Between Worlds: Exploring Nature, Immigration, and Art as Keys to People’s Connection to Place (an experience hosted by Beyond Trees Network, The Nature of Cities and the Urban Field Station Artist in Residence)

Beyond Trees Network, The Nature of Cities and the Urban Field Station Artist in Residence present

Between Worlds: Exploring Nature, Immigration, and Art as Keys to People’s Connection to Place

With:    Cecile Chong, 2021 Urban Field Station Artist in Residence

When:  Friday, June 24 | 10 AM – 12 PM EST (GMT – 4)

How to Join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84394712679?pwd=eGhaTGdFYkM4RllyQk5VQmpUOW13dz09

Meeting ID: 843 9471 2679

Passcode: 008720

“I was born in Ecuador to Chinese parents, and lived in Macau from the age of 10 to 15. I returned to Ecuador for high school and came to New York to study art at age 19.  Culturally the move to Asia from South America was extremely abrupt and disorienting for a 10 year old. I struggled to look for clues to my previous life in Ecuador. I could not find a common thread in food, language or people, but I did find the connection that I was looking for in nature, in grass, flowers, plants, rocks, clouds, the sky, the sun and moon. That finding was extremely comforting and reassuring. Living in a city, many of these natural elements can be found in city parks. My own experience of relocating makes me wonder how newcomers benefit from city parks, and how city parks evolve and feed off of the arrival of these different immigrant communities.” – Cecile Chong

Cecile Chong, a 2021 Urban Field Station Artist in Residence in New York City, United States, will share stories of her life and work as an artist and a teacher. She will focus on working with immigrant communities and creating public art in urban parks, and reflect on the role of the artist as curator, collaborator, and advocate. Her recent work focuses on Sunset Park in Brooklyn, New York, a place which at any moment is full of immigrants from around the world. They bring their own perspectives to the park and its uses, making it a diverse laboratory for many questions, including: What makes this place attractive and special to people? What do people bring to and learn from the park setting? What can we learn here to apply to other urban parks and gathering places? Following her talk, we will discuss the ways in which arts and green spaces together can be platforms to support community engagement and meaningful connections to place.

About Cecile Chong

Cecile Chong was born in Ecuador to Chinese parents and grew up in Quito and Macau. She is a multimedia artist working in painting, sculpture, installation, and video, layering materials, identities, histories, and languages. Her public art installation EL DORADO – The New Forty Niners has been installed in the five boroughs of New York City. Fellowships and residencies include NYSCA, LMCC Creative Engagement, Urban Field Station, The Hispanic Society’s Vilcek Artist Research Fellowship, Block Gallery/Bronx Museum, BRIC Media Arts, Joan Mitchell Center, Wave Hill Winter Workspace, Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grant, and the Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant. Solo exhibitions include Kates-Ferri Projects, Sugar Hill Children’s Museum, Selenas Mountain, ICFAC at Pinta Miami, Smack Mellon, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Five Myles, BRIC House, Emerson Gallery Berlin, and Honey Ramka. She received an MFA from Parsons, an MA in education from Hunter College, and a BA in Studio Art from Queens College.

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Passcode: 008720

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