Bay Windows: Illuminating Immigrant Women's Perspectives

Bay Windows is an art project led by Christine Wong Yap, engaging 15 multigenerational, working-class, immigrant, Chinese and Latinx women. Each woman identified social or political themes, collaborated on a design, and made a paper cut, which Christine transformed into lanterns. All 15 lanterns are displayed through March 2026 in San Francisco’s Chinatown and Mission District. Their imagery conveys narratives at the intersection of lived experience and social and political issues—including immigrant’s rights, worker’s rights, the cost of living, affordable housing, public safety, and mental health—as well as what the women have done or could do to address those issues. The lanterns are the culmination of Bay Windows / Ventanas en saliente / 窗花, a trilingual, cross-cultural social practice project led by Yap, the daughter of Chinese immigrants. For this project, Yap received a 2025 Creative Capital Award, as well as additional support from the Zellerbach Family Foundation and others. This is Yap’s second project engaging this multigenerational cohort of women. Her first, in 2023, was the first contemporary art project in the history of the San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade, which dates back to the 1850s. Yap, the five partner organizations, and the 15 collaborating designers will co-host a free scavenger hunt during the day on Saturday, January 24, 2026 between 11 am and 2pm. On that day, the public will be invited to visit the 15 lanterns for the chance to win prizes. 「窗花」(Bay Windows) 是由葉黄嘉雯（Christine Wong Yap）發起的藝術項目，匯集15位來自不同年齡層、出身工薪階層、具移民背景的華裔及拉丁裔女性聯合製作。每位女性，特為本項目擬定一個社會或政治主題，透過合作設計與手工剪紙來表現其意涵，葉黄嘉雯更將這些剪紙製作成了燈籠。這15盞燈籠作為裝置藝術展示，懸掛於舊金山華埠與米慎區，展期至2026年3月。 Ventanas en saliente es un proyecto artístico dirigido por Christine Wong Yap que se enfoca en las voces de 15 mujeres latinas y chinas de distintas generaciones, provenientes de comunidades migrantes y de clase trabajadora. Cada participante identificó y exploró temas sociales o políticos clave. Trabajaron en colaboración para diseñar y crear piezas únicas de papel picado, que luego Christine transformó en linternas. El conjunto de quince linternas forma una instalación pública que puede ser disfrutada en Chinatown y el Distrito Misión de San Francisco hasta marzo de 2026