Artists decry Chinatown mosaic designs

A Chinatown-based cultural group’s plan to build an 11-foot mosaic to spruce up a “monotone” wall at the entrance of a Northwest D.C. Metro station hit a snag when the local black artist selected for the project was criticized because her designs weren’t considered Chinese enough.

The designs were displayed at a meeting last week of the Chinatown Community Cultural Center, a nonprofit that seeks to preserve and promote the District’s Chinatown and celebrate Chinese culture.

Among the crowd of 30 or so community members was a handful of Chinese-American artists and cultural experts, who became aware of the project after an e-mail announcement of the meeting. The group objected to the designs.

“If the currently proposed mural design is put up, it’s nonsense,” said Chung-wen Shih, a retired George Washington University professor who has produced television documentaries on Chinese culture. “We want a Chinese landmark in this city to be done right.”

The mosaic would be built at the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro station at Seventh and F streets Northwest near the Verizon Center in the heart of the District’s Chinatown. The neighborhood, comprising a few dozen Chinese restaurants and shops, is anchored by the recently renovated 23-year-old Friendship Arch on H Street.

The area has been revitalized in recent years by development around the Verizon Center and has undergone a cosmetic transformation to look more Chinese, most notably through requirements that businesses include Chinese lettering on their exterior signs.

The four designs proposed for the mosaic were the work of Martha Jackson-Jarvis, who specializes in mosaic and tesserae mediums and whose work includes the River Spirits of the Anacostia mosaic at the Anacostia Metro station in Southeast Washington.

Ms. Jackson-Jarvis was chosen from a pool of six artists who specialize in mosaics. Of the six, there was a Vietnamese and a Korean artist, but none were Chinese.

Chinatown Community Cultural Center executive director Stephanie Cheng said the center ultimately selected Ms. Jackson-Jarvis based upon her expertise in public artwork and cut glass designs. The center provided her with materials on the history of Chinatown.

None of the artists criticized the choice of Ms. Jackson-Jarvis, but they were upset that the designs did not reflect Chinese culture.

“She is charming and articulate, but has no knowledge of Chinese art,” Mrs. Shih said. “I have lost sleep over this battle.”

Ms. Jackson-Jarvis and the cultural center decided the designs should reflect a merging of Chinese and American cultures and based the mural design on a theme from an old Chinese fable called “Fishing for the Moon in the Well.”

But Bertrand Mao, a calligrapher who serves as president of the Chinese Artists Association of Greater Washington, D.C., criticized the representation of the theme. Mr. Mao said the artist misinterpreted the fable.

According to Mr. Mao, whose group was not part of the design process, “fishing for the moon” has negative connotations having to do with “lost hope” or “fruitless efforts.” He suggested his group be given a role in the project.

“We would like to participate, because it does not look Chinese,” he said.

Ming-Ming Cheung, another artist who has worked extensively with Chinese murals, agreed with Mr. Mao and said the images in Ms. Jackson-Jarvis’ proposal looked Japanese.

The group of artists has drafted a letter to the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, which must approve the design and is expected to consider the matter during a meeting Monday.

“We were disappointed that both the theme and the sample work show a serious lack of an understanding of Chinese art and culture, traditional or modern,” says the letter, signed by Mr. Mao, Howard Community College art professor Yifei Gan, Asian Pacific Art Institute of America President Jiashan Mu, and local mural and mosaic artist Xiao-Dong Qiu.

The Chinatown cultural group received $30,000 in grants from Target Corp. and Pepco for the project, and the arts and humanities commission will match the corporate funding if it approves the design.

Rachel Dickerson, a spokeswoman for the commission, said the agency was unaware of the controversy. She confirmed that the panel is scheduled to meet with the cultural group to discuss their proposal, but did not say whether the debate would affect the decision to approve the project and issue the grant.

“The commission has not yet received the full picture,” Ms. Dickerson said. “The panel must hear from all parties before making a decision.”

The dispute took the artist and the community group by surprise. Ms. Cheng said she was not expecting controversy.

“I’m surprised to see such criticism.” she said. “It would be a shame if this project wasn’t able to happen.”

She said the cultural center wants to give the community a chance to be a part of the process, but also wants to ensure that its vision is maintained.

“We want to engage the Chinese community, but we have to do what’s best for Chinatown as it is now,” Ms. Cheng said. “Chinatown is a melting pot, and we must find a way to balance different cultures.”

Ms. Jackson-Jarvis said she found the criticism “helpful,” and she agreed that the mural should accurately represent Chinese culture.

“You can’t fake it. It has to be authentic.” she said.