What’s a community artist? In the video below, five artists reveal how they got involved in the “community” (KSW being a common community for many of them) during the Paintings, Posters and Propaganda panel discussion at Chinese Culture Center. This panel took place back in November 2008–fresh off the election of President Obama–as part of the Icons of Presence exhibition.
About the panelists:
Nancy Hom is an artist, writer, organizer, and arts administrator with over 30 years of experience in the non-profit arts. As an artist, curator, and organizer, she has worked in many communities in San Francisco, including the South of Market, Manilatown, Chinatown, Japantown, Western Addition, and the Mission. Nancy served as executive director of Kearny Street Workshop from 1995-2003.
Leland Wong, artist, illustrator, and photographer, is best known for the silkscreen posters he has designed and produced for more than thirty five years, particularly the series of posters he produced annually for the Nihonmachi Street Fair from 1974-2004. He is the owner of A-Town Graphics, a one-man photography and graphic design business.
Lenore Chinn’s paintings explore the super-realistic depiction of a wide spectrum of people of color, lesbians and same sex couples. Her portraits documenting the historical evolution of San Francisco’s queer community challenge the social conventions that currently constitute the racialized order of things. Lenore is a founding member of Lesbians in the Visual Arts, Queer Cultural Center and the Asian American Women Artists Association.
Choppy Oshiro, graphic designer and illustrator, created the promotional material for the Chinese Culture Center’s exhibition Icons of Presence: Asian American Activist Art. Her work was recently featured in Dirty Work: artists eye domestic labor at Kearny Street Workshop.
Richard Godinez is an ex-political cartoonist who creates large-scale oil paintings and pastels that protest imperialism and globalization. Richard is an associate professor of visual art at Diablo Valley College.
Robynn Takayama (moderator) is an award-winning audio producer. She was segment producer for Crossing East, a Peabody-awarded radio documentary on Asian immigration. Her art projects have been presented through video, web, and gallery installation in San Francisco, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
