Bay Windows / Ventanas en saliente / 窗花

A hyperlocal, 11-month long art process to foster belonging and build cross-cultural bridges between 16 working-class immigrant Chinese & Latinx women through the art of papercuts.

Two women speaking to each other in a workshop in a bright yellow room. One woman is Chinese and one woman is Latinx.

Women working on large tables in an art studio. There are large paper patterns, textiles and tools spread out.

A photo of a contingent with a lead banner in teal and pink with the title of the project in calligraphy, with a mariachi band and banners behind. It's night time and raining but people are smiling.

A large white gallery with windows along the left and bays with banners along the right.

Building upon trust and a successful track record

As a 2025 Creative Capital Awardee, Lead Artist Christine Wong Yap is reconvening a cohort of 16 women, first assembled for How I Keep Looking Up / Como Sigo Mirando Arriba / 仰望 (2022–2023), a collaboration with Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco (CCCSF) and numerous community organizations in Chinatown & the Mission District, which resulted in banners carried in the 2023 Chinese New Year Parade, an exhibition at CCCSF seen by 20,000 visitors, and features on El Tecolote, Hyperallergic, KGO ABC 7, KTVU Fox 2, KQED, and Sing Tao Daily. Yap is also re-assembling the prior team of bilingual project coordinators and interpreters for maximum continuity in Bay Windows.

Exhibition and workshops on Mexican and Chinese papercuts

In conjunction with Bay Windows, Yap is curating an exhibition of papel picado & Chinese papercuts (建制/ jianzhi.

Twin Windows: Papercuts by Beatriz Vasquez and Xiaoqing Shi
May 10–June 7, 2025
Reception: Sunday, May 25, 12-3pm
Kearny Street Workshop at Arc Studios & Gallery, 1246 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Gallery hours: Wed & Thur 1–6, Sat 12–3

Presented by Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center’s United States of Asian America Festival.

The exhibition will form a culturally-relevant backdrop for a series of trilingual workshops, led by Yap with interpreters and guest artists Vasquez and Shi. Through hands-on artmaking and discussions, participating designers will explore cross-cultural connections and precolonial traditions.

black cut paper in the style of papel picado

Beatriz Vasquez

Xiaoqing Shi

Narratives of political agency

The 16 working-class women include domestic workers, tenant organizers, and family services coordinators. In the workshops, the cohort will share stories and create papercuts to convey how migration has motivated them to address immigration, housing, labor, disinformation, and safety in their communities.

A free, three-month exhibition of lanterns displayed in three San Francisco neighborhoods

Yap will interpret the small, fragile paper cuts into durable illuminated lanterns. The lanterns will be displayed in the storefronts of values-aligned organizations in Chinatown, SOMA, and the Mission from December 2025 to March 2026. We will produce trilingual maps and walking tours. All lanterns, maps, and events will be free and available to the public at no charge.

Additional support needed

Current funding supports the workshops and exhibition, including stipends for the 16 working-class women (as well as support for childcare and transportation); and compensation for guest artists, interpreters, and bilingual project coordinators. What remains would go towards fabrication and event production. Without additional funding, we will reduce the number, scale and production quality of lanterns and events to compensate.

Get Involved

Donate

Financial contributions will support the completion of a full set of 16 lanterns at a high level of production quality; documentation including signage linking to webpages featuring subtitled video interviews with each designer speaking in her native language; and an all-ages scavenger hunt with prizes supporting local businesses.

Sponsor or volunteer

Contribute your talents in photo/video documentation, marketing/publicity, picture framing, translation/proofreading of Chinese or Spanish, or fundraising to our artist-led, community-rooted project.

Host us

We’re seeking a Mission District-based organization to host design sessions or workshops in June and July 2025.

Be a lantern venue

Values-aligned organizations, businesses, institutions, or schools with street-level storefront windows are invited to help us uplift immigrant women’s voices by hosting a lantern in your storefront, which will be activated with walking-tour related programs from December 2025 to March 2026.

Help us get the word out

Amplify this call now, and share the exhibition, lanterns, and walking tours later, among your community.

Contact Christine Wong Yap at for more information, including how to make a tax-deductible donation.

Credit: Christine Wong Yap and contributors, Bay Windows / Ventanas en saliente / 窗花, 2025–ongoing, social practice, mixed media; dimensions variable.

Bay Windows is supported by a 2025 Creative Capital Award.

Exhibition organized with Kearny Street Workshop and support from the National Endowment for the Arts, presented by Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center.

Project Team: Lee Oscar Gomez, Andreína Maldonado, Xiaoqing Shi, Weikun Tang, Beatriz Vasquez, Stephen Xie, Christine Wong Yap.

Thank you to Hoi Leung and YY Zhu at the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco for unwavering allyship; Jason Bayani and Mihee Kim at Kearny Street Workshop for partnership, fundraising support, and fiscal sponsorship; Susana Rojas and Xochitl Frausto at Calle 24 Latino Cultural District and Dr Martyna Ayala at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts for advice and support; Weston Teruya for grant feedback; to all the selection panelists and funders.