Do you know the story of the twelve Chinese Zodiac? Have you ever seen special characters or patterns on red paper? The Chinese Lunar New Year is a traditional festival for family and friends gathering at the beginning of the year. Starting from New Year's Eve by the lunar calendar, people start house cleaning, putting up new year decorations, changing new clothes, offering sacrifices to ancestors, hand-drawn, written or printed good tidings, setting off firecrackers and fireworks, enjoying a reunion meal, giving red envelopes to kids, etc. The Spring Couplets was originally to ward off bad luck and protect the family's safety, but nowadays, it is used as decoration for blessings and good luck. We will be printing Year of the Chinese Zodiac designed by Maxine Leu on Square Spring Couplets (春聯 /Chūn lián/) featuring hand-written Chinese and English translations of good wishes and blessings. We will learn about the Chinese zodiac chart and enjoy Fortune cookies and origami. Create your Spring Festival decorations and enjoy time with friends, family, and community. 

About teaching artist: 

Maxine Leu is an interdisciplinary artist, art educator, and environmentalist from Taiwan. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture at the State University of New York at New Paltz and her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Tainan University of Technology (TUT), Tainan, Taiwan. Her work focuses on the environment, communication, and identity. Leu has been promoting workshops about Printmaking, Sculpture, Eco-friendly and recycling Art, and Traditional Chinese Art in a number of places since 2015.

@maxineleu/ www.maxineleu.com

The event usually takes place around Lunar New Year's Eve (January to February). Maxine collaborates with various organizations, including Unison Arts, The D.R.A.W. Kingston, The Mid-Hudson Chinese Language Center, etc. Organizations who interested in collaborating can write Maxine a letter to reserve a time slot at the end of the year. For those who are interested in participating, check out the announcements on social media during the Lunar New Year period. We look forward to seeing you!