Longtime Chinatown-based sculptor and painter Wen-ti Tsen is among three Boston artists recently awarded the Wagner Arts Fellowship.
The new arts fellowship – also awarded to L’Merchie Frazier and Daniela Rivera – was created by the Wagner Foundation for artists who incorporate elements of social impact or social change in their work. Each winner is given $75,000 in unrestricted funding that they can use however they want and can access to specialized services.
Tsen is currently working on two large-scale projects. The first includes bronze sculptures of four workers. That project will be located in Chinatown and slated to be unveiled in 2026 for the 250th anniversary of the United States. The second, are two large-scale “Year of the Tiger” paintings that “celebrate the good things in life.” There will be a Winter and a Summer piece when the pair is complete. He’s been an artist for a half century.
“People look at art – and people think, ‘Oh, anybody can do that. And they think it’s something you can do in a few hours or just with a bunch of color pens and things like that.’ But actually … it takes people a long time to realize that making a sculpture of a life-size figure … will take about half a year going through the process,” he said of the bronze sculpture project.
“I have to go out to different foundries and sculpture studios, have the molds made and have the bronze casting poured into the mold.”
Humans have been working with bronze sculptures for around 4,000 years, he added, explaining that that is why he chose the medium for his project.
“I want to affirm that the subject that I’m trying to do — of paying tribute to workers, which is not often done, especially in these high-quality art pieces. I would like it to be done in the best way that would be challenging Michael Angelo and the Greeks.”
He expressed his desire to see “everyday people who have jobs being a waiter, being a cook, being a garment worker, and grandmothers taking care of children. Those would be the people who walk by and see suddenly that their lives have been promoted in the oldest form of art that is usually reserved for emperors or philosophers or soldiers more than anything and politicians on horseback.”
Tsen mused that people might be a little surprised and ask, “‘How come it’s not about a famous person?’ but I said ‘It’s about us.’” Tsen said he was inspired by his 30 years of working as a film projectionist to choose the workers as his subject matter.
Tsen spoke of feeling hope that people from different backgrounds will see the statues and feel a connection. He hopes people think, “My grandparents were just like that. They were doing exactly the same thing moving ahead for their children, for their grandchildren.”
Influencing Tsen has been his time working with the Asian American Resource Workshop and the Chinese Progressive Association.
“That kind of changed my life,” he said.
He was asked to do a Chinatown mural in 1986, which was the start of his work with the groups.
“Before that, I was involved politically with many different groups. But also, coincidentally, I think it was also during that time when all the different ethnic movements starting to separate from each other. Everybody’s doing their own thing.”
He continued, “If I had my choice, I would have liked to continue to work with all the people of color and all the progressive groups.”
Tsen said he was “geared toward” the Asian American community through his work with the Asian American Resource Workshop and had been following Asian American social movements as well as other movements, but when he started creating public art, he expanded his outlook.
“I am very conscious that there’s always something to learn about all these other groups that I have not known about,” he said.
“I think being Asian American and in Chinatown (was a way) through which I was able to understand (more of) the world. So, everything is having to dig deeper and understanding more.”
Abigail Satinsky, who is the program officer and curator for art and culture at the Wagner Foundation said the idea of the fellowship is to support visual artists at all career levels in greater Boston to stay and thrive here.
“It’s sort of a way we recognize the artists that have this long commitment to this place, that have been part of community, that are storytellers, that are part of amplifying the voices of those that they care about. And so, I think that’s just something we really want to highlight. This idea of established artists a marker of really investing in the artists that make Boston great.”
To celebrate the first year of the fellowship, the winners will be showcased at the Mass Art Museum as part of the first Boston Public Art Triennial in an exhibition titled “Generations,” which will be on display now through Nov. 30.
For Tsen, however, life itself is a gratifying as creating artwork. He was born in Shanghai, China in 1936.
“My greatest satisfaction is actually in living my life. So that I think I’m over, way overdue for expiration date anyway. Until I can finish these pieces, I’m pretty happy with it.”
