Residence Lab 2022 Exhibit

Experience art installations that are the culmination of 16 weeks of creative collaboration between Chinatown residents and local artists, focusing on the 2022 theme of Radical Inclusion. Learn more about this year’s theme and cohort members here. See previous years’ ResLab projects here.

Join us for the ResLab 2022 Mid-Exhibit Community Celebration to meet this year’s cohort in person and to learn more about their co-creation process. Register below.

Register for the mid-exhibit community celebration

Sanctuary, 2022

Team Powerful Painted Ladies: Amanda Beard Garcia, Yanna Chen, and Xingyao He

Printed paper, wheat paste, wood, paint, chalk, mixed dimensions

Sanctuary is an interactive drawing installation featuring a 20-foot-long wheat paste tiger, cherry blossoms, and chalkboard easels. Dreamt up by residents Yanna Chen and Xingyao He and artist Amanda Beard Garcia, Sanctuary is prompted by our own memories of belonging: fresh air, relaxation, safety, freedom, and creativity. We were amused by the children’s chalk drawings found on nearly every reachable surface in the space — the brick walls, the sidewalk, even the trees — and wanted to inspire more creative expression from visitors of all ages.

The larger-than-life tiger is a symbol of 2022 and our collective community’s resilience, strength, and protection. The cherry blossoms represent grace and renewal during challenging moments. The chalkboard easels encourage more drawing onto otherwise un-writable surfaces. Visitors are welcome to contribute their own ephemeral chalk flowers, messages, or drawings onto the brick wall and easels. These sharings will fade and layer over time to inspire and make room for more. We hope that our project will cultivate feelings of comfort, creativity, and joy to anyone who enters this park.

Sanctuary is part of the 2022 Residence Lab exhibition at Tufts Community Common. The team has affectionately named their group “Powerful Painting Ladies.”

Tranquil, 2022

Team Body is a Canvas: Victoria Lai, Janiqwa Johnson, and Peiqiong Wu

Fiberglass, acrylic paint, wood

Tranquil is a collaborative piece created by Victoria Lai, Janiqwa Johnson, and Peiqiong Wu that nurtures a peaceful and welcoming atmosphere in the Tufts Community Common. Parks and green spaces are important to have within our communities since they help support a relaxing environment for our Chinatown community. Our neighbors, family, and friends of Chinatown have faced so much violence, dehumanization, and exclusion in their own home, and Tranquil invites us all to gather in nature to rest and breathe.

Through our bird fountain installation, the team hopes to foster a relaxing space. They noticed that many birds come into this park and wanted to create a place for even the birds to relax and bathe. Near the fountain is a birdhouse with food where they can meet to eat together. Water is such a calming aspect of nature, and the team hopes visitors might feel a sense of peace as they look at and listen to the flowing water and chirping birds. Every hand-painted word on the fountain was chosen by Janiqwa and Peiqiong because of the peace and comfort the words bring into their lives. Offering a sense of comfort is so vital to create a community that feels accepted, supported, and included.
Tranquil is part of the 2022 Residence Lab exhibition at Tufts Community Common. The team named themselves “Body As a Canvas” to reference their love for fashion as an art form to express themselves.

Welcome Home, 2022

Team Pork Fried Rice: Ann Dinh, Allison M, & Winnie Yuen

Mixed Media - wood, paper, plastic, digital media

Radical Inclusion invites you to visit and engage with the Boston Chinatown community. We have created a space for different people to partake and have agency in shaping the way we live and move forward as a community.

Welcome Home is a montage of individuals accepting others into this space with the warmth and reception that every visitor or resident deserves. Sometimes that looks like preparing a hot pot of tea. Other times it may be a dog bounding towards the door, with a drooling tongue and flapping ears. These stories serve as a reminder that it’s the distinct and diverse residents of this community that make Boston what it is.

This project is a beacon within this underutilized urban park, located in the heart of Tufts University’s graduate campus. We hope that Welcome Home reminds members of the community that, even in the face of pervasive gentrification and in spite of movements to push residents farther out, you are not only accepted…but that you also feel you belong here. We encourage all who visit to reflect on a time they felt that space was made for them and when they found a true sense of belonging.

Welcome Home is part of the 2022 Residence Lab exhibition at Tufts Community Common. The team, lovingly named “Pork Fried Rice” after their favorite comfort food, hopes that people will feel a sense of inclusion through this collective narrative.

Residence Lab 2022 is a partnership between Pao Arts Center, Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC), and Tufts University.

Thank you to our Residence Lab 2022 Sponsors: