Exhibitions :: Events :: Announcements :: 2019 - 2020
Unison stronger than fission: Poetry and art hold a light in hard times
By Katherine Abbott for By The Way Berkshires
Publish date: December 21, 2020
I had the pleasure of conversing with Williamstown Author+Poet Kate Abbott and Author+Poet Shann Ray about our book, Atomic Theory 7: Poems to my Wife and God. Stories of love and family and forgiveness, grief and fracture, spilled upon coffee, kitchen, and studio tables and we discussed the inspiration that helped shape the poetry and art within those pages. I feel so blessed to know them and their work and how it disperses the love and hope that is so urgently needed in the face of a dark reality. Hope resides in their writings—in tone and measure, in the color that paints scenes that flow like watercolor pouring onto calloused feet.
Thank you Kate and Shann for sharing your gifts with me.
*Photo from atop a ridge of the Berkshire Mountains by Kate Abbott
From the Snare of the Fowler in Asian American Law Journal
Volume 27 | Issue 1
Published by the Asian American Law Journal
Publish date: August 2020
With a 20 million+ Asian population here in the United States, I was surprised to learn that the Asian American Law Journal (AALJ) is one of only two law journals in the United States that focuses on Asian American communities. While we continue navigating through the current crises of immigration + refugee, displacement, and other injustices that deteriorate the well-being of Asian American communities and many others, it brings me great joy to announce that Berkeley School of Law has published my piece, From the Snare of the Fowler. This will mark the first time that artwork will have ever been included in this journal since first being published in 1993 in a joint publication with the California Law Review. AALJ’s priority is to explore the legal concerns of Asian Americans, while inciting dialogue between the practitioners of law and those who are affected by it. I am so very humbled to have this opportunity to contribute a work of art as a voice that speaks on how law has affected our experience as Asian Americans, and particularly, the refugees.
Interview to be published in 2021.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
- Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963
Check out this article to learn more about how Berkeley Law School has taken an active stance against racism.
Gathered Together in the Dark: An interview with Trinh Mai and Shann Ray by Hannah Dierdorff
Published by Ruminate Magazine
Publish Date: August 24-28, 2020
Interview will be published in a five-part series in a Review and Interview by Hannah Dierdorff
In the summer of 2018, I was introduced to the work of Shann Ray when his poignant sonnets faced my artwork in the pages of Ruminate Magazine. In winter of 2019, Shann and I began weaving our work together—a deep process in learning how his Czech+German roots and my Vietnamese roots dovetail into one another, and how war, healing, and faith has effected our family and our work. In the spring of 2020, Hannah Dierdorf interviewed the both of us, tilling our work with her thoughtfulness, inviting me to examine my work in a way that gave rise to profound revelation. Now, we share the unfolding of this process as we arrive full circle—Ruminate will be publishing our review/interview with Hannah, rolled out in a series of episodes.
My heart swells with gratitude for the opportunity to continue unfurling this experience. Sending my love to everyone involved in the evolution of this collaboration. What a marvelous gift this has been.
Seeking strength and sanctuary: Exhibit, events puts college’s focus on immigration
By Katherine Abbott for the Hill Country Observer
Publish date: October 2020
In late September, I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon chatting with Author and Journalist Kate Abbott about an upcoming group show at Gallery 51 (February - August 2021) in which I’ll be showing work alongside Sergio de la Torre and Chris Treggiari’s Sanctuary City Project and Jason De León’s Undocumented Migration Project.
Our five hours of conversation would have lent us enough time to drive up the California coast form Long Beach to San José, or as Kate described, “in the five hours of storytelling here, we could reach the coast of Maine, far enough north that the water is clear”. We discussed process (disorderly and coherent), materials (temporal, yet with the intention of archiving history in lasting ways), and heart-aching truths that lead to and through the work that speaks of migration and the plight of the Refugee People.
Thank you Ms. Kate, for gracing us with your enthusiasm and your heart and your words, ethereal.
Read Kate’s article about our upcoming show, Hostile Terrain at MCLA’s Gallery 51.
And learn more about life and happenings in the Berkshires on her website, By The Way Berkshires.
