Asian American artist-in-residency program debuts with film screening and workshops

A newly launched artist-in-residence program hosted by the Department of Asian American Studies at UC Santa Barbara will feature Jess X. Snow (pictured), a nonbinary filmmaker, artist, muralist, poet and cultural organizer whose work explores queer migrant imaginations, anticolonial futures and the collective unwellness of the American dream, among other themes. As part of the weeklong residency, Snow will lead a pair of art workshops and a film screening.

Snow’s “Poster Making & Zines” workshop will look at archives of visual material, journals and zines dating back to the late 1960s to examine how DIY zine and poster making have propelled social movements. Their “Art Builds & Murals” workshop is designed to empower people from aggrieved communities to imagine themselves in the world they want to see. Both workshops will be held on campus; registration is required. 

Free and open to the public, “to become the sky: An Evening with Jess X. Snow,” will screen four of the artist’s short films, followed by a discussion moderated by Heidi Amin-Hong, an assistant professor of English at UCSB. Snow’s multilingual films blur the boundaries between coming-of-age drama, romantic fantasy and experimental documentary to explore a range of themes — from migration and queer intimacy to  intergenerational care and climate justice — through a dreamlike Asian-immigrant lens. Hosted by the Carsey-Wolf Center in conjunction with the Center for Feminist Futures and the Department of Asian American Studies, the screening begins at 7 p.m. on April 18 at Pollock Theater.

The new artist-in-residence program is designed to support critical perspectives, spark the imagination and inspire collaborative projects around some of the most pressing social issues impacting Asian American communities, said Diane Fujino, a professor in the Department of Asian American Studies and co-initiator and lead organizer of the residency. The program, she added, aims to create a partnership between scholars and artist communities in shared intellectual spaces and offers recognition of the importance of art practices and sustenance for independent artists.“

Jess X. Snow works through an art practice that rests on principles of collaboration and solidarity,” she said. “Snow is immensely imaginative, always curious and interested in questions of how we create emancipatory futures.”

“Snow’s residency provides mentorship to students for whom university work can mean a joining of art and activism with academics,” added erin Ninh, department chair. “The Asian American studies department at UCSB was designed from the start to recognize those three ways of creating knowledge and change, and we’re glad to be able to offer these opportunities with Snow to the broader campus community.”