Residence Lab 2020
The 2020 cohort viewed the pandemic as a portal. A group of six Chinatown residents and local artists built connections and used their neighborhood expertise and creative skills to build the Chinatown that they want to see on the other side of COVID-19. Through a series of Zoom workshops and co-creation sessions, this extraordinary group of individuals worked in teams to transform some of the most notoriously underutilized and unwelcoming corners of Chinatown into beloved, resident-centered spaces.
Have You Eaten Yet?, 2020
Krina Patel, Dianyvet Serrano, and Angela Soo Hoo
Wheat paste mural on 8 Hudson St
“Have you eaten yet?” is a cultural term of endearment, a caring way of inquiring about your well- being. Food is a portal to the culture and heritage of a community. The project is a celebration of Chinatown’s living heritage, of the community’s memories and the city of Boston. The centerpiece of the installation is a map of Chinatown that invites you to explore Chinatown by visiting places that are meaningful to the residents and neighbors of Chinatown. These are the sites that reveal our culture and heritage. This is the neighborhood where we live, work, and play.
优化唐人街 Slow Down For Chinatown, 2020
Maria Fong, Po Chun Chow, and Sylvia Chen
Window installation on 35 Kneeland St and 66 Hudson St
This is our Chinatown family, enjoying their neighborhood and each other's company through food, play, and art making. We urge drivers to slow down and pay attention to pedestrian's safety and humanity because the intersections were not built for Chinatown residents. We need to protect each other when crossing the street because our families are our superpowers.
Pedestrians feeling unsafe stems from the design of traffic infrastructure around Chinatown. Highways were built through and around the area, resulting in many speeding cars. In addition to our sign appealing to individual drivers, we are advocating to the Boston Transportation Department to demand more pedestrian safety infrastructure. Participants in our project draw on worksheets, which we will compile and send to the Transportation Department. Their drawings show who needs to cross the street and where they are going in their community.
Residence Lab 2020 Podcast
Listen to this podcast and follow the Residence Lab journey through the educational workshops! Each episode is dedicated to a workshop that the cohort members participated in. Not only will you get a taste of the Residence Lab process but you’ll be able to hear our cohort members build connection with each other.
Cohort
Maria Fong is an artist from Berkeley, California. This fall, she will enter her fourth year in the BFA program at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. Maria is dedicated to making work that tells silenced stories and fosters interaction between people. Her collaborative artworks explore racialized and politicized spaces, community building, and expansive Asian American identities.
Sylvia Chen has lived in Chinatown for five years and lived in Quincy before that. She cares about transportation, public health, and cleanliness in the neighborhood. Sylvia likes arts and nature and wants to make new friends and learn new things. She is interested in Storytelling, Graphic Design, Illustration, Drawing/painting, Movies, Photography, Cooking, Gardening, Knitting/Sewing, and Music.
Po Chun Chow 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/Sewing.
Krina Patel is a Boston based artist and educator. Krina designs and implements a number of socially relevant arts projects that engage local communities. In addition to her social and civic engagement practice, Krina engages with students in Boston’s Public Schools as a visiting artist. Krina uses a range of media both traditional and digital in her studio practice.
Dianyvet Serrano is a Chinatown resident who is excited about preserving the neighborhood's culture and opening up opportunities for people through the work of Residence Lab. Dianyvet has lived in Jamaica Plain and Philadelphia before moving to Chinatown. She is excited about working collaboratively--putting together individual pieces--to create art, and she cares about mental health in the context of this pandemic.
Angela Soo Hoo grew up in Chinatown and moved to Back Bay when she was 15, moving back to Chinatown in 2015. She cares about the safety and cleanliness of Chinatown and having indoor and outdoor play spaces in the neighborhood. Chinatown is her home and she is excited about shaping it for the better. She wants people to know that Chinatown, like all neighborhoods, is a place where people live and raise their families.
Our Supporters
Special thanks to Tufts Medical Center