Friends of Huế Foundation 20th Year Anniversary Auction benefitting the Children’s Shelter
Dates: Throughout the holiday season and thereafter
Location: Friends of Huế on Facebook and on their website
Live exhibition and celebratory gathering: to be announced
In 2004, while still pursuing my BFA at San Jose State, I participated in my very first public exhibition, which also included a live auction to benefit the Friends of Huế Foundation Children’s Shelter. That day, I sold 4 of 6 paintings. This was a pivotal point in my artistic journey—I realized that beyond art having a positive impact in my spiritual and emotional wellbeing, it had the potential to change the lives of others in meaningful ways. Thank you, Ms. Jenny Do, for the invitation to contribute art in support of the children, both then and now.
Now, 16 years later, I am partnering with Friends of Huế , alongside several Vietnamese (American) artists, as we work toward offering our children what they need to live healthy and fulfilling lives. Friends of Huế Children’s Shelter is a necessary and thriving haven in Hue, Việt Nam whose loving staff raises her children by offering a plethora of support, education, and love that they need to grow into the greatness that they were born to become.
To date, 88 children have fledged from the Children’s Shelter with formal education and promising career paths. Your donations make this possible.
Please help us to continue raising the children who need us by donating here.
Creative Minds: Binh Danh and Trinh Mai
Location: San Jose Museum of Art, 110 S Market St, San Jose, CA 95113 Date: Thursday, November 19, 2020 Artist Talks and Q&A: 12 - 1pm Post-talk hang-out with the artists: 1 —> open
I will be a guest artist for SJMA’s Creative Minds artist talk series. Creative Minds—SJMA’s premier exploratory and participatory series—allows audiences a chance to experience creatives in action by hearing directly from artists and placemaking architects about their process, practice, innovative insight, and actively take part in the process alongside these creators.
In this iteration of Creative Minds, Trami Cron, Executive Director of Chopsticks Alley, moderates a conversation with artists Binh Danh and Trinh Mai. Both artists are featured in Hidden Heritages: San Jose’s Vietnamese Legacy, a two-year collaboration between the San José Museum of Art, Chopsticks Alley, and the City of San José Office of Cultural Affairs. Photographer Binh Danh and interdisciplinary artist Trinh Mai will discuss their work, practices, and careers through the lens of identity, inherited memory, and the immigrant experience.
Hostile Terrain Residency Artist Talk, Workshop, and Studio Visit series with Trinh Mai
Presented by the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center (BCRC) Location: Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, in the comfort of home in the zoom room Artist Talk with Trinh Mai: Wednesday, October 7, 2020 2pm EST Workshop I: Fear Not. Be Free. : Wednesday, October 14, 2020 Workshop II: Doubt Not. + Burying our Fears and Doubts: Wednesday, October 21, 2020 In celebration with MCLA’s Day of Dialogue Studio Visit with Trinh Mai: Thursday, October 29, 2020 A conversation with the Artist with Q&R throughout: Friday, October 29, 2020
As part of a 6-month residency with MCLA’s BCRC will be hosting a series of public programming that will kick-off our Hostile Terrain exhibit in Winter 2021. To contribute, I’ll be doing an artist talks, some creative workshops, and virtual studio visits, during which I’ll discuss concept development, inspiration, how projects can inform each other. I’ll share ephemera and materials and talk about how they help in storytelling, and some developing projects that will be on display in Hostile Terrain.
In February 2021, the Hostile Terrain exhibit at BCRC/Gallery 51 will feature the public engagement works of Jason De León (the Undocumented Migration Project), and artists Sergio De La Torre and Chris Treggiari (Sanctuary City Project). This collective show focuses on the current immigration crisis, the wounds that have been afflicted upon families by unjust practices of law, the lives that have been damaged by the abuses of power, and the hope we have for the future as we continue making art for and with the People.
Thank you to our partners who have participated in our efforts to help make visible the plight of our refugees:
Freedom from Fear
Presented by Harvard University Department of History & Literature, Cambridge, MA
Sponsored by Elson Art Center, Andover, MA Location: The comfort of home in the zoom room Workshop dates: October 15-22, 2020
This workshop series is sponsored by Elson Art Center whose mission is to encourage the development of new activities by supporting the production of new ideas through an array of media. To enrich the creative arts experience and cultivate a deeper understanding of sophisticated works, the complex houses an auditorium, rooms for painting, drawing, sculpture, and photography studios, and manual arts, an experimental theater, and an audiovisual center.
