Feb 7, 2014 is a special day.

Sponsored by Ozarks Technical Community College, organized by Mrs. Kat Allie (she is on the first photo) - the Department Chair of Fine Arts & Humanities, Manager of Fine Art Gallery and her team, my Cross-culture and Comprehensive Art Exhibition of painting, music and poetry was started at the their beautiful art gallery on the 3rd floor of Gillioz Theater, Downtown, Springfield, MO, America.

Mr. Lance Renner (he is on the second photo, the second one from the left)- the Dean of Ozarks Technical Community College, some scholars and groups of local American friends, students and children attended the reception, we had very good communications, also we painted a Chinese painting together.

A reporter(he is on the first photo) from the local TV station made some video, and published it on the same night.

A story by a reporter from a local newspaper office - Mrs. Camille F. D. Daitrich(she is on the 6th photo) will be published in the Springfield News-Leader a week from Thursday.

As a so lucky graduate of Missouri State University, a student of Graduate School and Chinese Paining School at Chinese National Academy of Arts, a former student of Chinese Painting School at China Central Academy of Fine Arts from far away Beijing, except I appreciate the good education and rigorous trainings of my Alma Maters; I appreciate the sponsors of my preceding 3 art exhibitions at Eastern Kentucky Expo May, 2013; Missouri State University May, 2010; and Creamery Art Center Sep, 2009, Springfield, MO.

Especially, I would really like to thank the current sponsor and organizer of this art exhibition Feb, 2014 -- Mr. Lance Renner and Ozarks Technical Community College; Mrs. Kat Allie and Department of Fine Arts & Humanities, and Fine Art Gallery of OTC.

Just for Mrs. Kat Allie’s great insight, I have just had this precious opportunity to display and to share my study and exploration result in the past 3 years in Beijing, base on the former studying for 10 years. Just for her team’s hard work, I have had a most comfortable time during the preparing process, except asking the list and the little photos of my paintings, they did not even need me to go to help to choose and to hang up the paintings. Then with the totally trust, I was quite happy to give them the right of 100% to choose any paintings they enjoyed and wanted to display.

At the moment I went into the exhibition hall, the first impression was: They had done a very elaborate design. About 1/2 of my 5 kinds of paintings were chosen out and be hung up on the best suitable places with so serious thoughts. Even my Book, DVD and the box of the publications have been fixed by the gate with a quite meticulous style.

All of the original classical poems on my traditional Chinese paintings, include their Chinese Pinyin – pronunciations, translations have been copied, typed in Chinese and in English, and be attached by my paintings, to help readers to read and to understand the meaning by the help of the paintings.

Can you imagine? The paintings that could not been carried to the USA in the frames now have been dealt with so nice and so elegant style.

During the short time to work with them, what I was most impression on how the team members of OTC united and harmonious, to work hard together for the same target.

For example:

Dr. Jessica Gerard, the Lead Instructor for History had recommended me; a girl(she is on the 13rd photo) had not slept for whole of the night on Feb 6 to work on the text work; the assistant of Mrs. Kat Allie arranged everything to the point. The paper, ink, dishes and colors always be delivered at the best suitable moment. Then at about 11:00pm, it was Mrs. Kat Allie itself to drive her employees to their cars and then to send me back home in person.

When I looked at their jobs, I deeply felt some of the reasons why American nation could became the strongest country quickly in the world within the so short time after the Second World War.

Compare to their untied and harmonious styles, I do feel, there are too many things that are worth Chinese people and our nation to learn from.

Meanwhile, at this time, I would also like to thank the Kentucky World Language Association, Kentucky Chinese Teacher Association and the Jinan University Publishing Press.

Because, just for the president of Jinan University Publishing Press – Mr. Xu Yixiong mentioned to me: their publishing house would not be interested in publishing just a series books, but, they did want to cerate a cross-culture project over the first phone call he made August, 2009, before I left for China. Since then, I have been combining my own comprehensive art and the cross-culture conception together.

