The Queens College School of Arts, located in Flushing, has announced its inaugural artists-in-residence program for the 2024-2025 academic year.
The program, supported by the Thomas Chen Family/Crystal Windows Endowment, aims to foster the development of Asian contemporary art and offers two artists an opportunity to contribute to the college’s academic and cultural environment.
Artists Leekyung Kang and Jian Yang have been selected and will complete solo exhibitions on campus—inspired by their research and engagement with the college community. Each artist will also deliver a lecture or lead an interactive discussion during their respective terms.
The artists were chosen by a panel of Art Department faculty members from a pool of 68 international applicants for their potential to advance Asian contemporary art and contribute to Asian art research in higher education.
“We are eager for our students and faculty to experience the artistic process of 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.”
Kang, who will take up residence during the fall 2024 semester, plans to delve into Buddhist cosmology through various artistic mediums, including large-scale painting, mirrors and digital installations. Originally from Korea and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and Seoul National University, she hopes her work will “offer an immersive experience of Asian visual art and its intersection with interdisciplinary humanities.”
Yang, slated for the spring 2025 residency, will focus on the concept of “clean” as a form of censorship, a theme that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to shape societal divisions. Born in Fujian, China, he holds an MA from Xiamen University Art College. Yang intends to explore how the pursuit of cleanliness—both literal and metaphorical—can lead to intolerance and increased societal fractures. “My work aims to visualize the mechanisms behind ‘clean/censor’ and its impact on our collective consciousness,” said Yang.
The $1.1 million Thomas Chen Family/Crystal Windows Endowment, established in 2021, funds this residency program, student scholarships and exhibitions. The endowment was instrumental in the creation of the Queens College School of Arts, which houses 22 academic programs and offers a range of undergraduate and graduate degrees in the arts.
Thomas Chen, the endowment’s benefactor and a prominent supporter of Asian art in New York City, expressed his enthusiasm for the program’s launch. “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 Chen. “The Artist in Residence program strives to bring the vast world of contemporary Asian art to the emerging artists at Queens College.”
