lily Yeh | Artist & Activist
“ When I see brokenness, poverty and crime in inner cities, I also see the enormous potential and readiness for transformation and rebirth. We are creating an art form that comes from the heart and reflects the pain and sorrow of people's lives. It also expresses joy, beauty, and love. This process lays the foundation of building a genuine community in which people are reconnected with their families, sustained by meaningful work, nurtured by the care from each other and will together raise and educate their children. Then we witness social change in action.”
"Being an artist is not just about making art...It is about delivering the vision one is given…and about doing the right thing without sparing oneself."
"My work cuts through racial, class, geographic, and ethnic separations to directly connect to the heart, mind, and emotion with people.”
“Art is not what I do, but it is what I am. To be an artist is a total commitment. What you call entrepreneur I call the life of an artist.”
“It seems that in connecting to what is true within myself, I help other people to connect. Making genuine connection lies at the beginning of building a real community.”
Born in China, Lily emigrated to the United States in the early 1960s to attend the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Fine Arts. A successful painter and professor at Philadelphia's University of the Arts, Lily traveled to Beijing in 1989 to show her work at the Central Institute of Fine Art. While there, she witnessed the tragic events of Tiananmen Square. Through the 1980s, Lily gradually realized that being an artist "is not just about making art…It is about delivering the vision one is given…and about doing the right thing without sparing oneself." She continues pursuing her vision through her new organization, Barefoot Artists, Inc., which teaches residents and artists how to replicate the Village model in devastated communities around the world.
Another new project of Lily's is the Dandelion School for the children of migrant workers in China. In the spring of 2011 New Village Press published Awakening Creativity: Dandelion School Blossoms, Lily's account of the joyous work she and the students did to transform their school. Full of color pictures of the paintings and mosaics of the students, this book is the most complete account of Lily's work and process.
ART & EXCERPT | READ MORE FROM : AMERICANS WHO TELL THE TRUTH : portraits and narratives highlight citizens who courageously address issues of social, environmental, and economic fairness.By combining art and other media, AWTT offers resources to inspire a new generation of engaged Americans who will act for the common good, our communities, and the Earth.
BAREFOOT ARTIST ORGANIZATION : Lily Yeh developed a unique methodology for using the arts as a tool for community building and personal transformation during her tenure at The Village. Founding Barefoot Artists in 2002, Lily Yeh now works internationally on projects in places including Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, Ecuador, and China. The Barefoot Artist aims to train and empower local residents, organize communities, and take action for a more compassionate, just, and sustainable future.
The Barefoot Artist is a volunteer-based organization with few encumbrances of staff and overhead. Lily Yeh raises funds for specific projects that pair volunteer expertise with local people to improve environments, and to advance health, education, and economic development. When funds are raised for a project, a call for volunteers is held and some paid staff are organized.
