top of page
GC - Website Header Image (Large).jpg
About the Youth Artist-in-residence program
March 10 - August 13, 2023

Presented by the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco, Generation Chinatown is a youth artist-in-residence program for high school-age artists headquartered at 41 Ross, Chinatown. Through this program, a cohort of youth artists will develop their own artistic language, build leadership skills, and create art actions that enhance neighborhood recovery. The Generation Chinatown youth artists were selected from a large pool of applicants from SFUSD highschools, and the schools of selected artists include George Washington High School, Galileo, Lincoln, Lowell, June Jordan, and Ruth Asawa.

 

Generation Chinatown prioritizes the development and growth of QTBIPOC youth artists living in San Francisco while being rooted in neighborhood. As a site-specific youth program, the youth artists are first oriented to the community’s resilient histories, cultures, and neighbors. Then over the course of the residency, the youth artists will create art while being exposed to a series of tours, site visits, and workshops by leading arts practitioners in the Bay Area & beyond. Finally, the youth artists will lead their own community events and a final showcase.

 

This new program aims to build creative capacity across different generations and invest in the neighborhood’s future.

Sponsors: The Spring 2023 Generation Chinatown Program was made possible thanks to the sponsorship of the Community Challenge Grant and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Summer 2023 Generation Chinatown Program was made possible thanks to the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Image Credits: Maya Faith Chan (CCC Youth Arts Program Coordinator) 2023

Youth Artists-in-Residence

Micah

They/He

I’m a Chinese American high school senior who has a big love of video games, gardening and of course, art. I was born and raised in SF and I consider myself a part of my school’s theater community and queer youth. I consider myself an artist who is influenced a lot by anime and even more by my Pinterest feed. My style because of that is very varied and all over the place as I take inspiration from whatever or whomever I think looks awesome.

Fer

They/Them

They are a 17 year old Latino-American artist based in San Francisco. Jenn (or Fer they/them) uses digital art to make silly little fellas in silly situations...

Sophia

She/They

I’m an Asian American artist typically working with traditional and digital art, however [I] also like working with story boarding. These artworks are usually exploring the concept of the reasons of life...

Jackie

She/Her

Jackie is Chinese American artist, an uprising junior at George Washington High. I was born and raised in San Francisco. I consider myself an artist who is inspired by video games, anime, and cute things I see on my social media feed :> Currently exploring painting and digital art. Art is a way I escape from reality. Also I enjoy sharing my art with my friends and family.

Michelle

She/Her

My name is Michelle and I grew up in the Bay Area. I’m American born Chinese. I grew up playing sports such as basketball at the age of 6. Growing up I’ve explored lots of things and that’s when I stumbled across poems. Writing poems helps me heal. I’m currently doing photography and capturing memories with my friends so that as I grow older, I can look back at these times, and be able to hold on to the joy, the pain and experiences of the past.

Eric

He/Him

Eric Chen (he/him) is an Asian-American born and raised in San Francisco. His family originated from Guangdong, China. Eric’s photography and graphic design primarily focuses on the things actively occurring around the city and encapsulates the moment to recall and to create a positive message behind the image or graphic Eric’s Art is primarily focused on the memories we create as we live our lives and how we cherish and celebrate them.

Dana

She/Her

I’m Dana. I’m 17 years old, and I come from a Hispanic household. I try different art techniques and different ideas of art. I like to create because it’s expressing something that may be happening in the world nowadays. I like to express how I feel about the injustice in many places where many people are living, even animals.

Alexandra

She/Her

My name is Alexandra, and I grew up in the Bay Area in a Hondurian household. I grew up dancing and being creative. At this time in my life, I have started to focus on making more art and learning to make flowers out of pipe cleaners instead of only buying them. As I get older, I’m learning to see the good that I am building up in myself and also the good in other people. A

Vicky

They/He/She

Pan the cameras because it’s the aspiring Graphic Designer— Vicky! Fresh graduate at Washington High School; Upcoming Freshmen at CCA. A Chinese-American Artist with (lowkey) hardcore issues. Lover of Psychology, thriving on finding the subliminal meanings of our actions, words, and reactions...