I’m so happy to have been invited back to make some art with the students. Last year, I had the opportunity to facilitate the Fear Not. workshop on campus, and although we unfortunately wont’ be gathering in person, I’m excited to introduced a new iteration of Fear Not. which includes elements of drawing and painting!
Thank you, Catherine, for the invitation to spend quality time with your students, and to Elson Art Center for making this gathering possible.
Smith Renaissance Society
A mentorship program offered by University of California, Santa Cruz Artist Talk: October 11, 2020 3:30-5pm
Based in Cowell College at UCSC, the Smith Renaissance Society created California’s first university-based comprehensive path to college admission for foster youths and other independent students. I am so very privileged to have an opportunity to contribute to her mission as a Senior Fellow in supporting current and former foster youth, homeless and runaway youth, orphans, and wards of the court through the mentorship that can help them pursue higher education and career-building.
This begins with the story of Bill Dickinson, who grew up in an orphanage and foster homes, living on his own when he was only sixteen years old. He was one of the first students to arrive on the new campus in 1965, and “credits the pioneering spirit of those early years and the gracious quality of the Cowell community with teaching him to have a noble vision for his life and preparing him to pursue that vision successfully.” Inspired by the love he received, Mr. Dickinson founded The Smith Society as a way to give back to UC Santa Cruz.
Read more about this beautifully triumphant story, which blossomed from hardship, and continues to flourish in today’s youth and young adults.
Listen to the testimonies of Smith Fellows and learn how this program has supported them, and consider making a donation that will assist our students in realizing their ambitions.
Thank you, Donna Cehrs, for this humbling invitation to serve our youth.
We Create Us
Supported in part by Arts Council for Long Beach and the City of Long Beach
My heart swells with gratitude to have been awarded with the We Create Us Grant from the Arts Council for Long Beach! I’m utterly inspired by this city and the way that she adorns herself in public art. Long Beach pays tribute to our neighbors by honoring the rich culture that has seeped itself into these city streets. I deeply treasure the pivotal role that these public works shoulder in bringing beauty that is familiar, new, and inviting, into dark times by recording our time here as ambassadors of potential. Thank you Arts Council for Long Beach and the City of Long Beach for supporting us artists and culture-bearers!
Donate here to keep artists working and sharing their gifts with the community.
Community Engagement Grant
Sponsored by Community Engagement
Exhibition dates: to be announced
I am so very grateful to have received this grant that helps to support local artists who are living or working in Santa Ana. During this pandemic, as we witness the pausing of community gatherings, the slowing of work, and the postponement of scheduled exhibitions, classes, lectures, and community workshops, these resources lift us tremendously as we strive to continue creating the work that we do—this work that creates a life fulfilled, despite circumstances. Artists need to create, or else they will wither. Thank you, Jon and the Community Engagement team, for helping to water our ideas.
From 2016-2018, I had the privilege of partnering with Community Engagement and Grand Central Art Center in developing self-reflective, storytelling visual arts workshops in providing art education for the elders of Heninger Village. In 2017, Community Engagement also generously supported my project with veterans as we utilized creativity to cultivate more healing into our lives.
Donate and help local artists continue bringing beauty and light into communities that need us.
Triton Museum Art Auction
Location: Triton Museum of Art, 1505 Warburton Avenue, Santa Clara, CA 95050 Event Date: July 15 - 28, 2020
I was introduced to the Triton Museum in 2003 while pursuing my BFA at San Jose State. I had visited the museum to support my professors’ shows, and every time I stepped into the galleries, I was flushed with excitement as my hope to someday be an exhibiting artist felt like it could be possible. This warm, intimate museum ignited a light in me back then, and continues to fan the flame today.
I’m pleased to have work in this year’s art auction in support of the Triton Museum of Art—a nice prelude to my upcoming solo show, Understory, which will be on view in the Permanent Collection Gallery.
