Painted Bridges: Houston Mural Program
Over the past three weeks, 6 Taiwanese artists have worked alongside GONZO247 to co-create a permanent public mural.
On August 7th, join us to celebrate the unveiling of a mural in the heart of Asiatown, the first international artist collaboration in the Southwest Management District, celebrating the cross-cultural exchange between Asia and Houston as well as memorializing AAPI trailblazers. This collaboration serves to commemorate the past, present, and future of the AAPI community in a new and beautiful landmark in the city of Houston.
Featured in this mural is Corky Lee, the Undisputed, Unofficial Asian American Photographer Laureate, and sharing his life mission’s campaign to “Change America one photograph at a time,” to correct historical inaccuracies, fight stereotypes, injustice & celebrate the everyday struggles and accomplishments of AAPI communities.
Painted Bridges: Houston Mural Program is presented by EpNex 橋翼 with Gonzo247 Studio and Southwest Management District, supported by the Ministry of Education's Youth Development Administration through the Youth Billion Overseas Dream Fund in partnership with OCA-Greater Houston as the 1st AAPI Trailblazers Mural in the Chinatown/Asiatown area.
Date, Time, Location:
📅 Friday, August 7, 2026, 9:30-10:30 AM
🌐 9750 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX, 77036
(Next to Trung Nguyen E-Coffee)
RSVP Now:
🔗 https://ocahouston.qomon.org/en/action/339c1eda-painted-bridges-houston-mural-program
Attire:
Smart Casual
Contact:
Melody (melody@epnex.org), 310-328-5788
Adam (adam@epnex.org)
About GONZO247
Mario E. Figueroa Jr. — known as GONZO247 — is one of Houston's most recognized and enduring voices in public art. For more than 30 years, he has painted the walls of one of America's most complex and culturally layered cities, turning concrete surfaces into community landmarks.
Taiwanese Artists
Lawrence Hsieh
A field-driven artist who transforms the ordinary life of a place — the sounds of a fabric shop, a barber, a knife-grinder — into cross-media installations. His practice "paints with images," turning documentary footage into work with the tension and flow of mural line-work.
Amy Liu
An artist and designer with ten years of hand-drawing behind her. Now a visual designer at an international firm, she has led work for ASML, Alibaba, TikTok and Uber, and reshaped brands like TWNIC and Visa — moving fluently between Chinese- and foreign-market aesthetics.
Stu Yang
For Yang, art is a language that crosses culture, age and words. A Hsinchu homeroom teacher who weaves art, writing and curation into her classroom, she is now returning to her own voice as a maker — developing the personal projects "Bubble City" and "Have You Taken Care of Yourself?"
Hsin Hwang
A full-time visual artist rooted in Chiayi, where Alishan and folk-belief landscapes shaped her instinct for intense colour and totem. Fusing Taiwanese folk imagery with Jungian archetypes, her work has shown at the Saatchi Gallery and travelled through residencies in the UK, China, Korea and Canada.
Linying Huang
Raised in Yilan in a family that ran a 歌 仔 戲 opera troupe, Huang turned that childhood into research. She calls her return home a "life archaeology", documenting the mobility and social ties of Taiwan's outdoor 野 台 stages, and translating social issues into visuals as an NGO designer.
Tsai-Ni Chen
Chen works under the persona "Lanni / 爛 泥 " (mud) — a soft rebellion against a culture obsessed with speed and success. Her practice pushes art off the canvas and onto walls, windows and streets, asking whether creation must be confined by a frame at all.
About the Southwest Management District
The Southwest Management District works diligently to support and enhance the community’s quality of life. While often operating in the background, the district plays a critical role in ensuring public safety, economic growth, environmental improvements, and long-term urban planning.
Funded by local businesses and property assessments, the management district actively supports small businesses, promotes cultural and community initiatives, invests in safer streets, and beautifies public spaces. Their efforts lead directly to the safe, vibrant atmosphere residents and visitors enjoy every day.
The Southwest Management District’s impact is unmistakable. When you experience clean sidewalks, improved lighting, thriving local businesses, and welcoming neighborhoods, you see the results of their dedicated work.
About EpNex 橋翼
EpNex 橋翼 is the meeting point of episteme, the pursuit and sharing of knowledge, and nexus, a central point of connection. The mandarin chinese name 橋翼 means "bridge wings": what we hope to give the people and organizations we work with.
EpNex was founded on a simple idea: that the most important work in education, culture, and institutional change happens at the intersections between disciplines, between generations, between places. Based in Taiwan with networks across the US, Asia-Pacific, and beyond, to design and deliver programs with rigor on one side and cultural fluency on the other.
About OCA-Greater Houston
OCA-Greater Houston is a volunteer driven organization of community advocates that strives to meet the current and evolving needs of a diverse population through a comprehensive continuum of programs targeting different life stages of AAPIs, with a focus on promoting the arts, advocacy, leadership, and civic engagement participation of AAPIs.