Naomi Lawrence

New York, NY
2021-24: This project brought together members of the Chinatown community to form Yarn Circles that created art and also discussed issues impacting the Asian American community. Crochet volunteers engaged in the shared experience of spending time together over the course of 3-5 months and contributed individual pieces of art towards the creation of a large-scale art piece to beautify their neighborhood with a meaningful civic message. The result was a 25 foot x 4 foot textile mural with over 1500 Asian-themed flowers and bamboo adorning the words Stand-Speak-Shape and their corresponding Chinese characters.
Naomi’s Grantee Cohort
About

A joint project of the Ministry in the City HUB and Walls-Ortiz Gallery at City Seminary, the Creative Community Care Virtual Residency brought together socially-engaged Christian creatives from New York City, Indianapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, Charlotte, and Corsicana (Tx) for peer mentor support, learning, and sharing. In 2021, residents developed local projects in their respective cities, exploring creative practices of care in the context of community. Projects engaged the concerns and questions of the pandemic period (mutual aid, care re-imagined for social distance, etc.) at the intersection of the arts, learning, faith, and the city. In 2022, the resident pairs offered public online workshops. In 2024, a traveling group exhibition will be on display, starting in Santa Ana, CA.

Members
Dr. Alysia Harris
Olga Lah
Naomi Kuo
Julian Reid
De'Amon Harges
Rev. Dr. de'Angelo DIA
Sophia Victor
Naomi’s Ministry
Program focus: Arts