In partnership with New Project Studio resident Duende District Bookstore, we invite visitors this Sunday July 1 to join us for an afternoon Street Art Workshop with Chinatown Art Studio for youth 9-12 yrs with our resident artist, Shani Shih.
The workshop is FREE but limited spaces are available.
Register Now
About: Open workshop held with resident artist’s Asian American arts program. Chinatown Art Studio youth and visitors will create a collaborative multimedia collage mural with poster designs, stickers, drawing, and stencils, based on the following loose themes: ownership of identity; ideas of building bridges, commonality and difference; positive change in our society; supporting other communities.
Resident artist Shani Shih will facilitate reflection and discussion on identity, the ideas of commonality and difference, and social issues that shape the stories and experiences of youth from all communities, and how we can understand and support others through art. Different stations for each street art medium (wheatpastes, sticker art, paint markers) will be laid out; artist (and assistants) will instruct youth on how to use mediums to create images inspired by discussion. As youth finish producing images, they will begin to contribute to the collaborative surface by wheatpasting their images on a miniature “wall”. Visitors/youth passing by are welcome to contribute by creating their own sticker and applying it to the wall.
Schedule:
- 2:30-3:00 Quick starting tour of first/second floors
- 3:00-4:30 Youth street art workshop
- 4:30 Finish tour
About Shani Shih
Shani Shih is a multidisciplinary visual artist in Washington DC. Her personal artwork speaks at a visceral level; it features bold linework, gritty textures, and expressive human figures intertwined with harsh industrial structures, and represents everyday social and bodily experience in the stratified landscapes of the modern world. Through her creations, she aims to communicate a shared experience of suffering and endurance, as well as everlasting love and hope – providing comfort, strength, and acknowledgement to all.
Shani is also dedicated to supporting communities in need through public art, teaching and community arts, with a focus on serving underrepresented Asian Pacific American communities. During the 2016 primaries, Shani co-curated Bern the System!, a street art showcase that featured 70+ regional artists and uplifted messages of social change. She then served as a lead organizer for a four-city mural campaign centering the message of the indigenous-led Water is Life movement—which led to the 2017 founding of the 411 Collective, a graffiti/street art collective that supports local and national community advocacy initiatives with public art. In 2018, with the help of 1882 Foundation/Chinese American Citizens Alliance, she founded the Chinatown Art Studio, a youth art space servicing Asian Pacific American youth through multimedia art instruction and creative empowerment programming.
As Duende District’s current Artist in Residence, she is excited to share her personal story and voice through her creations. She is pleased to also present “In Our Eyes,” a special youth art display that spotlights diverse voices of Asian/Pacific Islander American youth in the DC area, from the Chinatown Art Studio program and beyond.
About the New Project Studio
This community-focused arts incubator space inside the Torpedo Factory Art Center offers a short-term location to test new program ideas, spotlight underrepresented voices, and enhance community engagement. Projects will rotate on a regular basis and are considered based on the following goals:
- Support new creative collaborations with neighboring organizations and partners
- Strengthen the connection between our resident artists and the greater creative community
- Provide opportunities for new audiences to engage with our building and artists
- Inspire the next generation of artists, innovators, arts supporters, and diverse voices
