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Okay, so today is December 9th, 2024. My name is Lana Nguyen and I'm here with Miss Jun Xu on behalf on behalf of the Houston Asian American Archive at Rice University. If you could please state your full name and where and when you were born?

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Hi everyone! My name is June Xu. Last name is spelled Xu and I was born on February 10th, 1984. Can you say where as well?

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Where? Oh, I was born in Canton, China. Guangzhou, also known as Guangzhou, China. Okay. Thank you. And how would you describe the household you grew up in and who did you live with?

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I grew up in a traditional Chinese household with my grandparents, my mother, father and also my uncles, aunts and my-my cousins. So we grew up in an environment I would want to say quite traditional, but we still,

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it's in a very family setting. I grew up because I'm the only child. However, because I grew up with my cousins, we spend a lot of time together, so it's a, I would say, rather family oriented

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environment. Yeah. Sounds like you have a really big family. Yeah. And what were your parents occupations? What jobs did they have?

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Before they came to United States, they were jade sculptors. So they sculpt out jade into figures into, ornate or any decorating items. And they actually also make big sculptures, like ships,

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like two meter long ships and things. Yes. Yes. And yeah, things like that. And they make, one of those very ornate jade balls that you can rotate inside.

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And each layer has like decorations, I think the maximum that they could do was like nine layers. Yeah. So what were some of the values that your parents emphasized in your upbringing?

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I would want to say family, the value of family, um, the respect of to the elders, respect to other people. I think those are the things that they emphasize the most and also and pursue one's happiness.

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I think that's something new. No. Yeah, that's that's really nice. I think it's-it's-it's good that they emphasize, like, pursuing happiness.

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I think that's like a really good value. And I saw that, on your pre-interview form that you, like, are Buddhist. Did you grow up practicing Buddhism and do you continue to practice Buddhism today?

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And if so, like how do you practice Buddhism and what aspects do you practice? I grew up with Buddhism. I wanted to say. Our family, not only they pray to Buddha, but also they they pray to, God, you know, the Chinese god,

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right? And it's it's quite it's like a fusion. I would say it's like a Taoism slash Buddhism at the same time. I was wanting to say they really respect nature in the sense that nature becomes spirit, right, because in the Chinese gods,

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not that everybody like, there's, there's a deity or god in every aspect of life. There's-there's this God called earth, there's God for heaven, there's God for the trees, you know. So I think they really I want to say they respect to the nature

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instead of like, really god, God. Um, however, after I came to the United States, I, I was seeking something more spiritual.

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So I became a Buddhist myself, and I continue to practice Buddhism in my daily life. I have a sanctuary at home that that's where I pray. I'm-I've been praying quite a quite a bit lately.

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So, that's my way of practicing. That sounds amazing. I'm actually Buddhist myself, and I also have a sanctuary at home where I-i pray as well. So, I want to sort of move to talking about, like,

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your education as a kid. So, tell me a little bit about, like, your early educational experiences in elementary and middle school. And if you can remember what schools you attended,

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and were there any teachers or experiences during this early schooling that inspired you? Like academically or maybe even non academically? Okay, so, my middle school year and my early childhood I spent in China. I came here when I was 16, so I pretty much finished my elementary

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school and middle school in China. Then I moved on to United States and I went to Sharpstown High School in Houston. So I spent my three years in Sharpstown High School. My early school years were very traditional Chinese

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schooling, which is like you, they stuff everything in your brain and, and pray and hopefully that you are going to do well in exams. I always excel in my exams. My-my father and mother has a high expectation from me.

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And being the only girl of the family, my family is actually quite liberal comparing, speaking, you know, to to the tradition that we have that we, we value boys more than girls. But my family is a little different, starting from my grandfather.

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He always treat me the same as the boys in, you know, of the family. I received the same education, same value in teachings, everything. I would say the same. Whatever my uncles can provide and aunties can provide to my

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cousins, I actually have it to. My grandfather he said that he-he trains me as much as he trains the other boys in terms of business trades and things like that.

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My, although my parents, they grew up, they-they were trained sculptors. But my family is very business oriented. We have a long history of doing businesses. My grandmother, my great grandfather, went into

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trade in antiques. And my grandfather, one of the other side, the grandfather on my paternal side was actually a tailor for-for the wealthy. So for a long time my family has been doing lots of

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businesses. So they they actually extend that education, extend that kind of concept to me. So-so I did not grow up, I did not grow up just in a static environment, but also in a very

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business oriented environment as well. Um, growing up in elementary school and middle school, I've always received trainings in art, um, not just by my parents work side, but also they

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send me to art programs for me to take on classes from-from, from different art teachers. So I study different forms of art. I learned drawing,

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painting, Chinese water painting, I even won a national award, a gold award when I was nine years old. So art has always been there.

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However, because the academic load has gotten heavier and heavier, I had to let that go during my middle school age. Just out of curiosity, what's unique about Chinese water painting? I think it's a paper. I think the pigment is pigment,

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right? Pigment-pigments are the same, but it's the paper that we use that makes it unique. For many, many years, uh, in people's mind, you know, when we talk, when we talk about Chinese watercolor, they always talk about black and white. They always use,

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we always use ink. Actually, it only happened after the Song Dynasty that we use more ink versus color pigmentation. But before that, in the Tang Dynasty, we actually use a lot of mineral painting or mineral pigments mixed with the gums,

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and so they will stick on the walls. So if we go back to Dunhuang in the cave, you know, I'm sure that you know about that, the Dunhuang we there are paintings and, you know, they're painted with those

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pigmentations, that lasts for thousands of years. And but because it was sort of losted in the, in the-in the, in, in the history. So we are not well known for it.

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We are- we are-we are more well known for the ink, you know, the black and white watercolor. But I think it's about time to bring it back. I'm excited. I'm actually working on something that hopefully I could

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step into it. So we could we could revisit this this this this, this material, this medium. That sounds actually really amazing and I'm excited to see that in the future. So, I wanted to also talk about like, immigration.

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So, when did you move to the US and what prompted you to do so? I moved to the US in year 2000, so that marks my 24th year living in the United States. So I actually lived here longer.

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I can call myself a Houstonian. I live here longer than I live in China. And, I came right after graduation of middle school, so I started with my high school here.

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What brought me coming was our family from my mother's side, they have a long history of immigration or going overseas for work or for for, we call it one seek meaning seeking for food.

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Right. In order to seek food, you need to work and and and do that. So they have a long history with I think back in the Qing dynasty, which is about 300 years ago. Um, we the the family, the village already well known

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for-for leaving the home country and going out. So my great, great, great, great, I want to say six generations coming from me, six generations ago, my great grandfather was, one of the-the pioneers that came to the United States.

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And he became a laundryman. So he came right before the Chinese Exclusion Act back in 1904. Yes. Yeah. And 1904, 1914, I think that was the Chinese Exclusion Act.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but then he went back to China because there's no way that he could settle over here. So he went back, in his mid 40s. And he lived the rest of his life in China for the for the last

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40 years of his life. He died around 80 or so. So we recently-I recently found out about that. I didn't know about that. And then later on, one of his grandson, which is my grandmother's,

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brother, came to United States, I wanted to say right around World War Two time. So he came and he brought along his other brother and his other sister in the 80s. So he came to the United States during World War Two.

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And then he married to a Caucasian woman-woman. And however, they did not have any children, but he brought along his brother and sister around the 80s. So my grandmother actually came here

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in back in 1987. It took her more than ten years for her to become a US citizen. And finally, she can apply for my mother. It took a long time for the application to be processed.

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So we finally came in year 2020. Of what, year 2000. Year 2000. Yep. Wow. You guys really do have, like, a long history of of

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immigration. Yeah. And I was wondering, like, what were some challenges that you faced when you first came to America? First of all, it was the, the language barrier, of course, I remember the first day I came as people asked me what my name was,

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how old I was, I-it took me seconds for me to process that and change that into English and respond back. It was the cultural difference. I I remember that when I first settled in, the

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place that I live, I live in Sharpstown. However, supposedly to be a Chinatown. But, for some reason, I did not meet any Chinese. The people who helped me out was actually Vietnamese.

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I met a group of Vietnamese girls and they helped me out. They showed me where to go get lunch. How you know, how to take classes, you know, choose classes. And they eventually took me to,

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to Ocean Palace. And that's where I started my first part time job. So, so people from our community, the Asian community, actually lend out their hands. And then later on, I met a boy from Taiwan,

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and at that time, so, so even though there was huge cultural differences from the greater community, you know, the greater Houston community, but I still receive assistance and help from the Asian community as

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a whole. So I'm really grateful for that. That was the biggest challenge. That sounds really lovely, actually. I like how you said that. Like, despite, like the differences between the Asian community,

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you guys are all able to, like, gather together and help each other out. And since you're mentioning Ocean Palace, my cousin's family friend used to run the place. And so I'm curious as to, like, what was your experience like working

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at Ocean Palace? Oh, Ocean Palace was was my first job. It was exciting. So I get to push cart. So I get to sell dim sum.

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And before. So they always open, um, early, but-but the second layer, they open up a little later, right. So before we-we start selling the dim sums and everything else, we always help out in the kitchen.

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And it was a very different experience. I wanted to say I was not allowed to go work before, but now came to the United States for some reason. I told my dad, I told my mom, hey, I said my my classmates said that I

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could go help out, you know, do a part time job on Saturdays, and they just let me do it on Saturdays and Sundays. And it was fun. And then later on I got, after I--my English has got better.

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I got a job at a OBGYN office as a front desk, front desk, person, receptionist. And I started out over there a year later. Yeah. So I know that you mentioned, like, the Asian American community,

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but were you able to find, like, a Chinese-American community when you first arrived in Houston? Or was it more so just like a general Asian American community? I could because of Ocean Palace and also because of,

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because of the OBGYN office I met at that time, mostly people from Taiwan or from the same village that my-not village, but region that my grandma is from, so the Cantonese and Taiwanese.

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At that time there was not that many people from mainland or northern mainland side, but I was still able to, receive some support from them. And and thrive, can continue to thrive.

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Yeah, that sounds amazing. So I'll now start to talk more about your education. So I'm going to ask like what college did you attend and what year. And what did you major in? I went to University of Houston in

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year twenty oh three. Yes. 2003. Or maybe four. I know, I cannot remember, I was I want to say I graduated in oh three. So I'm starting probably summer of

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2020-2003. I first went to University of Houston for interior design degree, but then I later on switched to business. So I received a bachelor's and a master's in accounting from

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University of Houston in year 2009. Now I'm back to U of H for my post bachelor's degree in fine art. So art has always been my passion. Recently, I have the opportunity going

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back after I think I wanted to say I have to thank my husband, so for his business has got more stable. We could have more means to support me through another degree. So in 2022, I decided to go back to U of H to pursue

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my art degree. And so I'll be graduating in spring of 2025. Oh, so that's pretty soon. Yeah. One more semester.

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Yes. Congratulations. Well, I'm saying this early, but congratulations in advance. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I see that.

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So you choosing to pursue fine arts and also business. Would you say that your family growing up like they had a big influence on why you chose those two areas? Yes. I have to say that.

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Yes. My family does value the business trait that's-that aspect. That's why I pursue accounting. However, I did not like accounting after

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I graduated, so I only worked probably two years in accountancy. And then, I became a salesperson in cosmetics. So why cosmetics? So I thought cosmetics has something to do with beauty and art. So I went to, Macy's and sell cosmetics for Christian

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Dior. The brand that I represented was Christian Dior. In three years, I became one of their sales directors in the region. So I managed, all the counters in-in Dillard's for Christian Dior, which, which gave me a, a

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very good experience in terms of selling, in terms of communication management between our teammates, something that I'm still using nowadays. And then later on, I got married to my husband and

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had our kids. So I stopped working for, Dillard's and I, we started our business in year 2016 until now. And it's a dental office. So I'm still using the, the, all the, the concept that I learned from

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accounting, all the practices that I learned from the selling and and doing it day in and day out. That sounds great. So what were some defining moments that you had in college? Some defining moments that I had in college.

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Um, I wanted to say I had a lot to do with my most recent years, that I went back to U of H for my bachelor's degree in fine art. Um, the reason that I have to say this because for fine art

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back in the days, or actually in a lot of Asians Mine. We are craftsman's. We do something to beautiful, something aesthetic to please people. Right. Back in-back in the days, you please the king.

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Later on, you please the wealthy. But nowadays, in modern world, especially in the Western world, art is not only an object or objects to please people.

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It should represent somebody's ideas. So going back to U of H, in the Bachelor in Fine Art program, I learned that artists should represent someone's voice,

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whether it's to represent the the artist's voice or the community voice, somebody's voice. So it also, it almost always had a concern in some issues. So because of that, I start

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looking inward into myself. What is my voice? What is it that I wanted to say? I remember growing up as a Chinese girl, even though my family is, I would say, quite liberal compared

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to most Chinese families, they're more conservative. But I did not have a voice. I did not know what I wanted to say. And the early years. After I settled in Houston again,

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my-our objective is to survive. I-we until we-we feel like we are able to survive, we don't have a say of life, right? Because all your mind is to fighting for survivorship.

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So, I think that was a defining moment that I need to look into myself. What is it that I want to say? What's my concern? What's our community's concern? Is-is our-does our community have a concern?

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Is there a gap that we need to bridge? So those are the questions, like like, those are the questions that I'm asking myself every single day now. I think I'll have to start asking myself those questions too,

00:24:01.220 - 00:24:17.540

honestly. Yeah. It seems like you tend to do a lot of like introspection and thinking on your own, but have you ever had any guidance or like any mentors to help you with, like art and the art process and just like thinking in general?

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Absolutely, absolutely. I have I took-I appreciate a lot of, um, uh, people before me that, that they will take me in and, um, and helping me forming who I am in terms of

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art. I work with William Miller, who is a fourth generation Houstonian from the third Ward, so he used to specialize in African American art back in the 80s and 90s. I worked--I just recently visited

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Ronald Hartgrove, studio. He was the first Houstonian artist that occupied the entire ground, the second floor, actually, the the second floor in the, in the contemporary Art Museum in

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Houston. And also, I have people from the community that actually take alongside--take me alongside, for example, I work with people in Austin, Austin Chinese American Network, Asian American for

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Justice in-in Austin that they work with me on forming my thoughts and my ideas into exhibitions. And also there are people from that, like I have more involvement with the Committee of 100.

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I'm involved in the Next Generation Leadership program. So there are people that from the same cohort that actually work with me and bringing up our projects. So I appreciate everybody's help along the way in defining who I

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am today. That's great. Um, the next generation project, is that what it's called? Could you tell me-can you tell me more about it?

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Okay. Um. Committee of 100 is an organization formed back in 1989. I wanted to say, and they have a dual mission. So one of the mission is to,

00:26:29.840 - 00:26:43.760

to-to-to to foster a better Chinese-US relation. And the other is to promote, Asian American, especially Chinese American status, social status in the United States.

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So in this year, 2024, April this year, I'm-I'm very fortunate to be selected being one of the Next Generation Leaders program. So there's a cohort that have people from all over the states and get together, and we have Servicing project for one

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year. So during this project, so, my cohort, my teammates and I, we decided to do a project that will feature the the Asian American bachelors who worked-who were actually the military personnel,

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whether they are existing, they still, you know, existing personnels or they are the past personnels, we feature some of them on our project. So, that's how I got into

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do a painting for Sabu Dastagir, who? Now the painting is collected by the Air Force Art collection program and also being permanently displayed at the Pentagon in the World War two section, the World War two hallway.

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So it's a great, great honor and he's a South Asian. He is the first South Asian being highlighted in the entire Pentagon program. So, very, very honored to be the the painter for that, for that painting.

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That sounds so amazing. Oh, my gosh. It's so cool. And now that you're about to graduate from the fine arts program, could you tell me about, like, your experience,

00:28:21.220 - 00:28:33.570

like going back to school and like, how that has been? It's hard. I have, I have a business to run right with my husband. I have two boys. Luckily, I have my mother.

00:28:33.650 - 00:28:51.370

She's a part of this great supporting system. I have my father in law and mother in law that occasionally help out when my mom becomes unavailable. So because of that, I am able to go back to school. And in the beginning I was able to only take two classes

00:28:51.410 - 00:29:06.730

and-but because I start the professional program, I-I have to start the nine hours straight, so I could graduate a little sooner. The professional program was actually amazing.

00:29:07.090 - 00:29:23.770

This, I want to say, the teachers and the professors, they really took the time and trained us on how to become or how to practice your own art. If you already graduated as an artist, a practicing artist.

00:29:24.250 - 00:29:38.310

So we basically have to spend two days, Tuesdays and Thursdays at the school. We have a studio we supply with a studio, and professors will give you projects mostly.

00:29:38.310 - 00:29:52.630

Those are those projects are the projects that you that represent you, and they come to talk to you about techniques, about concepts, about what you could do go further. And they do everything that they can to push you further.

00:29:53.230 - 00:30:07.180

So I wanted to thank them for that. They-I learned a lot from that program. It's I think it's a program that I would I would always miss as a practicing artist.

00:30:07.180 - 00:30:23.750

That was, that was I think that was one of the most amazing things that I, that I experienced in the last two years in the-in the fine arts program. So now we're talking about your career and involvement in different

00:30:23.750 - 00:30:38.330

communities. So when and how did you decide to pursue your current career of co-owning two dental practices? And what about social entrepreneurship with visual art? Can you repeat your question?

00:30:39.890 - 00:30:58.930

Yeah. So, when and how did you decide to pursue your current career? You said that you currently co-own two dental practices, and you're currently doing social entrepreneurship with visual art. Well, um, I cannot say I co-own, right.

00:30:58.930 - 00:31:15.250

I technically, I am, because I'm the, the wife of the, of the dentist. Because-because the uniqueness of dentistry, I cannot own a dental practice, but I going

00:31:15.250 - 00:31:33.070

up as a entrepreneur family, right? I always wanted to own something, to build something of my own. I have to say that that running a dental office gave me the opportunity to learn how to run

00:31:33.990 - 00:31:55.950

an individual, own individual practice that could lead me to-to-to leap forward with my own practices. So last year, in 2023, it was the year that the Texas legislature started out

00:31:55.950 - 00:32:16.470

something affecting the the home ownership for Chinese Texans. That is when I start getting more involved into our community's advocacy. And then getting more

00:32:16.470 - 00:32:28.900

involved of our community's advocacy at that time. And also that has also a lot to do with my schooling, right? Like I said, what is my voice? What's my community's voice?

00:32:29.660 - 00:32:46.060

And I start realizing that there is a gap. There are many gaps. Number one, there are there are gaps between our community, the Asian community, and the community at large,

00:32:46.500 - 00:33:04.100

meaning the Texans, the other Texans, right. There's a gap between no matter, no matter whether it was culture or it was history, there's a gap between us and them as a whole, right. And the second gap that I found was the early

00:33:04.140 - 00:33:17.020

settlers who came before the World War Two, like my great great great grandfather, right. And then they they came in, they have their their offspring. They have children passing along their children,

00:33:17.900 - 00:33:33.720

I would call them the early settlers. And between them and the the most 20 the most recent 20 years, especially the last ten years. There's this gap between them and us, especially the last ten years

00:33:33.720 - 00:33:51.680

after the I wanted to say after the year two-year 2010, there was a flush of Asian Americans coming to Texas and settled in. I realized that they they don't necessarily share the same

00:33:53.360 - 00:34:09.360

concepts with the early settlers, and they don't necessarily know the history about the early settlers. So I realized that there's this because of these two gaps, someone needs to to bridge it.

00:34:09.440 - 00:34:28.780

Someone needs to be in between to to close the gap. And, and I hope that I will be that person to do that. And I feel like I have the ability to work on that. Like I said early on, when I

00:34:28.780 - 00:34:45.540

first came to Houston, I received tons of help from people from other communities. I make friends with people from all sorts of all cultures. I made allies with them.

00:34:45.580 - 00:35:03.820

You know, make friendship with them. So I feel like I could be the person to bridge the gap, especially in art, using art and culture. In art, many Asians do not value art. The same, actually. And many cultures don't value art the same.

00:35:04.460 - 00:35:22.320

And, but art is actually very powerful. It moves people. Because of that, I think there's a great need that needs to be filled. So that's why in

00:35:22.480 - 00:35:38.320

2024, I decided to start the Asian American Art and Culture Initiative to create opportunity to do two things. Number one is to amplify our community voice.

00:35:38.880 - 00:35:55.600

Number two is to become the incubator for for new artists such as myself. I believe in creating opportunities. I do not wait along. I do not like to wait for the opportunity to fall on my

00:35:55.600 - 00:36:14.160

laps. So I believe in creating my own events, my own exhibitions, which I think it leads to a right direction. And because of that, because of this idea, it actually land me several exhibitions the opportunity

00:36:14.160 - 00:36:31.710

to-to-to show our history and our art, for example, I have the first one coming up is in May of 2025, in Austin Central Library. We are going to showcase the the Chinese American

00:36:31.710 - 00:36:49.750

history through video-videography, through sculpture, through installation, through paintings and music. Yes, we have invited people from overseas. My curator is a renowned international curator based out in

00:36:49.750 - 00:37:07.510

London, and she invited another artist which is a composer and musician. She's going to I'm very excited. She's going to dedicate a song, just for the the early settlers who came to the United States in doing the

00:37:07.510 - 00:37:21.850

railroads. So so we're excited about that. We also landed another exhibition opportunity with the Houston Central Library, it's called the Besides Math. And it's actually focusing on our younger generation,

00:37:21.850 - 00:37:37.690

our younger artists. So most of them are the second generations of immigrants. And they we want to hear their voice. So we are the so-called normal, I mean, the-the what? The model minority, right.

00:37:37.730 - 00:37:50.930

So we are good at math. However, besides math, what else? What else do we know? What else are we good at? So, that's why we named this exhibition besides math.

00:37:51.290 - 00:38:06.410

So, I'm very excited to see what they represent, what they got, they are going to tell us. I'm actually extremely excited to when is this going to take place? It's going to be in September of 2025.

00:38:06.690 - 00:38:19.430

So yeah, most of the works are already done, but I might, we might be, you know, getting a few more from them. But I'm very excited about that. Um, I think that our youngsters, our younger generation,

00:38:19.430 - 00:38:34.430

needs an opportunity to showcase their work. So being in the Central Library, it's a perfect opportunity for us. I think it's so amazing that this organization is giving a chance to to like all kinds of artists to showcase their work and like,

00:38:34.470 - 00:38:48.430

have a voice in these spaces. And I'm assuming you have the role as president? [JX: Yes.] So what is expected of you as like being president and what kind of tasks do you do and what not?

00:38:48.470 - 00:39:03.630

So right now, I-we have three board of directors. They are from Austin, Houston and also Dallas. So I-my goal is to bridge all these three cities for these exhibitions, and I receive help from them.

00:39:04.070 - 00:39:23.770

However, as the president, I'm responsible for the daily operation, fundraising, looking for grants, looking for opportunities to showcase writing out lots of proposals for exhibitions, and seek opportunity to-to collaborate with other

00:39:23.770 - 00:39:35.690

communities, which we might be landing another opportunity coming up with-with the other community. I will keep it as a secret for now. When I land it, I'll make an announcement.

00:39:37.610 - 00:39:51.210

Sounds amazing. I'll be looking forward to hearing that. So what makes you so passionate about your career? Because I can sense, like, a lot of passion, a lot of love for it. And what about your job, like, makes you so passionate?

00:39:51.210 - 00:40:06.570

Like, what do you love seeing? I think that I, I'm excited to see because number one, I a I am a art appreciator growing up as a so I love art in the beginning.

00:40:07.450 - 00:40:22.630

Number two is that, however, I have to change my course for not pursuing art, right. So this is my second time pursuing art as my career. Um, number three is I think it's the love for my community.

00:40:22.910 - 00:40:38.510

I have two children. I want to-to make them feel more at home. Like this is really their home, right. Um, I feel like by doing more of this,

00:40:39.070 - 00:40:54.950

they will find a sense of belonging here in the United States. I want to help them to fight their cultural identity issue because growing up, I've heard lots of American born Chinese or maybe Asian born Chinese,

00:40:54.990 - 00:41:12.710

Vietnamese, they have issues growing up finding their identity. So, I really want them to be proud of who they are and who they represent. I wanted to say it's the love for the community and our future generation that

00:41:12.710 - 00:41:28.260

keeps keeps me moving. And on the other hand, is I would like to see how far we can go as a community artist because, as you know, Asian artists always have a hard time, you know,

00:41:28.300 - 00:41:42.460

even surviving. I wanted to know how far we could go as a-as a-as a community. I think that's really lovely, especially when talking about your kids. I think a lot of parents don't really acknowledge that,

00:41:42.500 - 00:41:56.500

like their children might face, like identity issues regarding like, am I American, am I Chinese, etc. I think it's really lovely that you take that into account and like use that as your motivation. And so conversely, I'm wondering like,

00:41:56.500 - 00:42:16.760

what's the most challenging or frustrating part of your career? The most challenging part is to-to break into the art world, because there's a lot of established establishment already. As an outsider, looking into the art

00:42:16.760 - 00:42:38.120

world is not easy. But that's why the AACI, the Asian American Art and Culture Initiative was created. I have to thank my degree in accounting that I know how to find out solutions for a problem.

00:42:38.720 - 00:42:58.080

So, that's why we are creating our own exhibition, partnering with different venues. I have to say I think that America is a true place for opportunities. You have an idea, you find out

00:42:58.400 - 00:43:13.180

of opportunities, you pursue it, you get it. I think the early success for the AACI is a true example for that. We only existed for a few months.

00:43:13.260 - 00:43:28.780

Of course, if you're counting on, like, the preparation and everything, we are almost like a year old, right. But for, like, formal formality, we started in May of 2020-2024. So, but we

00:43:28.780 - 00:43:47.900

are we have already landed several opportunities to exhibit. And we're working with international artists, and we're getting recognition by many places. One of them I'm really proud at is getting the support from Humanity

00:43:47.940 - 00:44:06.260

Texas. So it's a federal grant. They are supporting our Roots Unveil, uh, exhibition in Austin, which I take pride for doing that for having that. I think that that's the biggest challenge is to to break into the art

00:44:06.260 - 00:44:25.660

world, getting recognition and getting the job done. I believe in-in in hard work. I don't mind rolling up my-my-my sleeves and getting things done. But so little by little is is being done

00:44:25.660 - 00:44:38.520

and-and we will continue to thrive. Thank you so much. So, now I'll be asking you about your family and your personal life. So, could you tell me about how you met your spouse?

00:44:39.600 - 00:44:57.240

My husband was actually, oh, it was funny. He was my dentist in to begin with, but-but he was a good friend of his receptionist. So, I I'm a good friend of the receptionist as well.

00:44:57.320 - 00:45:15.510

So, we actually met each other on another occasion at a at a another occasion. And that's how we formally introduced to each other. So, that's how we met. And then later on, just just like everybody else,

00:45:15.510 - 00:45:31.870

you know, we did it for two years, and we got married soon after we started having our family. We have two boys. One is nine and one is seven. They are attending school in the in Sugar Land.

00:45:33.390 - 00:45:44.750

Yeah. Yeah. So how important is it for you to educate your your sons on their ethnic heritage? It's very important for us.

00:45:44.750 - 00:46:00.790

So they are going to Chinese school. They are start getting the hang of it, I believe. you know, after all these years, you know, is spending there. I often talk to them the differences between us and the other

00:46:00.790 - 00:46:13.010

culture. We talk about respecting the other culture. I let them know that we are-they are-they were born here. So they are born to be American. But they are Chinese American.

00:46:14.610 - 00:46:28.400

Chinese is not about a country or about a government. It's about your heritage. The language that we share, the food that we share, the traditions that we share.

00:46:28.400 - 00:46:42.530

We talk about all of those. And so this time when we went to the Pentagon for the unveiling ceremony, we took them along as well. So they first hand witness what happened in the Pentagon.

00:46:42.930 - 00:46:59.730

And so they understand that it's-the the ceremony, the the whole project was very inspiring to someone look like the person on the painting.

00:47:00.770 - 00:47:18.510

The-the Air Force actually invited cadets from the Air Force Academy and the ROTC. It was very formal. They all went and they it's the first time for them seeing someone look like them on the painting.

00:47:18.910 - 00:47:36.990

On the wall. It makes them proud. And it makes them continue to drive forward and to continue to serve our nation. My boys, they are even they're younger, but they are getting the idea

00:47:36.990 - 00:47:54.110

of-of they should be proud of who they are. And and that's I always want to say that's my way of fighting the-the-the identity issue for the younger generation. I think that's really great, honestly.

00:47:54.310 - 00:48:05.810

And how close are you with your parents and your family today? I'm very close to them. My dad lives in China. He had to take care of my of my grandma.

00:48:06.570 - 00:48:23.690

She's 94, going 95 years old. She's very old. So my my dad has lived there. My-my mom, besides Covid, she always go back to visit, but because of Covid, I haven't seen my family over there for the

00:48:23.690 - 00:48:35.980

last the last five years already. Yeah, yeah, the last time I was there was 2019, right before Covid. Yup. So hopefully we are-we are able to go back to see them this summer,

00:48:35.980 - 00:48:54.050

upcoming summer. I have a very close relationship with my mom and my dad. We share a lot of our daily life together. My dad is one of my greatest supporter. I was saying I wanted to say he's my first fan in my-my-my art career.

00:48:55.450 - 00:49:08.080

And my husband is my patron. So my. Yeah, my husband is my patron. Um, yeah. They are my first supporting system of this whole journey.

00:49:10.040 - 00:49:19.880

It's amazing I like how you continue to be close to your family, even though there's a geographic difference. And also, I just want to ask, how do you manage your time? Like.