Gen

She/They

Hello, my name is gen, and I come from a Mexican American household. I've lived in the Bay Area my whole life, and my favorite media are acrylic paint and photography as they are easy to work with and lets you capture important moments in life. I create art to connect with myself and make the time go by faster as it’s a way to get out of that darkness, and just enjoy life in itself.

Jennifer

They/Them

I am an Chinese America student who is currently enrolled in Galileo Academy of Science and Technology as a junior. I do ilustrations traditionally but I'm also beginning to explore the world of digital art I like to explore topics like insecurities, body image, and love with my illustrations because those are topics that are rarely brought up throughout my life...

Itzci

She/They

I’m a Black/Mexican American artist living in SF. Most of my family comes from or lives in Jamaica, Mexico and America. My mom is a first generation Mexican American born and
raised in San Jose. My dad grew up in a rural area close to Kingston in Jamaica, and he later moved to America. I make a lot of drawing and visual arts...

Gabby

She/Her

Hi! I’m Gabby and I am an Indonesian American who grew up in San Francisco my whole life. I like to sketch and doodle of things I see in my life such as friends, flowers, landscapes, etc. Art is something I do for fun that I find very calming. In terms of media I’ve worked with I have explored sketching, painting, paper weaving, printmaking, and sculping. A lot of my art is influenced by social media like Pinterest and Tiktok, or by my interests, my friends, my life.

Lauren

She/Her

My name is Lauren and I’m a Vietnamese American artist from the Bay Area. I love to work with all mediums, but my favorites are music, filmmaking, and acrylic. Art allows me to create an outlet, not only for myself, but others, giving a lovely pathway into connecting all of us with or without words. I love art for what it provides me, and how I can translate my passion and emotions into something beautiful.

Spring Artists-In-Residence

Image Credits: Gisela Salma Tarifa, 2023

Summer Artists-in-Residence
RISE: A YOUTH ARTS EXHIBITION

June 9 - 23, 2023 || 41 Ross, Chinatown San Francisco, CA

The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco (CCC) presented "RISE: A Youth Art Exhibition" at 41 Ross storefront studio, featuring Generation Chinatown artists: 

Bugg, Dana, Eric, Itzci, Jennifer, MiCAHHH, and Sophia.

RISE centers on the perspective of seven San Francisco-raised high school youth and their dedication to healing, resilience, and empowerment. It is a portrait of how their relationships with family, friends, neighborhood[s], and life experiences inform their present. From exploring the multiple parts of their identities, uplifting queer history and mythologies to examining what building a sense of home means, these rising artists are defining their own narratives to understand both who they are and who they are becoming.

At the June 9th opening event for RISE: A Youth Art Exhibition for Generation Chinatown out of 41 Ross, the youth artists were met with an outpouring of support from community members. Over 300 attendees were counted during the two hour event. During the event Generation Chinatown youth artists had the opportunity to interact with guests by sharing about their artworks, answering questions and also giving their own individual speeches at the beginning of the event. While preparing the exhibition for installation, many community members expressed interest in learning about the 41 Ross youth artist in residence program and watching the youth artists’ process unfold. After the opening night, an estimated one thousand visitors viewed the exhibition at 41 Ross which was open for two weeks after the showcase event.


In addition: A broad range of people learned about the program through news media coverage of the showcase: KTSF Channel 8, KQED, Sing Tao (with potential viewership of 105,000 viewers). One visitor from the community came during the gallery hours after the final exhibition and mentioned she had recognized our location from the media segment on KTSF. The media outlets that highlighted Generation Chinatown helped expand the scope of our programming beyond the local neighborhood, but the greater San Francisco/Bay Area community.

