When Art is Where It Belongs

The art and me, in the company of many VIPs.

What a delight to present these two pieces of community art to the Hope Resiliency Center at their grand opening/press conference in August! I’ve never been to a press conference, much less spoken at one, so it was pretty exciting. While standing next to our congresswoman, Judy Chu, all I could think of saying while all the cameras were going off was “How do you keep smiling this long?”. Profound, right? :D

It was very meaningful to be able to explain the artistic process to all the attendees, as well as read the poem handlettered onto each piece. Any time I can engage people in healing and deeper reflection through the creative process, I’m all in. The “Discover Your Mental Wellness” event in Monterey Park in May allowed me to offer that kind of invitation.

Afterwards, there was a restless sense that the art should not be on my own walls, and that their proper home was with Chinatown Service Center, specifically at Hope Resiliency Center. There, they would be able so speak encouragement and healing from those walls to more people than they ever could if I kept them. I am so pleased that the pieces are now where they best belong.