Seattle’s landscape is brewing with art. But who exactly is allocating their time and energy to beautifying the city? As of December 2023, according to analysis by art and design firm Singulart, 28.8% of the artwork within the U.S. was produced by Asian Americans and Seattle is among the top five cities, with 18.3% of the artwork here created by Asian American artists.
While Asian art has a strong presence in Seattle, it didn’t happen overnight. Throughout the 20th century and to this day, Seattle became home to many Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and other Asian immigrants who cultivated their own communities. Soon, art communities forged by Asian Americans solidified their presence within the Chinatown-International District (CID).
Making their mark
One of the most notable communities was the Chinese Art Club, created in 1933 by Seattleites Fay Chong and Andrew Chinn. The art club held multiple work sessions for artists of different backgrounds but with the intention of holding a welcoming space for Asian artists assimilating into Seattle. Chong’s and Chinn’s artistic skills in watercolor paintings and linocut prints grew in the four years the club operated, and they would go on to solidify themselves as pioneers in the Asian American art community not only in Seattle but throughout the country.
The Seattle Camera Club was another community organization that became a pioneer in the Seattle arts scene. It was created in 1924 by first- and second-generation Japanese American artists whose shared passion for photography allowed the club to be recognized with their artwork being displayed in public. Despite the loss of many of their pieces during World War II and the racial prejudice that Asian American communities faced, these artists demonstrated remarkable resilience.
George Tsutakawa was a member of both clubs who returned to Seattle from serving in WWII and established his 60-year-long career as a renowned artist venturing from abstract paintings to bronze sculptures that decorate the city. If you come across any of the 75 fountains that Tsutakawa created — including 12 in Seattle — then you’ll be met with metal shapes depicting elements of nature like petals or wooden sculptures molded after the piling rocks he came across while on a hike in the Himalayas.
However, public work can have its downfalls. In 2020, the gate he designed for the Washington Park Arboretum was stripped apart, stolen and parts of it sold for scraps. Community members were able to raise $160,000 to rebuild the gate with the remaining parts that were later found. His son, Gerard Tsutakawa, an artist in his own right, recreated the Memorial Gate and it was reinstalled to its rightful place in 2022.
Seattle continues to commemorate Asian American trailblazing, especially as more artists like Stevie Shao make their mark in the city each year.
Creating stories with art
Shao, a Chinese American artist who’s lived in North Seattle all her life, is well-known for her vivid mural work that grace the walls of many buildings in Fremont, U-District, Ballard and downtown. Shao’s distinctive use of bright colors, nature and animals are inspired by the Chinese folk stories she grew up hearing. She says drawing elements of her culture is her way of adding a personal touch to her art. Shao ventured into mural work during the pandemic. She cites unexpected world-changing events as her reason to explore a different craft, and that decision would skyrocket Shao into becoming one of the most sought-after artists in Seattle and around the country.
“I was really excited to begin painting at a larger scale and keeping in line with my illustration background,” Shao said. “[My artwork] is based on things that I’ve been thinking about and what’s going on in my personal life. I’m kind of creating a universe of characters that mean and do certain things. Not only using things that already exist in folklore but reapplying them in my life and world here in Seattle. Imagining them in a new story.”
Shao emphasized how lucky she is to connect with clients who recognize the themes and imagery portrayed in her artwork, which she says speaks volumes about their appreciation for non-white cultures and communities. However, Shao expressed that a constant challenge she faces is being able to translate the spirit of the piece well enough when working on a new project. What helps her to overcome this is having a tight-knit community of artists here in Seattle.
“What I really love about some of the work I do is [participating in] mural festivals and meeting with artists with varying painting experience and graffiti artists that have been painting for over 20 years,” Shao said. “There’s a little bit less of a feedback process because it’s not for a commission or money. Everyone just gets together and paints because we love it and our community.”
As Shao continues to draw large-scale tigers and birds on many of Seattle’s buildings, she hopes that the public’s continued investment in the arts translates into more opportunities for artists to build out their expertise.
Murals can define the character of the space or business that they decorate; another muralist’s work you may have come across walking through your neighborhood is that of Patrick Nguyen, better known as Dofzy.
Nguyen, who was featured in Real Change in 2020, always had an affinity for making art — so much so that he’s accumulated 40 notebooks filled with sketches he’s created since his childhood. A decade ago, Nguyen’s first commissioned piece was creating menu art for a Chicago restaurant. Originally from Texas, Nguyen took his artistic skills all around the country and the world before settling in Seattle in 2015. The murals that Nguyen and his team have designed can be found throughout the region from North Seattle all the way to the east side of Washington.
“For the first 30 years [of my life], I was trying to figure out who I was as an artist. How does art play a role in my life outside of being a means to deal with emotions or thoughts and create stories [that] also connect with people?” Nguyen said. “The menu art was my way to connect with the restaurant community because I can relate to them. They’re working hard trying to survive and create [their] passion.”
Ngyuen’s most recognizable murals can be found on the front entrance of the Tai Fung restaurant on 655 King Street in the CID. In partnering with businesses to create art, Nyguen says he strives to create common ground between both parties by asking himself how he can go about creating art that relates to the long-time residents of an area.
An homage to their community
The CID’s formidable artistic presence in the city cannot be denied, with paintings and murals embedded on every other block. For artists who grew up in Seattle, this presence is a constant source of inspiration in the work they create. Painter and illustrator Monyee Chau’s artistic style has transformed over the years but one thing that hasn’t changed is their connection to their identity as a Chinese American. At their first exhibition, Chau recalled having long conversations with a visitor who shared stories of their grandma after seeing Chau’s painting depicting their grandmother making food.
“That’s just a beautiful way to be human because being able to have that connection with somebody who you don’t know at all can sort of grow into this time spent together and it feels really authentic,” Chau said. “That always gives me so much love and excitement about making work and I feel that every single time it happens.”
For Chau, it’s especially important to be able to convey their emotions, identity and connection to their community in a way that feels original and authentic. Chau says in the past they have been in environments that were very white-dominated, which left them feeling misunderstood about their artistic approach. However, they are adamant that their artwork isn’t centered around a white audience but instead one that looks like Chau. This is evident in their most recent work, featured in the Wing Luke Museum exhibit, “Hello Uncle, Hello Auntie.” Chau and their partner Jae Eun Kim interviewed and created portraits of two CID community members, Sue Kay and Karen Akada Sakata, for a piece that spotlights their lives and culture. Their infectious smiles draw in a visitor who then sees the different culturally relevant foods that are constantly used by these two aunties as a form of medicine.
“[The portraits] celebrated all of the medicines that they grew up using and how they still use it to this day to take care of their peers and community,” Chau said. “The International District is very important to me. A lot of my practice involves celebrating and preserving that history as well as fighting displacement. I don’t think a lot of people get to have this privilege of making artwork as their livelihood and I really feel grateful for that opportunity.”
Marian Mohamed is the associate editor of Real Change. She oversees our weekly features. Contact her at [email protected].
Read more of the May 1–7, 2024 issue.