Video

30+ years of artistic exploration and curatorial/community productions/ programming. San Francisco based Cynthia Tom, shares her inspirations and healing journeys, including both personal and community ancestral trauma as teachers and shares examples of resilience. (40 min Talk, 40 min Community discussion) Flying Lessons, Inquire Within: Artist Cynthia Tom shares her journey towards healing, social justice and women's empowerment. 30+ years evolving as an artist, curator and creative art based healing guide. https://www.cynthiatom.com https://www.ateliercynthiatom.com https:www.aplaceofherown.org @cynthiatom.art @aplaceofherown sf [email protected]

(Timestamps are at the end of this description)

More info. Cynthia shares her artistic journey towards healing, social justice and women's empowerment. The first half Includes a talk with slides and the 2nd half is a discussion with the attendees. BIO: 30+ years as a Community focused Artist/ Curator and Workshop Creator: Art-making for healing as Protest. Social Justice and Equity, Spirituality and Healing Cynthia integrates her cultural roots and community needs to drive social change. A 3rd generation Chinese American, native San Franciscan, she is the founding director of A PLACE of HER OWN: An Arts based healing program for women and especially women of color. She creates art and workshops to help inspire healing journeys of self-exploration and claiming our authentic selves.

Her art and curatorial projects have been exhibited in The Smithsonian 2020 “What is Feminist Art” and permanent archives. In San Francisco: Legion of Honor, De Young Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Thoreau Center, SOMArts Cultural Center, California Institute of Integral Studies. Internationally in Portugal and Barcelona, nationally at the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Rutgers’s University, Los Gatos Museum of Art, Woman Made Gallery- Chicago, etc. Curatorial awards: de Young Museum Residencies, SOMArts Curatorial Fellowship, Asian American Pacific Islander Cultural Center. Advisor for the National Guild for Community Arts Education's Groundwork Series and de Young Asian American advisory for Asian American Modern and Guo Pei exhibitions. Cynthia’s art appears in text books, Women Artists’ of the American West. Univ of Purdue, Susan Ressler and Asian American Art in Post-Colonial Times_ University of Padua, by Dr. Laura Fantone-Professor SF Art Institute. Features include New York Time’s SF Arts Monthly, Center for Asian American Media, SF Chronicle, Psychology Today, Marin Independent Journal, Digital Journal.com, KPFA and KPOO radio.

Her work is represented by California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives and the Smithsonian Archives of American Art collections. She lectures at UC Berkeley, SF STATE and Ca College for the Arts.

Timestamps Chapters: 0:00 start 6:55 Cynthia's early influences and jewelry 9:28 Injuries and Heroes as teachers 11:26 Ethnicity as inspiration 14:33 Ancestral trauma as teacher 19:40 Birth of Feminism as inspiration 23:06 What is feminist art? Inclusion in the Smithsonian Museum, USA 23:43 Labels and themes 25:40 Depression and Spiritual Awakening (art to inspiring navigating through chronic heartache) 30:42 Awakening to effects if colonization, the need for intuition and belonging 31:10 A PLACE OF HER OWN- Art based healing workshops 33:42 PLACE found object art creation 35:02 Acknowledgement to my earth angels Cris Matos and Sue Tom 37:23 Summary 40:27 Community Discussion