As the sixth daughter of Chinese immigrants living in Oakland’s Chinatown in the 1940s-1960s, FLO OY WONG was determined to break free of a life of pre-destined invisibility. She began her art career at the age of forty. Her poetry career started at seventy-five. Now eighty-five, her life comes full circle when The Community Rejuvenation Project proposes to paint a mural at 723 Webster, the former site of her family’s restaurant, The Great China. Flo’s beginnings in Oakland’s Chinatown come to life once more— this time through the eyes of another artist.

Director Biography - Andi Wong

Andi Wong explores the materials and languages of art - visual art, dance, music, theater, literary arts and new media. Her creative partners include Del Sol String Quartet (Angel Island Project, Jingwei Bird) and The Last Hoisan Poets (Genny Lim, Flo Oy Wong and Nellie Wong); composer/musician Marcus Shelby (Gwah Gai: Crossing the Street, Black Ball: The Negro Leagues and The Blues, Harriet’s Spirit, The Barbary Coast Roots); First Voice, led by artistic directors Brenda Wong Aoki and Mark Izu (Songs for J-Town, Story Circle of the Japanese Diaspora, and the upcoming world premiere of Soul of The City); and the Internet Archive (DJ Spooky’s Quantopia and DWeb Camp) artsed4all.blog