Hopes for Chinatown is a temporary public artwork featuring community members’ hopes and dreams for S.F. Chinatown in English and Chinese. The responses were gathered in Art, Culture, and Belonging.

In May 2020, Hopes for Chinatown was installed at Dragon Seed Bridal and Photo, 735 Clay Street (across from Portsmouth Square) in San Francisco (Google Map). It is still on view as of April 2021 as part of Art for Essential Workers, 100 Days Action’s initiative to partner with local businesses with boarded up storefronts and install art with images of optimism and solidarity by local and national artists.

In April 2021, the artwork also appeared on a billboard in Atlanta, GA, and on kiosks in St. Louis, MO as part of For Freedoms’ AAPI Solidarity campaign. In partnership with Orange Barrel Media, For Freedoms aimed to change hearts and minds with billboards across the country. Photos by Connie Huang and Jonathan Fan.

Watch the screen recording of Add Oil, Chinatown! Artists’ Talks on Public Art & Neighborhood Recovery, presented by the Chinese Culture Center in collaboration with 100 Days Action, featuring Chelsea Wong and Jenifer k Wofford (artists’ talk #2) and Jocelyn Tsaih and Christine Wong Yap (artists’ talk #2).

See related blog posts: “Hopes for Chinatown: Ethics, Complicity, & Tactics Rationale” and “On Belonging: From Hopes for Chinatown to Black Lives Matter to Anti-Asian Sentiment to Racial Solidarity.” 

See "藝術家創作支持華埠 葉黃嘉雯領銜" 星島日報, 2020年06月07日.

Credits: Christine Wong Yap, Hopes for Chinatown, 2020, site-specific public art: participation, hand-lettering, digital print, 80 x 148 inches and 96 x 48 inches. Commissioned and installed by 100 Days Action for Art for Essential Workers. Photo by Jeremiah Barber. // Christine Wong Yap, Less Discrimination, More Understanding (YY), 2021, digital artwork, dimensions variable. Presented by For Freedoms in partnership with Orange Barrel Media. Photo by Connie Huang and Jonathan Fan.

Thanks to the participants for their submissions and consent. Thanks to YY and Wei for translation. Thanks to Jeremiah and 100 Days Action for producing and installing the project. Thanks to For Freedoms and Orange Barrel Media.