Take a Saturday afternoon to relax, create, and meditate with Chinese brush painting.

In the face of climate change, as urban spaces grow increasingly uninhabitable during summer heat waves, we must integrate immediate, tangible solutions into the public realm—interventions that lower temperatures and enhance quality of life for both humans and other species. 

Bring your camera or smartphone and join us for a unique walk with The Chinatown Project as we seek to capture unexpected moments of nature in our urban neighborhood. No previous photography experience required. This program will include walking on uneven surfaces throughout Chinatown.

This fall, see, hear, create, and connect. Together, celebrate the rich cultural fabric of Boston Chinatown through free creative activities.

Take a Saturday afternoon to relax, create, and meditate with Chinese brush painting.

Join us for a community bike ride from Chinatown to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum! Along the way, we’ll stop at gardens and green spaces featured in our zine, Between the Bricks: A Field Guide to Imagined Gardens. 

Once we arrive at the Gardner Museum, participants will enjoy a special tour of Ming Fay: Edge of the Garden, with curator Gabrielle Niu, PhD. 

Join us for an evening of creativity and community. In celebration of the Pao Arts Center's exhibition, and the Gardner’s Summer Exhibitions, Ming Fay: Edge of the Garden and Flowers for Isabella.

Join exhibiting artist Mel Taing for an afternoon of garden-inspired portraits and a chance to share your vision for future green spaces in Chinatown.

Join us for the opening reception to our new exhibit, Where We Meet: Imagining Gardens and Future.

As part of a film screening series curated by Nate Shu, join Pao Arts Center in a special screening of The Fall of I-Hotel by film-maker Curtis Choy 

Join us in a screening of the critically acclaimed film by Sean Wang, Didi, starring Izaac Wang, Joan Chen, Shirley Chen, and Chang Li Hua.

Amidst the challenges of the current economic crisis, climate change, food inequity, and limited access to green spaces and housing in Boston's Chinatown, artist Ying Ye’s public community engagement art project, Sprouts of Resilience: A Journey from Seed to Tofu, brings Chinese traditional aesthetics of gardening, street food tricycles, and collective food-making gatherings to activate Chinatown’s public spaces and foster cultural resilience and belonging. The project seeks to explore and offer alternative pathways to physical and mental well-being for local residents.

Take a Saturday afternoon to relax, create, and meditate with in-person Chinese brush painting at Pao Arts Center. Create an original work to take home featuring the bamboo motif.

A Contemporary Classical Concert Presented in collaboration with Sheffield Chamber Players.

Take a Saturday afternoon to relax, create, and meditate with in-person Chinese brush painting at Pao Arts Center. Create an original work to take home featuring the bamboo motif.

As part of a film screening series curated by Nate Shu, join Pao Arts Center in a fun, family-friendly screening of Disney/Pixar’s Turning Red.

Mythological creatures are quite imaginative yet are built on the real world - many of them combine features of different animals from our daily life. Through games and drawing, registered participants will construct articulating puppets, creating a mythological creature of their own. The workshop will culminate in the co-creation of a collective puppet which added to the Celebrations of Perseverance: Public Art in Chinatown, 2024-2025 exhibit, on view through June 20, 2025. 

Join us in a free screening of “Giant Robot: Asian Pop Culture and Beyond” from the KCET Original series Artbound.

Amidst the challenges of the current economic crisis, climate change, food inequity, and limited access to green spaces and housing in Boston's Chinatown, artist Ying Ye’s public community engagement art project, Sprouts of Resilience: A Journey from Seed to Tofu, brings Chinese traditional aesthetics of gardening, street food tricycles, and collective food-making gatherings to activate Chinatown’s public spaces and foster cultural resilience and belonging. The project seeks to explore and offer alternative pathways to physical and mental well-being for local residents.

Take a Saturday afternoon to relax, create, and meditate with in-person Chinese brush painting at Pao Arts Center. Create an original work to take home featuring the bamboo motif.

Celebrations of Perseverance: Public Art in Chinatown, curated by Lani Asunción showcases temporary public art and performance place-based projects created as part of the 2024-2025 Un-monument initiative. These public art projects create space for joy and community celebration of cultural identity, through uplifting Chinatown as a neighborhood, cultural hub, and monument within the city of Boston. 

We are excited to invite you to the culmination of Vermillion Theatre’s artist residency at Pao Arts Center, showcasing their innovative work in building connections through art and storytelling.

Bring in the Year of the Snake with an elegant reception featuring live music, small plates, and drinks. Enjoy imaginative Lunar New Year-inspired dishes provided by local chef, Asia Mei of Moonshine 152. Experience live performances and the current exhibit at Pao Arts Center. Before the night is over, leave your hopes for the new year on our wishing tree to bring good fortune to the community and local artists.