China
Artist: Ket Conway
Artist statement:
My cultural heritage of being Chinese gives me an Asian reference point and lens to view the world. My family immigrated to the US in the late 1800s- early 1900’s they experienced economic and political upheavals of that time. They began by coming to California to escape famine, wars & poverty in China in hopes of work and benefiting from the Gold Rush. Later they endured WW2 and experienced animosity against Asians in the US during wartime. They experienced a typical roller coaster of new immigrant emotions. Even my own childhood as a Chinese American child during the Vietnam war highly influenced my identity as an Asian American. When young, my heritage made me feel more like an outcast, but as I’ve grown older, I realized the beauty of our country is our cultural differences.
Every diverse culture coming to the United States has made us a more understanding country. Countries are better when they can recognize and embrace a variety of people from many cultures. It is hard for countries to help immigrants and to accept the economic, emotional and physical challenges it brings. But it is the norm of humans to migrate around the world and to bring their culture with them. The nature of humanity is to always seek better for their future offspring and it can often involve displacing one’s family from country and culture. Asian(my heritage) filial support and perseverance has been the basis of my childhood and is now passed on to my children. Asian(my heritage) filial support and perseverance has been the basis of my childhood and is now passed on to my children.
Ket Conway’s Website: https://ketconway.com/
Ket also designed the image for the Ow Family panel! Click here to see it
Sponsorship available
Current and Former residents of Watsonville that share this cultural heritage:
- Amato/Rolon/Roche
- Cantos
- Chan
- Garcia
- Wong
CLICK HERE TO ADD YOUR FAMILY NAME TO THIS LIST