The weather outside was frightful last night (tornado hits Minneapolis!), but inside the Walker, the art and food were delightful as the Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans, artist Seexeng Lee, and the Walker co-presented an art workshop and dinner to celebrate community, family, and cultural exchange. Asian American and Pacific Islander families along with members of the Walker’s Parent Advisory Group and their families came together to create a tiled mural filled with symbols and words inspired by Hmong culture, the Walker Art Center, and each individual’s creativity. The result: a powerful, colorful sum of parts.
Seexeng, who’s a practicing artist and teacher at South H.S., developed the overarching design on a series of 50 small square canvas tiles and asked participants to select a tile that spoke to them, and fill it with their own symbols. Once the paintings were complete the families helped themselves to a delicious buffet of food from Mango Thai, while Seexeng speedily dried and assembled the paintings onto a large plywood frame behind closed doors so that the unveiling was, to quote Johnny Depp in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, “the best prize of all, a SURPRISE!”
- Tiles designed by Seexeng Lee
- Seexeng Lee explaining the project
Families hard at play
Calvin Her, PaYong Xiong, Missy Her, Mysister Her
The spread, courtesy Mango Thai Restaurant in St. Paul
Voila! The culminating masterpiece
Detail of mural
What images and symbols can you find?
Mural making and community building with artist Seexeng Lee http://bit.ly/ujZV5
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Comment by walkerartcenter — August 20, 2009 @ 6:13 pm
An example of art and community building with artist Seexeng Lee http://bit.ly/ujZV5 RT @walkerartcenter
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Comment by PhilMcCreight — August 20, 2009 @ 9:01 pm
Education and Community Programs » Mural making and community … http://bit.ly/qUeSt
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Comment by educationfinder — August 21, 2009 @ 4:51 am
Education and Community Programs » Mural making and community …: Education and Community Programs. Just anothe.. http://bit.ly/SAXe1
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Comment by Dlove03 — August 21, 2009 @ 8:24 am