Pacific Symphony's Arts-X-Press@Home
Location: In the comfort of home via zoom Session 1: June 22 - July 3, 2020 Session 2: July 6 - 17, 2020
Regardless of the circumstances due to covid-19, we continue our work in bringing art to our southern California youth this summer through AXP@home. Although we won’t be spending time together in person, the staff looks forward to engaging with new online methods, techniques and curricula as we encourage the children to express and create during a time of confusion and despair. Art helps us rise above.
It is a true honor to help carry on the vision of Pacific Symphony's Music Director Carl St.Clair, who established the arts-x-press program the memory of his son Cole. I have experienced the hope, empowerment, and catharsis that art programming has on our young people (I was one of them), and am proud to have been a part of this program.
AXP@Home serves 7th-8th (and now 9th) graders who have a passion for art. If you know any young artists whom this program would benefit (it will :) please apply here!
Oceanside Museum of Art Auction 2020
Location: Oceanside Museum of Art, 704 Pier View Way, Oceanside, CA 92054 Preview Exhibition: May 31 - June 28, 2020 Art Auction: All related events will be held online due to COVID-19. See scheduled events.
I will be donating two of my artworks for OMA's 2020 Art Auction. I'll be showing work alongside a band of artists hailing from Los Angeles to Tijuana.
Thank you for supporting the arts!
Ruminate Happenings
Location: Ruminate Magazine on Facebook
Event dates: May 19-22, 2020
Ruminate Magazine presents Ruminate Happenings, a fundraiser offering 50 hours of live, spontaneous creations for you and with you. I’m happy to be participating for the second year in this unique event wherein contributing artists and writers will be making collaborative and personalized works of art.
Supporters will have choose an artist/writer to work with, and have a specialized piece created just for them, while supporting Ruminate in their mission to disperse honest art out to the world—works that embody the human, the honest, the transcendent, the faithful, and the hopeful.
You can support by purchasing a ticket or donating here.
Rock. Paper. Scissors.
Presented by Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Location: Argyros Plaza, 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Festival Date: Saturday, March 21, 2020 from 1 - 4pm
Free and open to the public
In celebration of International Women’s Month, Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents an event convening women creators. Calling in the spring, this celebration will feature the works of women artists, performers, musicians and innovators. I’ll be sitting beside two other creative women for this year’s panel discussion, moderated by Sherwynn Umali, and will also be working on some mixed media projects with our guests. Thanks, Emily, for the invitation to contribute!
Graphite drawing of paper by Cath Riley
Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism
Volume 18 | Number 2
Published by Duke University Press
Publish date: October 2019
I’m pleased to have my work, They Come For Me, has been published on the cover of their upcoming special issue. The piece was completed in back in 2009 and now lives in a private residence located in Charlotte, North Carolina. I’m happy to see that it has the opportunity to resurface on the cover of Meridians, an interdisciplinary feminist journal that publishes important scholarship and creative work by and about women of color in the US and transnationally.
Thank you, Meridians, for including my work in this issue.
Summoning the Ghosts: Records as Agents in Community Archives
Volumn 6 | Article 18
Published by the Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies, Yale University
Publish date: Winter 2019
Authored by Jessica Tai, Jimmy Zavala, Joyce Gabiola, Gracen Brilmyer, and Michelle Caswell, Summoning the Ghosts: Records as Agents in Community Archives
In 2016, I had the pleasure meeting Professor Caswell as she was conducting research on community archives and how they help bring forth the voices of marginalized communities, document their narratives that have the potential to move beyond the archive, connect with the spirit of the people, and give them ownership of their histories and that of their ancestors, also inciting healing within the broader community.
It is a great honor to have my work included in this publication, to have the voices of our people not only brought to light, but to continue to be reflected upon, holding a distinctive place in a history that threatens to be altered, ignored, or rewritten.
Thank you, Michelle and team, for the very important work that you do to guard and to free our stories.
