Queens College School of Arts Names First Artists in Residence Supported by the Thomas Chen Family/Crystal Windows Endowment
—Leekyung Kang and Jian Yang will focus respectively on Buddhist cosmology in the pursuit of various art mediums and the concept of “clean” as a function of censorship that became an ingrained response during the COVID-19 pandemic—
Flushing, NY, August 14, 2024—The Queens College School of Arts has announced Leekyung Kang and Jian Yang as artists in residence for the 2024-2025 academic year. They are the first artists in residence to be named as part of a program funded by the Thomas Chen Family/Crystal Windows Endowment to support Asian contemporary art at the college. Kang and Yang were selected by a panel of Art Department faculty members from among 68 international applicants for their potential to contribute to Asian art research in higher education and advance Asian contemporary art. Kang will be in residence for the fall 2024 semester, and Yang will be in residence for the spring 2025 semester.
“We are eager for our students and faculty to experience the artistic process of artists in residence Leekyung Kang and Jian Yang throughout the upcoming academic year, made possible by the generous support of the Thomas Chen family,” said Queens College President Frank H. Wu. “The artists’ respective insightful and thought-provoking contributions to the art world promise to provide our students with the kind of diverse and impactful creative opportunities that we aim to provide through a School of Arts education.”
The $1,105,000 Thomas Chen Family/Crystal Windows Endowment—announced in November 2021—was the first major gift that helped establish the School of Arts. The endowment provides for a visiting artist program, exhibitions, and student scholarships. Kang and Yang’s respective residencies will culminate in solo campus exhibitions of new work that showcase their research and experience engaging with the college community. During the semester, they will each present a lecture or interactive discussion.
“I believe art is universal and I am excited that The Thomas Chen Family/Crystal Windows Endowment can help expand the horizons for students here at the School of Arts,” said Thomas Chen. “The Artist in Residence program strives to bring the vast world of contemporary Asian art to the emerging artists at Queens College. The first two artists in residence perfectly exemplify these goals and will provide an enriching experience this year.”
During her residency, Kang plans to draw from her recent artwork examining the cyclical nature of Buddhist cosmology as she pursues mediums such as large-scale painting, raw materials, mirrors, digital prints, and video installations. She expects that her exploration of Buddhism and Asian history through site visits, material investigations, and workshops will enrich the college community as well as develop potential collaborative opportunities throughout the city. Kang hopes that her work will contribute to the cultural dialogue at the school by offering an immersive experience of Asian visual art and its intersection with interdisciplinary humanities. Kang, who was born in Korea, earned an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and a BFA and MFA from Seoul National University.
Yang focuses on the concept of “clean” as a function of censorship that became an ingrained response during the COVID-19 pandemic—when racial and ideological divisions intensified—and continue to influence people’s lives and thoughts post-pandemic. During his residency, he plans to explore the relationship and mechanisms behind the concepts of “clean/censor,” particularly in the context of societal and digital environments, and visualize how “clean” leads to an intolerance for differing opinions, increasing societal divisions. Yang will also examine the metaphorical and literal violence associated with the concept of “clean.” Born in Fujian, China, Yang earned an MA from Xiamen University Art College in Xiamen, China. He has been an artist in residence at Rijksakademie Van beeldende Kunsten in the Netherlands; “Chongqing 10“ at the Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf, Germany; and the Atelier Mondial supported by Pro Helvetia in Switzerland.
Thomas Chen is a founding member of the Taiwanese American Arts Council, which collaborates with the Queens Museum to support Asian artists throughout the city. Together with his family, he provides support to Queensborough Community College, Queens Theatre in the Park, the NYC Winter Lantern Festival, Flushing Town Hall, and the Flushing Taiwan Center. Chen is also the founder of Crystal Park, a private 200-acre sculpture park and nature preserve in Duchess County, New York. As a sponsor for local and international contemporary artists, Chen exhibits their work along the wooded trails of Crystal Park for the enjoyment of guests and local residents. The park’s most recent installation is a life-sized bronze statue of the late Claire Shulman, a four-term Queens borough president, a long-time mentor and friend of the Chen family, and a supporter of its business endeavors.
The School of Arts is home to twenty-two academic programs and offers undergraduate degrees in studio art, art history, design, photography, and imaging and graduate degrees in studio art, art history, and social practice. It features an award-winning faculty, among them two 2024 Grammy Award-winners; the university’s largest Design program; its only accredited music school; and its only foundry. The Godwin–Ternbach Museum, located on campus, is the only art museum in the university; it is also the only museum in the borough with a collection spanning antiquity to present-day. The world-renowned Louis Armstrong House Museum is part of the college, too. Performance venues include two black-box theaters (flexible performance spaces, with a simple, unadorned design) and Colden Auditorium, the largest year-round indoor performance venue in the borough.
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Queens College produces more education graduates who become principals, teachers, and counselors for the city’s public schools than any other college in the metropolitan area. The college contributes to the local talent pool as a powerful economic engine and a leader in tech education. Students from across the country and around the world are attracted to study at the Aaron Copland School of Music. Its renowned faculty and alumni include nationally recognized composers, conductors, and performers who have received over 100 Grammy Awards and nominations.
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