社區成員。彩嬌是三名孩子的母親，住在唐人街使她們更方便出入。她希望她的孩子們能把唐人街的文化傳到下一代。

Pihua Lin

Pihua Lin (she/her), a resident of Chinatown for 13 years, joined Residence Lab with the goal of preserving Chinatown's culture and creating more resources and opportunities for immigrants. Pihua works in an after-school tutoring program in Chinatown. She believes that the art created at Residence Lab can be expressed as a resident and reflect the needs of the community.

林碧華 (Pihua Lin) (她) 在唐人街居住了十三年，她加入《居民與藝術》(Residence Lab) 的目的是保護唐人街的文化和為移民創造更多的資源和機會。碧華是在唐人街的一個課後輔導班工作。她相信在《居民與藝術》(Residence Lab) 創作的藝術可以作為居民來表達並反映社區的需求。

Sylvia Chen

Sylvia Chen (she/her) has lived in Chinatown for 8 years and lived in Quincy before that. She is a mom of two kids and cares about transportation, community safety and health. Sylvia likes arts and nature and wants to make new friends and learn new things. She is interested in design, sketching, animation, and cooking, etc.

陳曉儀 (Sylvia Chen) (她) 之前住昆士，現在在唐人街住了八年。她有兩個孩子。她關心交通，社區安全及衛生。她喜歡藝術與自然，結交新的朋友與學習新事物。她對設計、素描、動漫、烹飪等都很感興趣。

Po Chun

Po Chun (she/her) has lived in Chinatown for six years and is excited about learning other people's stories. Po Chun cares about the cleanliness of Chinatown and is interested in Cooking, Gardening, and Knitting.

寶珍 (Po Chun) (她) 已經在唐人街住了七年，對於了解別人的故事感到很興奮。寶珍關心唐人街的清潔，並對烹飪、園藝和針織感興趣。

Elaine Liang (农英)

Elaine Liang (农英) (she/her) has lived in Chinatown for 12 years and works at Asian American Civic Association as daycare worker. She cares about environmental sanitation and Chinatown history. Elaine enjoys theater, dancing, film, and gardening. She looks forward to collaborating with artists to co-create artworks that make people say “this is about care.”

梁農英 (Elaine Liang) (她) 在唐人街生活了12年，在華美福利會(Asian American Civic Association)擔任日托工作者。她關心環境衛生和唐人街的歷史。農英喜歡戲劇、舞蹈、電影、烹飪和園藝。她期待著與藝術家合作，共同創作出讓人們說：「這就是關愛」的藝術作品。

Amy Lam

Amy Lam (林丽莹) (she/her) is a Chinatown resident who is passionate about learning, creating cultural knowledge and resources to help one another, and improving the environment to be more healthy for all. At ResLab, she wants to see artwork that highlights important Chinatown issues, such as better air quality, clean environment, and more peace.

林麗瑩 (Amy Lam) (她) 是唐人街居民，她熱衷於學習、創造文化知識和資源，以幫助彼此和改善環境，讓所有人都更健康。在《居民與藝術》(ResLab) ，她希望看到能夠突出唐人街重要問題的藝術作品，例如更好的空氣質量、更清潔的環境和更加和平。

Alison M

Alison (she/they) is a Black-Puerto Rican resident of Chinatown. She has lived in Chinatown for about 1 year. They are interested in gardening, poetry/writing, painting, film, music and interactive art.
“As a resident, what I want people to know about Chinatown is the history beyond the tourism and superficial. Such as how there was a movement for women to join the workforce when a telephone switching station was first built on Essex Street. I also want people to know the neighborhood had a diverse history of Irish, Syrian, Italian immigrants prior to the migration of Chinese immigrants migrating from San Francisco to Boston.”

Alison(她/他们) 是一位黑波多黎各的唐人街居民，在唐人街生活一年了。 Alison對園藝、詩歌/寫作、繪畫、電影、音樂和互動藝術感興趣。

「作為一名居民，我希望人們了解唐人街不只是一個旅遊地方和表面的歷史。例如，在Essex街首次建立電話交換站時，唐人街居民曾組織讓女性加入勞動力。我還想讓人們知道，在舊金山華裔移民遷移到波士頓之前，這個社區有愛爾蘭、敘利亞、意大利移民的多樣化歷史。」

Manchu “Winnie” Yuen

Manchu “Winnie” Yuen (she/her) has lived in Chinatown for 15 years. She is interested in food, swimming, videos and art.
“What I want people to know about Chinatown is its culture and background, [because] if everyone understands these, they can understand each other more and break social barriers.”
Looking back at ResLab: “I very much enjoyed the whole event. I just so enjoy every moment. Every minute. Thanks May for bringing me to this program.”

阮曼珠 (Manchu "Winnie" Yuen) (她) 在唐人街生活15年了。她對美食、游泳、視頻和藝術感興趣。
「我想讓人們了解唐人街的文化和背景，[因為] 如果大家都了解這些，他們可以互相包容和打破社會障礙。」
回顧《居民與藝術》(ResLab)：「我非常享受整個活動。我享受每一分每一刻。感謝May邀請我參加這次活動。」

Xingyao He

Xingyao (she/her) has lived in Chinatown for 11 years. As a resident, she wants people to learn about Chinatown and Chinese culture. As a ResLab participant, she enjoyed communicating and learning with her team. She has made many new friends and feels honored to have been in the program.

何杏瑤 (Xingyao) (她) 在唐人街生活11年了。身為居民，她希望人們了解唐人街和中國文化。作為《居民與藝術》(ResLab)的參與者，她對與團隊交流和學習很感興趣。她交了很多新朋友，也很榮幸能參加這個項目。

Yanna Chen (陈燕娜)

Yanna (陈燕娜) (she/her) has lived in Chinatown for 9 years. She is passionate about the lives and health of Chinatown residents and the future of Chinatown.
ResLab has made her realize the many meaningful community events happening in the community. She has also made many new friends and hopes to attend more events in the future. She enjoys living life without worry.

陳燕娜 (Yanna Chen) (她) 在唐人街生活9年了。她對唐人街居民的生活、健康、以及唐人街的未來感興趣.
《居民與藝術》(ResLab)讓燕娜讓認識了原來在社區有這麼多有意義的項目。她也認識了很多新朋友。她希望未來還要多多參加這些活動。她享受無憂無慮的生活。

At Home in Chinatown: A Residence Lab Retrospective Exhibition