If saying, the first two art exhibitions at Creamery Art Center and Missouri State University in Springfield was the milestones and the start point of my cross-culture and comprehensive art study and exploration in the true world, then, the speech and the communications with more than 30 American Chinese language teachers at Kentucky World Language Conference in Lexington of Kentucky Sep, 2011 led me to start a serious thinking on theory and first time, my project went into the classrooms of Chinese as the Second Language. It has directly pushed my project forward on theory and on the practice, and then hastened the first publication that cross- multi- art fields and different cultures to be produced.

Then, the third art exhibition in Kentucky in 2013 was the true transition, to help the arts of Chinese poetry, painting and music enter into the K-12 schools in the true world.

Now, the fourth art exhibition at OTC, in Springfield, has not only greatly helped me to deeply think and summarize on the theory and practice in the past 13 years, but also, it will certainly become the turning point of this cross-culture and comprehensive art project from the level of pure study and exploration, to go to the business field.

Therefore, when I responded those good comments: “ Beautiful, Amazon, Talent or Multi – talents ” with a big smile on my face, I was thinking how I should change this little project to be an international business that can be developed continuously, not only to benefit the target users and to beautify this world, but also to give the motivation behind the participants and work partners in the future.

So, now, all of these jobs: to create new art works, to write books, try to open some new course in the true world, or to innovate web sit are all important, but, the most important is to resolve the root problem – To found a best suitable system of organization by some strong financial support.

Therefore, my heart is not easy at this time, but it is full of a strong sense of mission and the sense of responsibility. I know my project is meaningful, helpful and will be successful if I can keep for another 8 - 10 years even thought I work still independently as now. But, I will not be able to enlarge it and to work with a team. Especially under my current health situation, finance ability and the management level, I will not be able to keep for another 10 years if I cannot get any actual external assistance within another maybe 2 or 3 years.

This project will be certainly dead along with I am falling down under the overloaded work.

So, as soon as my art exhibition was started, I called the company that is developing and upgrading my web site (It should be online right now according to my orginal plan, but for I did not go back China in Nov, and it will be online in 3 months) in Shenzhen, we will work face to face for 7 -10 days before I go back Beijing.

Meanwhile, I started to send my latter Happy New Year messages to my friends in China via cell phone according to our custom -- most artists and elder people enjoy getting a message by cell phone much more than computers.

I am lucky enough for just within the short 2 days, I have gotten more than 130 responds from China, even though most of them were just the encouragements, they have made me feel warm and I do not feel I an alone traveler in the USA in the cold winter, they have also given me confidence -- there is a strong nation and a great country behind me.

I am really happy that my idea on combining traditional Chinese paintings and modern Chinese language arts together, to create a unique and special style to deliver one culture to the other culture via the interaction among the sister arts has gotten more and more agreements from Chinese scholars, artists and even some entrepreneurs who had been " laughing at" me living in the moon to make a day dream years ago, now thought what I have done and thought sounds like reasonable.

The good news in the USA: today -- Monday, I was invited to take part in a Chinese New Year's presentation in an elementery school of Springfield for 2 hours. The wonderful lesson of Dr. Jassica from OTC really opened my eyes, I will let you know about it latter. Then this evening, I have gotten the schedule of this week to give classes to three groups of students at OTC for 5 hours...

I am sure that my cross-culture and comprehensive dream will be certainly true by the good understanding, help and support from my own motherland and the organizations and friends from America, Australia, Britain and the other countries.

Now I have had an outline for 8 – 10 years in the future and a plan for the upcoming 3- 5 years. Then I really hope to make my long-term dream to be true in 6 – 8 years, then I will be able to go back my flowers and birds once more as I wished 3 years ago, and then truly retire from the business field at the age of most of Western Ladies retire.

I know my own advantage and weakness clear, I do wish someone stronger on marketing and the financial control to make a merger with me, or to join my project, or just makes an investment directly and become my shairholder. I myself would be very happy to be their assistant, as a little flowers in the all sorts of flowers, to create a great career with more and more excellent people together. :- )


Are you or your organization interested in my idea and wish to work with me, and become the new leaders or work partners or my boss? :-)

How about you? Do you have anything special to share?

you can click the link to see the big size photos and the photo notes



Sincerely,


Shirley Yiping Zhang
Feb 10, 2014