Community Feast by Chelsea Ryoko Wong (Chinese Japanese American, b. 1986) depicts a bustling, upbeat scene of diners at a Chinese dim sum restaurant. Commissioned by the Asian Art Museum in 2024 for the Lawrence and Gorretti Lui Hyde Street Art Wall, Wong’s painting reflects food’s powerful capacity to bring together people of different ages and backgrounds. “Civic Center is an area that encompasses many AAPI communities,” says Wong, “and the theme of dim sum felt particularly appropriate to the Asian American experience as it symbolizes harmony, prosperity, and closeness to family and friends.”
“In the wake of a disturbing surge in crimes against the AAPI community — some of which occurred in this neighborhood — it is imperative to create artworks that advocate for inclusivity and facilitate dialogue between different cultures,” explains the artist. “The Civic Center area is renowned for its ethnic, cultural, and economic diversity; this work aims to ensure that both residents and visitors feel acknowledged and reflected in its imagery.”
Painter and muralist Chelsea Ryoko Wong attended Parsons School of Design, New York and received her BFA in printmaking from California College of the Arts. She was the first recipient of the CAA Hamaguchi Emerging Artist Residency at Kala Institute in Berkeley (2010) and a finalist for SFMOMA’s esteemed SECA Art Award (2022). Wong lives and works in the Mission District of San Francisco; the installation of Community Feast on the Lui Art Wall coincides with a solo exhibition of her work at Jessica Silverman Gallery in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
Image: Community Feast, 2024, Chelsea Ryoko Wong (b. 1986). Commissioned by the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
