Mural Project

Participants worked in groups to plan and paint a mural that will enhance the beauty of the community. In summer 2003, CYI participants worked collectively to design a mural that was later displayed at the Museum of Chinese in the Americas (MoCA). In the future, CYI plans to acquire a city permit to paint a mural on a nearby building or in a city park. 

2003 

Steering Committee: Christina Mui, Cindy Qian, and Ashley Yan Zhou 
Advisors: Jennifer Chang and Katherine Hou 

Artists' Statement: 

In a world in which violence and ignorance run rampant, people easily become desensitized to the acts of hate that sadly occur every day. 

During World War II, Japanese Americans were forcefully removed from their home, stripped not only of their belongings but also of their rights as Americans. Unfortunately, we see history repeating itself. After the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, South Asians and Arab Americans were the new scapegoats. 

In the mid-1800s, the Chinese were brought over to America to lay the foundation for development of the United States. Despite their continued efforts, the many achievements of Chinese Americans are still kept in the dark. 

On August 17, 2003, the youth of New York City gathered and provided the beginning of a solution to the problem with sanitation that has plagued New York City’s Chinatown for so long. 

As days pass, new ideas are being established, and interracial marriages once frowned upon are becoming more and more common. People once separated by land and water are now being connected by lines of communication. 

Although experience is a big part of what defines us, education gives us the grounding that is necessary to achieve change and propel forward with our ideas. 

Just as a lotus flower blooms beautifully from the dirt and slime, so too do the youth emerge from these acts of violence and prevail.