San Francisco’s Chinatown has a new way to be seen: through the eyes of a child. The Asian Art Museum has commissioned local artist Kayan Cheung-Miaw to create This Asian American Life, a vibrant new mural on the Lawrence and Gorretti Lui Hyde Street Art Wall, and it is already one of the museum’s most heartwarming sights of the season.
In a series of playful panels, Cheung-Miaw slows the hectic pace of city life to celebrate the small moments a child would notice: the wings of a bee, the delicious scent of a bowl of noodles, a cook taking a well-earned break, a bus driver waving hello, and the sweet music of a gāo hú. The mural turns the beloved working-class neighborhood into a living archive of resilience, labor and care, seen with wonder instead of hurry.
The artist knows Chinatown deeply. Cheung-Miaw, originally from Hong Kong and raised in New York’s Chinatown, previously created a multilingual bus kiosk poster series based on the oral histories of San Francisco’s Chinatown residents. This new commission continues that love letter to the community’s mothers, workers and tenants, whose stories she calls the real building blocks of her work.
This Asian American Life is on view through November 2 at the Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin Street (Thu 1–8 PM, Fri–Mon 10 AM–5 PM). Bring the family and rediscover Chinatown with fresh, joyful eyes.
Photo: Kayan Cheung-Miaw, courtesy of the artist.