Design: Micah Zhang in collaboration with Generation Chinatown Artists & CCC

RISE-EventBrite-Banner.png

Videographer: Gianni Piña / Video Editor: Somaly Son

ECLIPSE: A YOUTH ARTS EXHIBITION

August 11 - 25, 2023 || 41 Ross, Chinatown San Francisco, CA

The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco (CCC) presents "Eclipse: A Youth Arts Exhibition" at 41 Ross storefront studio, featuring Generation Chinatown artists:

Michelle, Lauren, Gabby, Gen, Alexandra, Vicky, Jackie.

 

中華文化中心(CCC)為大家呈現《月食:青年藝術家展》。地點:41舊呂宋巷店面展廳,參展的”華埠世代“藝術家包括Michelle, Lauren, Gabby, Gen, Alexandra, Vicky 和 Jackie。

El centro cultura china de San Francisco (CCC) presentan “El Eclipse de luna: un exposición de arte juventud” en el estudio de la tienda 41 Ross, que sale artistas de Generación del Barrio China: Michelle, Lauren, Gabby, Gen, Alexandria, Vicky, y Jackie.  

 

“Eclipse” centers on the perspective of seven San Francisco-raised high school youth and their dedication to healing, resilience, and empowerment. Each of these artists are using their work to process complex experiences with healing, intergenerational trauma, grief, love, and joy. Much of the work sheds light on overlooked stories from youth about their perspectives. In creating such deeply vulnerable bodies of artwork, the youth artists of Generation Chinatown invite viewers of “Eclipse” to reflect upon their own relationships to these personal-yet-deeply universal experiences.

 

《月食》以七位舊金山高校青年的視角,訴說了他們從創傷走嚮治愈、抗爭和堅韌的勇氣。每一位藝術家都通過創作來錶達代際創傷、療愈、哀悼、愛和喜悅等復雜體驗,許多作品以青年的角度講述常被忽略的故事。華埠時代的這批青年藝術家以真切個人的作品,邀大家一起反思這些既單一又普遍的經歴。

“El Eclipse de luna” se enfoca sobre la perspectiva de jóvenes de escuela secundaria criados en San Francisco y sus dedicación a la curación, resistencia, y empoderamiento. Cada una de las artistas están utilizando sus obras para procesar experiencias complejas con la curación, trauma intergeneracional, aflicción, amor, y alegría. Gran parte de las obras arrojan cierta luz en historias pasado por alto de juventud sobre sus perspectivas. En creando tales profundamente vulnerables masas de obras, los jóvenes de Generación del Barrio China invitan a los espectadores de “El Eclipse de luna” a reflexionar sobre sus propias relaciones con estas experiencias universales personales pero profundas. 

Design: Gabby S. in collaboration with Generation Chinatown Artists & CCC

eclipse eventbrite.png

Special thanks to the artists, cultural workers, local arts organizations, neighboring businesses & community partners who made this work possible and inspired the youth artists of this program through interactive arts workshops and collaborations with GenCT artists.

Visiting Artists

  • Peter Huang, By Me Boba

  • Connie Zheng

  • Heesoo Kwon

  • Manang Jeanette Lazam

  • James Q. Chan

  • Malaya Tuyay

  • Jane Triu

  • Hoi Leung

  • Hector Muñoz-Guzman

  • Kate Buenconsejo 

Field Trips:

  • SOMARTS Muni Raised Me

  • Museum of the African Diaspora

  • International Hotel, Manila Town Center

  • 500 Capp Street, David Ireland House

  • Women's Building, Mission

  • Clarion Alley

  • SFMOMA

  • CCA Wattis Art Institute

  • SCRAP: Creative Reuse Center

  • Edge on the Square

Sponsors: The Spring 2023 Generation Chinatown Program was made possible thanks to the sponsorship of the Community Challenge Grant and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Summer 2023 Generation Chinatown Program was made possible thanks to the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
bottom of page