City of Rochester
News Release
Opening Reception & Celebration: Friday, May 6, 2022: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
(Monday, May 2, 2022) – “Through and Beyond the Pandemic,” an exhibit curated by Asian/Pacific
Islander/American Association of Greater Rochester (APAA) President Mimi Lee,
is on display at the City Hall Link Gallery through June 6. The exhibit
recognizes the resiliency of the Asian/Pacific Islander community through and
beyond the pandemic. The APAA is celebrating its 20th anniversary
this year.
“‘Through and Beyond
the Pandemic’ highlights both individual and organizational frames that reflect
cross-generations by age, gender, ethnicity, profession and culture,” said Lee.
“Visitors can browse through the collection and engage in ways to experience
the powerful emotions of the artists’ fear, anxieties, panic, and anger as well
as love, hope, strength and tenacity.”
Individual frames
include a Gen Z, talented high-school student who created, “The Fiery Skies”
depicting a man wearing a hazmat suit; his mask broken, revealing a crying
face…to a Baby Boomer, a retired bioscience researcher and amateur artist’s oil
canvas of “A Chinese Woman Warrior” whose facial determination and steady eyes
fight injustice with a quiet dignity. Other works include “No Greater Love,” a
photographic tribute to honor thy father and mother; a shameful, self-portrait,
on acrylic oil canvas, of “Being Too Asian”; and Jean’s Jewels, a Shell Tribal
Necklace piece inspired by her Filipino-Ifugao heritage and her “Superheroes”
photographic tribute to the 30.1% of Filipino registered nurses nationally, who
lost their lives to COVID-19 in the line of duty.
Organizational frames
include:
- The
Chinese School of Rochester highly engaging in loving a community back despite
being in a most vulnerable state;
- Members
of the Indian Heritage Museum spun into action by creating nine exhibits during
the pandemic and a poster collage depicting their good works.
- GENseng,
SUNY Geneseo’s Asian American Performance Ensemble presses on with two plays
while exploring and utilizing Zoom technology during the pandemic shutdown.
- APAA celebrates 20
years of milestones with four collages depicting the following:
- First
Five Years: "The APA-HiP Story 2002-2006";
- Ten
Years Later: "See Us Now" exhibit at Link Gallery in 2013;
- Towards
15 Years: "Creating our Legacy” exhibit in 2018 and “Embracing our
Heritage” exhibit in 2019 at Link Gallery;
- The
Final Stretch: 2022 -- 20th Year Anniversary "Through and Beyond
the Pandemic” exhibit at the Link Gallery, April 12 to June 6, 2022.
APAA is a 501(c)(3)
not-for-profit organization committed to a stronger Greater Rochester Area
community where diverse Asian/Pacific Islander-American (APA) peoples are
valued; and their heritages and histories are preserved and celebrated. For
more information, visit their website at www.apaaroc.org.
The City of
Rochester values the visual arts as an educational and aesthetic experience.
More importantly, the City sees local art as part of the culture of this
region. With this in mind, the Link Gallery, established 1981, promotes the art
and art culture of the area. The Gallery, located at 30 Church Street on the
first floor of City Hall in the corridor connecting Building A to Building B,
is open 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Link Gallery is free,
handicapped accessible, and open to the public.
For more
information, visit www.cityofrochester.gov/linkgallery.
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