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Hi,Dear Friends
How are you? Have you had a wonderful week and weekend? I do hope you have.
Time is so fast that I have worked on the teaching part of my Cross-cultural and Comprehensive Art project for about 3 months during my 12th American trip in Springfield, MO.
Today, as I write this letter to report what happened last week during my trip, one word comes to mind: "Moving".
There were so many moving things that happened in the past week, but the most impressive were the participants/students in my two Cross-cultural and Comprehensive Art Workshops (Last Wednesday, OTC was closed due to bad weather, but the first and second Art Workshops were still held on Friday and Saturday).
Can you imagine? Last Friday night, when the last student left my house (since our working hours were too long to stay in other places, the second art workshop had been moved into my house), it was 8:20 pm. They had started working at 12:00 pm. Then on Saturday night, when the last group of students left the classroom at the Springfield Chinese Church, it was 10:15 pm. They had started their lesson at 2:00 pm.
When I saw those adult and teenage students leaving in the dark on Friday night and in the rain and snow on Saturday night, my heart was filled with warmth and emotion. After all, they had worked continuously for over 8 hours.
Here are some of them:
Dr. Tian: She is an internal medicine physician working in the largest hospital in Springfield, MO. She loves Chinese art and wants to learn as much as possible. However, she has to balance her work and taking care of her child. Therefore, she cherishes her time to come and study. That is why she wanted to catch up her missed lesson and became the one who worked the latest until 8:20 PM on Friday night after starting at 12:00 pm. (You can see her picture on the right in the first group).
Dr. / Professor Qiao Yuhua: She is a lifelong professor at Missouri State University and one of the administrators of the church with a very busy schedule. Since she brought her 92-year-old mother to join us, both of them have never missed any lesson. The most moving thing for me was that on Saturday afternoon, after working for three hours, she first sent her mother back home and then came back to work on her own painting until 10:00 PM.
Mrs. Chang Congxian: She is Dr. / Professor Qiao's mother, who has a deep love for Chinese art and an excellent artistic sense. She frequently joined these younger generations in learning to paint. Although there were too many students in the classroom, I couldn¨t give her special attention; she created many wonderful works. When you see her artwork in the second group of pictures on the right in the second row, can you imagine it comes from a 92-year-old lady who has just begun to learn Chinese art?
Lin Ruogu: He is 13 years old but has already been participating in the adult group's studies for 4 weeks. He joined us from the third lesson (our art workshop has run 11 times), and since then, he hasn't missed any sessions. Before our 8th lesson, I gave three children who had done best jobs a choice: to continue working with the children's group or join the adult group to paint the lotus in Chinese Gongbi (Traditional Chinese realistic painting) style. Lin chose the latter and became the youngest member of the adult group. He was one of the last members to leave the classroom and has spent 23 hours working on the lotus project over the past 4 lessons. Although he has not finished this picture yet, you can see his potential to be a good artist from the second picture in the first row of the second group, right?
Yu Yan : Lin Ruogu's mother and a student at a local university, brought her son into our classroom and accompanied him for the first two lessons before leaving for her own studies. Two things impressed me: every night, she came to pick up her son but did not enter the building until the Pastor or others invited her in. Besides paying attention to the techniques her son was learning, she also cared about the deeper meaning behind these artworks; for example, when observing the lotus we were working on, she asked me about its cultural characteristics. Due to her patience and accompaniment, Lin Ruogu has become very down-to-earth and has grown the fastest.
To be honest, our working hours have exceeded what we planned so much, and many times I felt my legs weak after finishing a lesson. But deep in my heart, it is filled with emotion. Repeatedly, I have witnessed the charm of ancient Chinese culture and art. On the other hand, I have also experienced the greatness of American culture and its people. They are opening their vast hearts to embrace the ancient world civilizations and the allure of other cultures.
What a lucky person I am to have this wonderful opportunity to be part of this process´
How about you? Do you have anything special to share?
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Sincerely, I am just a lifelong learner in the arts of painting, music, English, management and Chinese art teaching, and work on the website in my free time. I would really like to do something with what I have learned and make this website a little electronic bridge for cross-cultural and integrated/comprehensive art and Chinese language studying. This way, I can help others while improving myself.
Thank you always for your understanding, guidance and assistance and if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to write to info@ebridge.cn .
Shirley Yiping Zhang
Feb 18, 2025
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