Yue Moon 2020
In celebration of the Lunar New Year 2020, STEPS Public Art and Paddy Leung teamed up to create a collaborative public art installation.
“The Chinatown BIA approached STEPS to develop a public art program that would not only build community but also increase awareness of local businesses within Toronto’s Chinatown neighbourhood. The vision was to launch this cultural experience during the 2020 Lunar New Year celebrations” (STEPS Public Art).
The Team
A great team is a must, especially when a project is built with community in mind. Working as an assistant artist facilitator, alongside Christie Carriere, we both aided Paddy & STEPS in executing four intergenerational lantern-making workshops.
The Workshops
Over three weeks, we engaged with over 100+ workshop participants from the ages of 2 to 80+. Facilitating three lantern-making approaches, folks connected with each other and shared their collective excitement for the new year.
The Celebration
The Lantern Festival marks the last day of the 15th day of Lunar New Year celebrations, where families come together and light up colourful lanterns. The Yue Moon lanterns illuminated Dragon City Mall (280 Spadina Ave) at the heart of Chinatown.
Yue Moon II
Building off the success of the inaugural Yue Moon hosted in 2020, I joined Paddy & STEPS for a second round, but with different circumstances.
To keep everyone safe, we embraced an online format that made lantern-making accessible and just as joyful as the physical version. Through storytelling, drawing and mixed media approaches, over 80 participants celebrated the Year of the Ox - all leading to the production of site-specific lantern installations from February to March 2021.
Program Development
Developing an accessible and easy-to-understand program was the top priority for Yue Moon II. With all obstacles in mind, we opted for programs that utilized printable templates and art supplies that you can find at home or the local dollar store.
A New Kind of Engagement
Facilitating a tactile tutorial through a screen is a little tricky, but with some adjustments, we made it work — for 5 workshops! Technical difficulties aside, we were able to connect with participants from all over and share our hopes for the new year.
Assembling & Installation
Yue Moon II was full of firsts and assembling + installation was no exception. Instead of paper lanterns, we designed an original lantern design! Laser-cut in acrylic, each one held 18 lantern artworks and was hung up at local businesses in Chinatown.
Animated Light
A community co-created public art project featuring original artwork developed by participants through a series of online animation workshops.
Program Resources
Working with Winnie was a dream, she organized 5 engaging workshops that taught the basics of illustration and stop-motion animation. I assisted her programming by creating resources for participants, co-facilitating workshops & post for the final video!
Virtual Collaboration
We worked with the same group of lovely participants throughout all 5 workshops, developing a warm & cozy environment. While the virtual nature of a zoom call presents some barriers, it did not stop the people from sharing their favourite LNY memories.
Animated at Huron Square
After weeks of prep, workshops & post, Animated Light lit up the wall of Chinese Gospel Church on Huron St. The collective hard work paid off and resulted in a beautiful animation reflecting upon personal, cultural, and historical themes tied to Lunar New Year.