When I was growing up, my mom, also an artist and teacher, volunteered through a program called “Art Goes To School”. She brought images of well-known (and some that should be more known) artwork into public schools to share and discuss with students. Her time with this program has inspired us and the Chen Lok Lee Legacy Project’s dual mission to not only preserve and archive Chen’s work, but to also inspire the next generation of artists.
This summer, the EXCLUDED/INCLUSION collection is on display at Friends Select School in Philadelphia, an independent Quaker school located in the heart of the city. They describe their approach to learning as such: “We turn lessons into quests for knowledge and guide students as they discover new worlds. We encourage individual exploration and active, hands-on learning. Instead of imparting facts, we ask questions.” We couldn’t be more pleased with matching our collection with the perfect institution to appreciate and embrace Chen’s work.
Friends Select School’s Lower School teacher Amy Danford shared the following about her experience interfacing with the collection:
“I wanted to share a couple of photos from an art class I teach at FSS during the summer. It’s for new Pre-K/K students. I was so excited to use [Chen Lee’s] work as inspiration. We spent time looking at his work and then the kids created these marvelous scrolls inspired by his work. It was really marvelous and I am such an admirer of his work!
I’ve worked in museums for many years as an educator and art therapist, so I always seize the opportunity to expose and inspire kids using works of art before creating. Our little school gallery has inspired many young artists!
Thank you for sharing your father’s legacy and work. It really is incredibly inspirational and so beautiful.”
Children and our communities deserve to have access to high quality art and learning opportunities. If you are an educator or art teacher and are interested in hosting an exhibit for your young artists or students at your school or institution, please reach out to us at chenlokleeartist@gmail.com to discuss the possibilities. We would be thrilled to work with you.