About 150 people came to the event to celebrate the Year of the Tiger — a Chinese zodiac symbol — on the sixth day of the 15-day spring festival.
New Art Director of Education Madeleine Delpha, who spearheaded the organization of the celebration — funded through a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council — said she wanted to ensure authenticity.
“I am a white woman, so I don’t want these days to be about my interpretation of Lunar New Year,” she said.
With this goal of authenticity and cultural education, Delpha partnered with the nonprofit organization Cambridge Center for Chinese Culture asking them to help plan the crafts and performances.
The event featured Chinese martial arts demonstrations including Claire Fillon, 12, who performed Jiujie Whip, as well as Zunlong Li and his son-in-law Adam Roberts who performed wushu. New Art staff members and volunteers led craft making options including Chinese red couplets as well as tiger bookmarks, mobiles and coloring pages.
Lanyu Zheng, Mandarin teacher, math coach and assistant principal at the Cambridge Center for Chinese Culture, said it is important to demonstrate the authentic “beauty of Chinese culture and New Year,” like using the lucky color red or teaching calligraphy skills.
“We want to pass on concepts to the next generations,” Zheng said. “We don’t want our culture to disappear.”
Rosario Hubert, a professor of literatures at Trinity College, came to the event with her son and husband. She said she studied the Chinese language for several years and wanted to share her interest in Chinese culture with her son.
“I am just excited that people are excited about Chinese culture,” she said.
Treasurer at New Art, Maria Bunker, brought her two sons to the event to learn about Chinese culture.
“We want them exposed to as many different cultures as possible,” she said.
Former Newton city councilor and current US Representative Jake Auchincloss brought his son, Teddy, for a similar reason.
“I’ve been attending Lunar New Year events for the past five to six years, and I wanted to bring my son to experience more culture,” he said.
Rebecca Barnehama, who lives near the center and used to take her daughter Ayla to do ceramics there, said they were excited to attend the event.
“I think the fact that they have free events open to people to share cultures is great for the community,” she said. “Happy to come and support them.”
New Art offers multiple classes for all ages throughout the year, a children’s summer program, and other free community events. It recently hosted a Day of the Dead celebration and a Martin Luther King Jr. program celebrating Black artists. The center is currently gearing up for a Holi celebration and Juneteenth event.
Delpha, New Art director of education, said these events are really about creating a welcoming and culturally diverse community centered around art.
“I see these community days as a way to do that, as a way to say, ‘Look, we can celebrate your culture, we want to celebrate your culture, we want you to see yourself here and see this as a reflection on your community’ — because art is culture and culture is art, and the two go hand in hand.”
Delpha said she hopes they have the funding to grow this initiative in the future.
“I think this is one way to go about creating that feeling that, you know, no matter who you are, and what your background is, and what your level of ability is, that New Art is a place that you can come and feel connected to your community,” she said.
Taylor Coester can be reached at [email protected].
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