Life Wide Angle/Close Up
Location: Wing Luke Museum, 719 S King St, Seattle, WA 98104
Exhibition dates: May 10, 2019 - April 19, 2020
Last spring, as the cherry blossoms began bursting from their bulbs, and the tulips dappled the sidewalk edges, I had the privilege of working with diverse groups during my fellowship at the University of Washington. During this time, I facilitated a creative workshop with Poet Bunthay Cheam and Southeast Asia Center Manager Shannon d’Layne Bush, as Photographer Jenna Hanford documented our time with the residents of Mount Baker Village. Now on view at the Wing Luke Museum, Jenna’s intimate photographs bear witness to the pensive moments that we shared with the Vietnamese + Cambodian + Latino community as we together recalled our memories of war, the fears that we have, and hope to overcome them.
Thank you, Shannon, Bunthay, and Jenna for blessing us with the devout love that you have for community.
Ấp Ủ Identity | Journey | Legacy
Location: San Jose Museum of Art, Chopsticks Alley, and the City of San José Office of Cultural Affairs
As part of SJMA’s Community Day Lunar New Year Celebration Show dates: Saturday, February 22, 2019
In December, I had the privilege of leading a workshop in collaboration with Photographer Binh Danh during which students at the Vietnamese American Cultural Center brought in artifacts, shared their histories, and documented their trajectory from Vietnam to the United States in their own handwriting as part of their mixed media artworks. This workshop was part of a project that we’re currently developing called Hidden Heritages: San José’s Vietnamese Legacy, which brings Vietnamese artists and community members together to share, amplify, and artistically present stories that reveal the contributions of Vietnamese Americans to San José, one of California’s most diverse cities. Our work will culminate in an exhibit at San Jose City Hall in Spring 2021.
I am so very excited that the elders will have this opportunity to share their true tales of courage and their art at SJMA to ring in the Lunar New Year. Congratulations, Students!
Learn more about this special project
Year of the Rat: Pacific Symphony's Lantern Festival
Presented by the Pacific Symphony
Location: Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Festival Date: Sunday, February 22, 2020 11-5pm
Free and open to the public
I’m happy to be, for my 5th year with an amazing team, working with Pacific Symphony on this year's lantern installation in celebration of the 2020 Lunar New Year of the Rat. On display will be hundreds of hand-painted lanterns by students from the Orange County Chinese Artists Association and elder residents of Santa Ana. This year's festival offers performances by Vietnamese dance troupes and musicians, an art display showcasing the works my Flower Park students, and an array of arts and crafts to ring in the new year. Register for free tickets.
Chúc Mừng Năm Mới, Everyone! (Happy Lunar New Year!)
That We Should Be Heirs
Location: Diegueño Middle School, Encinitas, CA
Date: Wednesday, January 26, 2020
I love working with students from all backgrounds and levels, and meeting them right where they are on their educational and artistic journeys. To kick off the new semester, I have the privilege to work with the young artists of Diegueño Middle School, whose projects focus on community building through art. In this mixed media workshop, we’ll be addressing our fears, sharing them with one another, and them burying them to summon our courage together.
Thank you, Mrs. Casassa and the PTA for inviting me to work with your budding young artists and supporting our pursuit in the arts. Go (Courageous) Cougars!
Harvest
Presented by Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Location: Argyros Plaza, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 Date: Fall 2019
I’ll be having some work displayed at this year’s fall festival at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, alongside other local musicians and visual and performance artists.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts is Orange County’s largest non-profit arts organization, and one of the nation’s most respected multi-disciplinary cultural institutions. Committed to supporting artistic excellence and arts education, the Center offers an array of live performance and community engagement programs.
Correspondence
Location: Porto Vista Hotel, 1835 Columbia St, San Diego, CA 92101
Exhibition dates: June 20 - November 2, 2019 at Porto Vista Hotel Opening reception: Thursday, May 30, 2019 Exhibition dates: November 3 - unspecified date, at 1805 Gallery
From the mind of Curator Lauren Siry, this exhibition aims to democratize art distribution and reinvigorate encounters with contemporary art. Correspondence will be displayed in a vending machine located on in the Porto Vista Hotel, engaging guests with the local art community in an alternative framework.
I believe that art should be assessable to all, and appreciate how this project/experiment is an unconventional and wonderful way to offer art to the public.
I will have eight prints from my Family Tree series, revisited and reworked, that will be available for purchase as part of this unique group exhibition. Thank you, Lauren, for the invitation!
