Sold Out Opening Reception for 2023 Spring Exhibitions
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.
“I live in the city of Malden...Malden is one of the most diverse cities in Massachusetts. It is a blue-collar town, and there’s over 70 languages spoken in its public school system...Our communities of color were very under-represented in vaccinations in the beginning of the pandemic, and... I really appreciated our mutual aid groups in Malden... those graphics and that [vaccination] outreach are 100% done by them... I wanted to highlight the beauty of some of the community care of Malden.”
Shaina Lu speaking at Opening Reception, Photo Credit: Mel Taing
“My pieces were really thinking about how we survive apocalypses together, and I found a lot of guidance and wisdom in the learnings and leadership of folks who have been surviving and navigating apocalypses many many times over, even before the lockdown, whether it’s surviving the apocalypses of colonialism of an ableist world, of racism, of police violence, and so a lot of my pieces are rooted in that leadership.”
Payal Kumar speaking at Opening Reception, Photo Credit: Mel Taing
Wen-ti Tsen, whose artwork is featured in both exhibitions talked about the intentions behind his work, the Chinatown Workers Statues Project.
“It’s to celebrate the working people of Chinatown. At the same time, I think it’s going to celebrate all the working people in America.”
Wen-ti Tsen speaking at Opening Reception, Photo Credit: Mel Taing
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.
Call and Response: Illustration in Uncertain Time artists, Photo Credit: Mel Taing
Read about the exhibition in local press!
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