Community is a Garden (2021)
Res Lab is an intensive co-creative residency that centers community resilience and collaboration in the arts. The 2021 cohort theme "Collective Care" called for three artist and Chinatown resident teams to contemplate the meaning of care in the midst of various pandemics that affected cross-culturally and -generationally.
"Community is a Garden" was an interactive installation where we invited Chinatown residents to ruminate on ideas of migration and growth. Illustrated scenes of care and mutual aid pair with hopeful messages written on multicolored butterflies. The flowers and pinwheels harken to conversations we had with residents around air quality and environmental justice in the park which led to creating these small garden beds that nurtured for the duration of September 2021 at Mary Soo Hoo Park.
Made in collaboration with Kathy Wu (artist), Amy Lam (resident), and Elaine Liang (resident) with support from Pao Arts Center and Asian Community Development Corporation. View artist process and snippets from co-creation sessions on the Pao Arts Center website.
Process Photos
Activation Day Photos