Pacific Symphony's Arts-X-Press 2019
Sponsored by Pacific Symphony Hosted by Concordia University, 1530 Concordia West Irvine, CA 92612 Dates: July 6-24, 2019
I am looking forward to returning this summer as a visual arts instructor for this summer's arts-X-press. This arts immersion program plays an important role in introducing and engaging our youth in an array of creative practices. It is a true honor to help carry on the vision of Pacific Symphony's Music Director Carl St.Clair, who established this program the memory of his son Cole. I have witnessed how this arts-based program has had a lasting impact upon the lives of the young people who have taken part in this program, and am proud to continue to help expand their creative minds.
Strong. Current.
Location: Windward School, 11350 Palms Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90066 Film screening and lecture, followed by Q&A: May 20, 2019
Located in West Los Angeles in the neighborhood of Mar Vista, Windward School is a dynamic college-preparatory school, dedicated to community and collaboration. Course offerings and academic initiatives are collaborative and interdisciplinary, driven by the most up-to-date research, and crafted in partnership with some of the nation’s most prestigious universities. These programs offer Windward’s students educational opportunities that are unique, engaging, and relevant to life in the 21st century.
I’m delighted to spend time with the students and faculty at Windward in furthering emphasize art as an essential role in building a nurturing and inclusive community.
That We Should Be Heirs
Location: San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101
Exhibition dates: February 16 - May 12, 2019 Opening reception: Saturday, February 16, 2019 6-8pm Presentation for SDMA Contemporary Arts Committee: Monday, February 11, 2019 6:30-8pm Spotlight series: Wednesday, February 27, 2019 6:30-8pm SDAI Members Reception: Saturday, April 13, 2019 6-8pm
During this international crisis, I am feeling more and more compelled to create artwork that is developed though the hands and hearts of the public, inviting our fellow humanitarians to take part in the creative process with the collective aim become one voice in the work(s) of art.
I have been invited to develop a project with SDAI that will result in an interactive installation at the museum for which I will be inviting members of the community to share in our inheritances as we utilize art as part of our practice in compassion and restoration. Learn more about this project, and find out how you can contribute your writings to this project. I’d love to receive your writings to be part of That We Should Be Heirs!
Founded in 1941, San Diego Art Institute has provided the community with high quality, interactive programming, educational initiatives, and innovative exhibitions. As the only contemporary cultural institution in Balboa Park, SDAI promotes cultural equity and artistic enrichment within the community and enables diverse audiences to interact with art in meaningful ways.
Thank you, Sarah Trujillo-Porter for the invitation to work with our San Diego community.
Purchase tickets this special event that kicks off SDAI’s 2019 Season!
University of Washington's Walker-Ames Fellowship + Memory and Place
Location: University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Fellowship Period: March - April 2019
Memory and Place Exhibition dates: April 3 - May 3, 2019 Exhibition location: Gould Gallery, 3950 University Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105
Gallery hours: Wednesday through Friday, 11am-4pm; Saturday, 11am-4pm.
Memory and Place panel discussion: April 3, 2019 7:30-8:30pm, moderated by Priya Frank, Seattle Art Museum Panel location: Kane Hall 130, 4069 Spokane Lane, Seattle, Washington 98105
Receptions:
Panel Reception: April 3, 2019, 5:30-6:30pm, Gould Court, 3950 University Way NE American Ethnic Studies + Southeast Asia Center Reception: April 4, 4-6pm, Simpson Center for the Humanities
Lectures: April 2, 9-10:20am AES 462: Comparative Race and Ethnic Relations April 2, 3-4pm HSTAS 221A: History of Southeast Asia April 3, 1:30-2:20pm JSIS B: Forced Migrations April 3, 2:30-3:15pm AES 442 A : Undocumented Immigrant Communities April 4, 10:30am-12:20pm AAS 402: Contemporary Asian American Literature April 4, 1:30-3:20pm JSIS 441/54: Global Diasporas
Writing workshops for That We Should Be Heirs: February 22, 2019: Southeast Asia Center, Jackson School of International Studies March 8, 2019: Othello-UW Commons, 4200 S. Othello St. Suite 117, Seattle, WA 98118 March 28, 2019: Mount Baker Village Community Center, 2900 S. McClellan St. Seattle 98144 April 2, 2019: Washington State Corrections Center for Women, PIerce County, WA
I am humbled to have been selected by the University of Washington as a Walker-Ames Endowed Guest Scholar. Founded in 1936, the Walker-Ames program is one of the oldest and most prestigious programs of its kind at the University of Washington, and supports UW in hosting some of the world’s most distinguished scientists, writers, and thought leaders on their campus. What a privilege it is to have been invited to take part in this program!
