BETWEEN THE BRICKS: A FIELD GUIDE TO IMAGINED GARDENS
Featured Artists
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CHINATOWN BACKYARD
186 Harrison AvenueArtist statement:
Chinatown lacks green space, the lowest per capita in Boston. In response, Chinatown children and their tenacious youth workers in 2019 turned an empty lot into an intergenerational green space, Chinatown Backyard – a community garden, where both food and public art could grow. My strongest memories of Chinatown Backyard are from its first summers on Hudson Street: middle schoolers using power tools for the first time to build garden beds, artists constructing public art pieces, and children eating the vegetables that they grew after the summer harvest. Today, due to proposed development of the original lot, Chinatown Backyard lives in the Tufts Community Common. In this illustration, a tomato slowly ripens; a child and an elder grow their own food in Chinatown, as the summer days pass.
Artist bio:
Shaina Lu 呂明穎 (she/her) is a queer Taiwanese-American artist interested in the intersection of art, education, and activism. She creates community art for social change through dialogue and conversation with local youth, residents, and grassroots organizers. She is the creator of NOODLE & BAO (2024, HarperCollins Quill Tree).
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PHILLIPS SQUARE
1 Harrison AvenueArtist statement:
This work explores the function of gardens in Asian contemporary culture, where gardens consist of various curated programs for enjoyment. A restaurant in a garden or a garden in a restaurant is commonly found throughout Asia as a place of special gathering and sharing. In the United States, the names of Asian restaurants often include the word “garden” for good luck. This further reinforces the relationship between garden and food in Asian American culture. In this illustration, ponnapa looks at the function of Phillips Square as a place for outdoor dining. The plaza offers a space for multiple groups to gather, share food, have conversations, and enjoy time together.
Artist bio:
ponnapa prakkamakul พรนภา ปรักกมกุล 陳可意 (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist and landscape architect based in Massachusetts. Her work explores the relationship between humans and their environment, aiming to create a sense of place and belonging. Inspired by the landscape and people at the site, ponnapa’s work tells stories of the place and expresses voices from people in those locations. ponnapa holds a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design and currently is a landscape architect at Sasaki.
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Evans Way Park
1 Evans WayArtist statement:
Growing up, my parents would transform any sunny spot available into a garden. From these little plots would emerge chives, mustard greens, and other flavors and textures essential to our home cooking. For me, the garden was a classroom where I watched my parents experiment and collaborate with the plants, pollinators, and microbes in the soil. It was also a place where time ran slower and we could relax as a family. At MassArt, I daydream about ways to give students, and the surrounding community, similar opportunities to learn and rest. And like my parents, I see potential in any sunny spot.
Artist bio:
Caroline Hu is an artist and educator with a PhD in biology and a love for visual storytelling. After years of spending her days at the lab bench and nights at the drawing desk, Caroline now joyfully dual wields both art and science as an assistant biology professor at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Her favorite food to grow is bitter melon and her favorite houseplant is a night-blooming cereus inherited from her mother.
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YU-WEN WU: REIGNING BEAUTY
Anne H. Fitzpatrick FaçadeArtist statement:
What is the role of gardens in the urban landscape? We Garden is inspired by my incredible time as the artist-in-residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, by the community gardens of members of the diaspora and by my own love of gardening. The meandering path of text weaves worlds together. From exquisite flowers grown to nurture the spirit, to the plants grown in urban gardens for sustenance, for community, and for the next generation, these spaces fuel the body and soul.
Artist bio:
Yu-Wen Wu is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Boston. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Wu’s subjectivity as an immigrant is central to her artwork. At the crossroads of art, science, politics and social issues, her wide range of projects include large-scale drawings, site-specific video installations, and community engaged practices. Wu is an artist-in-residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. She was a 2023 recipient of the James and Audrey Foster Prize at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, a 2021 recipient of the Mass Cultural Council Artist Fellowship in Installation, and a cohort fellow of the 2025 Trellis Art Foundation.
Locations Featured
Related Exhibits
Where We Meet: Imagining Gardens and Futures, at Pao Arts Center from July 18 – October 10, 2025.
This field guide is a collaboration between the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Pao Arts Center as a companion to Ming Fay: Edge of the Garden (June 26 - September 21, 2025 at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum) and Where We Meet: Imagining Gardens and Futures (July 18 - October 10, 2025 at Pao Arts Center), both curated by Gabrielle Niu, PhD, Assistant Curator of the Collection and Exhibitions at the Gardner.
Where We Meet: Imagining Gardens and Futures and its public programming are supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts' Public Art for Spatial Justice program, with funding from the Barr Foundation and the Fund for the Arts at NEFA.
Zine Design
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Dana Balletta (she/hers) is a Boston-based graphic designer who aims to connect individuals and communities together through her craft. Dana graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design and a minor in Art History from Lesley University. She is currently a Graphic Designer at CBT Architects and Assistant Graphic Designer at the American Repertory Theater. Most recently, Dana led graphic design for Meet Me At the Garden: Imagining Gardens and Futures at Pao Arts Center and its partner exhibition, Ming Fay: Edge of the Garden, at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Outside of design work, she is the co-chair of the BCNC’s Bamboo Circle and will be a Public Art Ambassador for the Boston Public Art Triennial this summer.