00:49:20.720 - 00:49:38.440

Oh, it's hard. Prioritizing what's important. So, for me, the school is important, the dental office is important, and trust your-your subordinates.

00:49:38.600 - 00:49:56.120

So, I trust them with what I, you know, to divert some of the the tasks to them, right. Build a supporting system; No matter it's a family or it's your classmates or it's your coworkers, build a supporting system.

00:49:56.560 - 00:50:11.180

Also letting go social opportunities, social events, which I feel guilty for doing that. I haven't seen some of my classmates for, like, you know, back in accounting time.

00:50:11.380 - 00:50:26.540

Those classmates for a long time. I have to cut those, really focus on getting the important stuff done and spending time with the kids. So sometimes they spend time with me when I'm painting,

00:50:27.380 - 00:50:42.050

getting them involved in the projects that we do. So my older one, Jaden, actually helped me doing research for the project with Sabu's painting. I asked him help me do some

00:50:42.050 - 00:50:51.900

research on the uniform color and also on the airplane that he wrote on. Things like that. So, getting them involved. Yeah.

00:50:53.100 - 00:51:07.560

That's really great. And now we're going to be moving into the final part of the interview, just talking about identity and perspectives. So, how do you do you identify yourself ethnically? I will be always Chinese American.

00:51:08.640 - 00:51:26.360

Ah, okay. And what do you feel most proud of? I am proud of, I am proud of our culture. I am proud of our history. I am proud of our willpower of

00:51:26.920 - 00:51:41.520

living or, or, continue to adventure in the land of America. I think I'm- I'm also proud of our strength. Of course, there are weaknesses right in our community,

00:51:41.560 - 00:51:52.640

as communities always do. But I do see the silver lining. I do see that we will come together and overcome those differences those and also those challenges.

00:51:54.480 - 00:52:02.300

Do you have, like, a piece of art that you're really proud of, like that's your favorite that you've worked on? or is it difficult? I have many. [LN: laughs]

00:52:03.420 - 00:52:16.860

Tell me some of them. You want me to share that with you with the screen, or you want me? Actually, it might be better if I share those with you on a different, on a different format.

00:52:16.980 - 00:52:33.890

I have pictures you could. You could probably email me the pictures and you could tell me about it right now. Oh oh, oh, sure. Let me pull them up on my phone and then I can tell you all about them. Of course I have to be proud of Sabu Dastagir's

00:52:33.890 - 00:52:53.980

painting, which is the painting that is now on the permanent display. It has a his permanent home in the Pentagon. So, it's-it will always be the highlight of my career. It's the first, right, but always will be the most important.

00:52:53.980 - 00:53:10.920

That's Sabu's painting. Sabu is a-a very brave man. He was a Hollywood star before he became the Air Force tail gunman. So, he took on a very

00:53:11.600 - 00:53:29.840

risky position being the tail gunman, because it's his very exposed out there, and it's easy for him to get shot at. But he was able to excel in both positions, whether he was a Hollywood star or when he was a tail gunman.

00:53:29.880 - 00:53:48.120

So he's a very inspiring person himself. That painting actually represents the-the honor that he received. he-it represents the-the-the the braveness that that he was. So that was that has to always be

00:53:49.480 - 00:54:05.630

my crown jewel. The other painting that I wanted to show you, is this one. I call it the-the-The Restaurant. This is actually going to be shown in the Austin Central

00:54:05.630 - 00:54:24.710

Library upcoming. So, it's the reference was from a-a watercolor painting in the Song Dynasty where people gather together and have a good time in a square table like that. So I got inspired, and also I got inspired by

00:54:25.150 - 00:54:39.990

pictures that I found in the the Austin Archive Center that that the, the early settlers, they came and they, they became restaurant owners. So they took pictures during that time, so many people,

00:54:40.430 - 00:54:55.670

Americans, actually came to the Chinese restaurants for fine dining o--fine dining experiences. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And because of that, I was like, wow, maybe I could actually paint them into make them

00:54:55.670 - 00:55:11.770

into paintings. So I did that one. This one actually is also inspired by the history of Chinese Texans. So, I think more than 100 years

00:55:11.770 - 00:55:27.730

ago, or I think it was back in the 1870s, the Chinese Americans first came and settled in Texas because of the railroad. They came to build the railroad. And that's when they first celebrated the first Chinese New Year,

00:55:27.730 - 00:55:43.530

at that time with the dragon dance. And then the-the-the building, you know, right here at this corner was actually the oldest Chinese restaurant in Austin is called San Juan.

00:55:44.050 - 00:56:03.070

And I-I yeah, during my research, I combine these two events together, and I think that's-that's a good representation of-of the Asian American, the Chinese who first settled in Texas back in the 1800s-the mid

00:56:03.110 - 00:56:14.310

1800s. So, I call it the arrival. Later on, we settling in the thinner one, you know, with the restaurant. It's a satellite. So it's actually like a timeline.

00:56:14.310 - 00:56:31.830

I did that according to a timeline, and I have several that I can later on show you what they really represent in my mind and why I painted them. So I started with the early settlers, with the settlement. And then we have, I have a scene that everybody is

00:56:31.830 - 00:56:48.670

doing a karaoke, the 90s, you know, back in the 90s. I don't know if you are aware, in Houston there was early 2000. In Houston is some place called Cash Box, where. Yeah, I think the, the the building is still there.

00:56:48.710 - 00:57:03.690

The, the shopping center is still there, but they change the, the business already. So it was a karaoke. Okay. Um, everybody just, uh, having a good time, and they sing. And it was a karaoke that they're still doing it in the

00:57:04.290 - 00:57:18.130

in-the in-the in the, not in the room setting. So it's in like a, like a what's it called, like a, like a meeting room or like a conference, not a conference room. It's like a, like a ballroom setting, right.

00:57:18.290 - 00:57:35.250

Instead of, like, individually private- privately rented room setting. So I painted that. And then I also later on I painted another restaurant scene that everybody mingled together, standing in line and getting their noodles.

00:57:36.610 - 00:57:53.040

Yeah. Those are some of my proud moments. I have one more that I could probably show you. This one is also, I hold this one very, very dearly. This one has received an international merit award

00:57:53.040 - 00:58:10.000

I think in 2023. I painted that one in 2022, inspired by a photo. My son was actually going for a little

00:58:10.400 - 00:58:24.720

small adventure with my father in law. And it was during Covid time. So remember Covid time, everybody was inside, right. A lot. So it was right after we received the

00:58:24.720 - 00:58:43.600

vaccines. So during that summer, we went-we drove down to Corpus Christi and like, finally, we have a little moment to ourselves that we can enjoy the nature with the family. So, I took that picture that photo after they climb

00:58:43.600 - 00:59:04.060

up a little hill and they saw the, the harbor of Corpus Christi. And so I named this this painting "Hope" like, wow. We now like like after a long Covid, like a devastating period of Covid, now we finally have hope.

00:59:04.500 - 00:59:17.580

So that was that was quite some moment too. So beautiful. If you could send me these later, that would be really amazing. And I want to ask when and where do you feel most at

00:59:17.580 - 00:59:30.540

home? When and where I feel most at home. My kitchen. My kitchen.

00:59:30.820 - 00:59:44.700

I don't cook a lot. I actually don't cook enough. But I painted my kitchen. I can send it to you too. Yes. That's really lovely.

00:59:45.620 - 01:00:03.960

Um, I painted my kitchen. I think kitchen is where everybody gathering. I think for our culture, the Asian culture, food is very important, right. Our grandma, grandpa, they make food to

01:00:04.000 - 01:00:22.880

remind them of who they are, of our culture, of our heritage. People growing up eating different kinds of food. Even though we bring food from home, right, we try to make make the same type of cuisine at home. But because of the environment,

01:00:22.920 - 01:00:35.090

the water, we call it the water. The earth is being different here. We eat differently, right. They are always modified too.

01:00:35.090 - 01:00:54.100

So I think the kitchen is also my sanctuary. This is where we show our love. My mom worked tirelessly in my kitchen and and feed my boys. That's where we have our gathering.

01:00:54.780 - 01:01:11.100

That's where we have our dinner, lunch, breakfast. So I would say the kitchen is where I feel mostly at home. And I will have an exhibition, hopefully, hopefully I'm working on my, my other

01:01:12.860 - 01:01:30.780

thesis that related to food. And I've been listening to a podcast says that how immigrant women gain control of their life through food. Yeah, I think it's a very- [LN: Very interesting.] It's a very

01:01:30.780 - 01:01:45.580

interesting topic. And I found myself painting a lot of food as well or a setting of food. It represents different kind of emotions. So, I will be working on that as my hopefully I'll have a

01:01:45.580 - 01:01:56.690

solo exhibition soon. I hope so too. That sounds amazing. Now, if your sons were to watch this interview in the future, what is the message you would want to leave for them?

01:01:59.090 - 01:02:17.850

Wow. I would say to be always to be true to themselves. Do not let anybody tell them who they cannot be. And they- I will always support them to be who they want. And as long as they're not hurting anybody and do what they want,

01:02:17.890 - 01:02:33.610

as long as they are not hurting anybody and including themselves. I've said it to Jaden once. But I will say it to him and Triton one more time, that that always to be true to themselves.

01:02:35.570 - 01:02:48.390

That's really amazing. Um, is there anything you would like to add to this interview that we haven't covered yet? I think you've covered almost everything in my life.

01:02:49.630 - 01:03:05.430

Yay! This was really, really great. Thank you so much for-for being here and for telling me about yourself. I feel like I've learned a lot about the Chinese American and Chinese Houston community and art.

01:03:05.870 - 01:03:18.750

So the interview will end here. Thank you so much for your time. We will be sending you a cleaned up transcript once we're done. So you can look over it and and just, like, approve of it being

01:03:18.990 - 01:03:29.630

published. So. Sure. I think that sounds good. And I, I will send you those pictures soon. Hopefully there will be more added to my journey,

01:03:29.630 - 01:03:45.710

right, in the future. I hope to, to create more exhibitions and historical cultural events. I think that's-that's very important to me that-that our younger generation learn about this.

01:03:46.510 - 01:03:47.950

Yes. Okay. I will