For this visit, I will be spending time on the verdant Husky campus, engaging the community in art projects, providing artist lectures, and participating in seminars, classes and informal discussions, and exhibiting as part of a triptych exhibition with two innovative women artists--Sara Zwede and Morehshin Allahyari. I’m looking forward to spending quality time working with, speaking to, and learning from UW faculty and students as we analyze ways in which art can help excavate, raise questions, and offer perspectives within our own personal, familial, and communal histories.
Thank you, Professor Linh Thủy Nguyễn for the nomination, and to the University of Washington for hosting me. And thank you to the people within the following departments for your generous support:
Word Becomes Flesh + That We Should Be Heirs
Presented by the Harvard University Department of History & Literature
Location: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138 Word Becomes Flesh: A Conversation with Trinh Mai (film screening and lecture) date: 12 Quincy Street, Barker 024: Thursday, April 11, 2019 6-8pm That We Should Be Heirs: The Art of Letting Go and Reclaiming our Inherited Strengths (workshop) date: 2 Arrow Street, Suite 420: Friday, April 12, 2019 12-2pm
I am so very honored to have been invited to present my work with the students and faculty of Harvard University. As part of their Asian American conversation series, I will be speaking about how oral and written history has informed the development of my artwork, and how the creative process has been vital in research, documenting history, and the gathering of perspectives that make up history. I’ll be sharing the ways in which I use of various media to retell the narrative, and inciting community engagement through the arts. What a unique opportunity to encourage others to delve further into their own histories and the ways in which they might help pass on their own stories!
This event is part of the series, CONVERSATIONS ON ASIA AMERICA: A SPEAKER SERIES ON ASIAN AMERICAN CREATIVE AND SCHOLARLY WORK, funded by the Provostial Fund for the Arts and Humanities, with support from History & Literature, and the Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, Rights.
Thank you, Professor Catherine Nguyen, for this amazing opportunity to share my life’s work.
i Damas !
Presented by Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Location: Argyros Plaza, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 Date: March 30, 2019
In honor of National Women’s Day, Segerstrom Center for the Arts is organizing an event to celebrate women creatives in Orange County, and this year, they’ve graciously invited me to participate.
For this event, I’ll be inviting the public to write about fear and contribute their writings to my traveling installation, That We Should Be Heirs, which is currently on display at San Diego Art Institute from February 16 - May 12, 2019.
Learn more about this event
Ancestral Journeys
Location: Euphrat Museum of Art, Cupertino, CA 95014
Exhibition Dates: February 4 - March 25, 2019 Opening Reception: Wednesday, February 13, 2019
It is my privilege to have been invited to exhibit with a selection of artists whose work expresses our collective need to help tell and retell the stories of our ancestors. These artists understand far too well the responsibility that comes with this very personal method of art-making, and the need to carry forward the stories of our loved ones forward.
In this exhibition, we will explore identity and ancestral migration, immigration, and diasporas through family stories, history, and shared traditions. In collaboration with the community-wide organization called Silicon Valley Reads, Euphrat Museum of Art presents Ancestral Journeys, an exhibition which relates closely to this year’s theme, Finding Identity in Family History. Our show will align with this year’s chosen books: Finding Samuel Lowe by Paula Williams Madison, It’s All Relative by A.J. Jacobs, and Futureface: A Family History, an Epic Quest, and the Secret of Belonging by Alice Wagner.
Thank you, Diana Argabrite, for the invitation to show with artists who make such meaningful work!
Read about one of the past Silicon Valley Reads exhibitions at Euphrat Museum of Art in the New York Times.
Her Story in History
Location: California History Center, Cupertino, CA 95014
Exhibition Dates: February 4 - March 25, 2019
I’ll be showing an intimate body of work at the California History Center. Although I cherish having my work showcased in traditional art houses, such as museums and galleries, it is an absolute privilege to work with various other departments to show and talk art. Art is a language and a means of documenting our times, our history, and our stories as living history, and it’s so special that more and more, art is being recognized as a vital part in this preservation of history!
Year of the Pig: Pacific Symphony's Lantern Festival
Presented by the Pacific Symphony
Location: Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Festival Date: Sunday, March 2, 2018 11-5pm
Free and open to the public
I’m happy to be, for my 4th year, working with Pacific Symphony on this year's lantern installation for Segerstrom Concert Hall as we celebrate the 2019 Lunar New Year of the Pig. On display will be hundreds of hand-painted lanterns by students of the Vietnamese Senior Art Class (Bowers Museum), and artists from Orange County Chinese Artists Association. Included this year's schedule of events will also be performances by Vietnamese dance troupes and musicians, an art display showcasing the works of local Vietnamese artists, and an array of free arts and crafts to ring in the new year. Come join us!
Chúc Mừng Năm Mới, Everyone! (Happy Lunar New Year!)
View photos here
*image by Big Nose Work
Ruminate Happenings
Location: Ruminate Magazine on Facebook
Event dates: February 25 - March 1, 2019
Ruminate Magazine presents Ruminate Happenings, offering 50 hours of live, spontaneous creations for you and with you.
View my live session (What a unique and wildly exhilarating experience this was!)
In 2018, I had five works published in Ruminate Magazine, a non-profit magazine that embodies the human, the honest, the transcendent, the faithful, and the hopeful. For their fundraiser, they’ve invited me back for a unique event wherein their contributing artists and writers will be making spontaneous, collaborative, and personalized work of art, poem, or even short story.
When you sign up for this event, you’ll have a chance to choose which artist/writer you’d like to work with, have a specialized piece created just for you, and support Ruminate Magazine in helping disperse honest work out to the world.
You can support by purchasing a ticket or donating here.
Artist Talk with The Contemporary Arts Committee of SDMA
Organized by the San Diego Museum of Art’s Contemporary Arts Committee (CAC)
Location: San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101 Date: Monday, February 11, 2019
After a year and a half of being in conversation, I am very excited to finally be meeting with SDMA’s Contemporary Arts Committee!
CAC supports the SDMA through local tours and presentations with artists, curators, and gallery directors. These meetings are both social and educational, and are held at private residences, artist studios, galleries, and museums.
Thank you, Betsy Lane, for this opportunity to speak with your group about my new body of work.
New California Arts 2019 Forum
Location: Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 Conference Dates: Sunday, February 10-13, 2019 Artist Panel + Exhibition: Sunday, February 10, 2019
For this year’s New California Arts Forum, I’ve been invited to participate in a panel discussion with New York-based Iranian Muslim Playwright Leila Buck, and Los Angeles-based Choreographer Jackie Lopez as we speak about our community engagement work. I’ll also be discussing some of the work that I’ve done throughout the years with Pacific Symphony, who is one of fifteen arts organizations (and the only symphony) of receive the New California Arts Fund that is awarded by The James Irvine Foundation.
The program also includes an exhibition of my work.
Congratulations to all the New California Arts organizations who have been granted this prestigious award. Thank you for continuing to play such important roles in bringing people together through creative practice!
Home and Heritage
A series of workshops with the Peacemakers In partnership with the San Diego Art Institute and the International Rescue Committee Workshop dates: January 18-25, 2019
During this immigration crisis, my desire to work with the refugee community has grown piercingly loud. The urgent need to voice these shared struggles has scratched its urgent marks upon the surfaces of my artwork, springing from the thick of the matters and the mud through which we wade.
It is my absolute honor to be working with the International Rescue Committee in providing an arts outlet for our Peacemakers, a driven group refugee youth whose desire is to acquire the skills necessary to better advocate for themselves. Through writing and art-making workshops, we will be sharing our feelings on home, heritage, and fear, and sharing them with the community. It is my privilege to include some of their personal writings in my new installation, That We Should Be Heirs.
A breath of enormous gratitude to the IRC staff for giving me this opportunity to bring art to this special group, and to the San Diego Art Institute Art for supporting this project.
Art heals. Let’s heal together.