Boston, MA - 150 people braved the rain to celebrate the opening of Pao Arts Center’s two spring gallery exhibitions, Call and Response: Illustrations in Uncertain Times and Workers Statues in Chinatown by Wen-ti Tsen.

Photos by Mel Taing

The two exhibitions showcase the work of 17 artists and artist groups, including both exhibiting artists and the Call and Response zine artists. The Workers Statues in Chinatown by Wen-ti Tsen exhibition displays four sets of clay statues, honoring workers who historically sustained the Chinese immigrant community, which will eventually be cast into life-size bronze statues to be permanently displayed throughout Chinatown. The project is a celebration and amplification of history through art, responding to a long absence of these stories in mainstream public memory. Similarly, the Call and Response: Illustration in Uncertain Times exhibition showcases the way illustration has been, and continues to be, a crucial form of communication and expression to respond to individual and community needs. The exhibition wall showcases the work of seven artists with different artistic styles and different motivations for their pieces, from disseminating essential public health information, to sharing community prayers that remind us to allow space for vulnerability and community care. 

During the reception, each artist had a chance to talk about their work and artistic process. Many spoke about the people and organizations that lifted them and their communities up during the pandemic and inspired their artwork. 

Wen-ti Tsen, whose artwork is featured in both exhibitions talked about the intentions behind his work, the Chinatown Workers Statues Project.

The Call and Response: Illustration in Uncertain Times exhibition also includes a robust zine library that features the work of 10 additional artists and organizations. Curated by our Spring 2023 Pao Arts Center interns, the library highlights a variety of artistic styles and themes that resonated with them as young people growing up through the pandemic, including: Chinatown history, self-love, environmental justice, LGBTQ+ representation, food, Asian American identity, family, fiction, and grieving.

Earlier in the night, the Pao Arts Center theater had been transformed into an indoor artist market. After the artist speeches, the exhibiting and zine artists connected with reception attendees and sold zines, prints, posters, and other works.

Photos by Mel Taing

Our Spring Exhibitions Opening Reception was a lively celebration of the abundant AAPI creative talent in the Greater Boston area, as well as a celebration of the power of the arts to express and document complex histories and emotions during critical times. 

Read about the exhibition in local press!

• Boston Globe, “New exhibits at Pao Arts Center create spaces for community reflection,” Abigail Lee

• Boston Art Review, “‘Call and Response’ Imagines a Radical Collective Future in the Midst of Isolation,” Elisa Rowe

Call and Response: Illustration in Uncertain Times is curated by Leslie Anne Condon

The exhibition’s zine library is curated by Spring 2023 Pao Arts Center interns: Rachel Liang, Christina Yang, and Steven Zhu