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Shanna Cheng

@shanna.cheng

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Curator, Community Connector, Disability Advocate

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As this project wraps up, we are excited to continue sharing our memories and stories.

Letters to My (Grand)Parents started as a letter exchange asking "What do you wish to know about your (grand)parents and parents? And what would you share with them now?"

At the open mic and the afterparty with Concerts in Care, mahjong, and printmaking, we shared our emotions through tears, through joy, and through play. Hearing the words and stories being said out loud felt validating but also healing. We were simply there to bond, to grieve, and to connect.

The purpose of our Letters to My (Grand)Parents was to connect young adults with their parents and grandparents and also through surrogate seniors. To understand their story, record a part of history, and begin a conversation. It became an opportunity for many of our writers and ourselves to connect with our elders in a way we weren't able to before. Across language barriers but also the cultural divide.

It became an opportunity for our young Chinese-Canadian adults to connect with their elders and a chance to meet others who shared similar sentiments.

An intergenerational connection that will be cherished and remembered for a lifetime.

Keep in touch, with love and tenderness from Michelle and Shanna.

Video by Annika Walsh @annika.walsh
Music by Neo Harmonia with Sarah Tan and Zhongxi Wu @sarahtguzheng @concertsincarebc

#LettersToMyGrandParents
#LettersProject taken in Sun Wah Centre by @shanna.cheng

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Thank you to everyone who showed up with such tenderness, care, and joy. It was a soft reminder that healing can show up in many ways. We are immensely grateful for celebrating these special moments with you.

To our writers, thank you for celebrating with us and sharing your vulnerable stories, we cried and laughed with you.

Led by Shanna Cheng @shanna.cheng and Michelle Ha @m.jjia
Hosted by Yun-Jou @yunjou.c
Translated by Joyce Deng @cy_v_v
Performance by Neo Harmonia with Health Arts Society @concertsincarebc, @sarahtguzheng
Mahjong taught by Mom and Dad Cheng
Program Partner and Printmaking led by Gal and Chinatown Together @lucky.munyi, @chinatowntogether

FAN Support with Kaya Kurz kayakurz
Videography by Annika Walsh @annika.walsh
Photography by Kimberly Ho @kberlyho

Special thank you to everyone who supported us, this wouldn't be Letters without you.

This event was funded by the Neighbourhood Small Arts Grant @dtessag

#LettersToMyGrandParents
#LettersProject taken in Sun Wah Centre by @shanna.cheng

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4 months ago

Letters to My (Grand)Parents | Saturday, May 30 | 2-6pm

We invite you to the launch of our Letters to My (Grand)Parents publication and Open-Mic! Featuring 10 Chinese-Canadian writers and 10 seniors, celebrate with us with Open-Mic, Concerts in Care, Mahjong, and Printmaking!

2-3:30pm: Book Launch + Readers with MC, Yun-Jou and Co-Leads, Shanna Cheng and Michelle Ha
4-4:30pm: Open Mic
4:30-5:15pm: Concerts in Care with Health Arts Society

After Party
5-6pm: Mahjong Time with Mom and Dad Cheng and Heavenly Beasts Printmaking with Chinatown Together, Gal 敏怡

Access Available: English and Chinese transcribers will be present during our Open-Mic. Our community translator, JD will be supporting us in spoken translation. Nongendered washrooms are located on LG, 3rd and 4th floor. Semi-wheelchair accessible with two elevators. Paid public parking are on Floors 5 to 7. Street parking is available.

Food and Drinks: Maxim's baked goods and tea will be provided.

*This is a mask-optional event, masks will be provided.

Hosted at Sun Wah Centre at Lower Ground Level in Room 001
268 Keefer St, Vancouver, BC V6A 1X5 (Between Main St and Gore Ave)

RSVP on our LinkTree.

Illustration by: Jia 何家嘉 (@/justjiaart on Cara)

@noael_ly @the.good.imp @megankwn @cwensquared @nat.zip with amyjylu

#LettersToMyGrandParents #LettersProject 5 slides of poster illustration of Letters to My Grandparents. An old red telephone rests on an intricate peony tablecloth with the receiver resting off the hook. Covered on the table are a blue porcelain vase with chrysanthemum blooming, white rabbit candies laid on pink chinaware, traditional green mahjong tiles scattered across and hawflakes out of its wrapper. Behind the living space is a Chinese calendar dated May 30th of the fire horse year, a clock, and textured jade wallpaper revealing a ripped Qing Dynasty motif. Bold title in English and traditional text reads "Saturday, May 30, 2-6pm, Letters to My (Grand)Parents." Details, dates, and location are in written description. Sponsored logos sit below. taken in Sun Wah Centre by @shanna.cheng

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"Featured in The Runner Magazine: ‘Transcend language barriers’: Young and senior Chinese Canadians exchange letters in project. Letters to My (Grand)Parents is a new publication from Vancouver that explores the vulnerabilities of being second or third generation."

What an immense privilege to be interviewed by Mariia Potiatynyk from @runnermagg in their The Runner Vol. 18 Issue 15 for May 2026. Continue reading the interview in our LinkTree.

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On Saturday, May 30th, we will be launching our publication at our Open Mic. Our books will be for sale with 50% of proceeds donated to Villa Cathay to support the care and compassion of our seniors and elders in Chinatown. Come get your book while our copies last!

#LettersToMyGrandParents
#LettersProject The Runner Magazine feature page is framed on both sides by an illustration of an intricate peony tablecloth. Image of Letters to My (Grand)Parents poster design is displayed in the first slide with title in bold pink and black. 2nd slide features a column interview between community reporter and Shanna. Title is in written description. Interview is in Linktree. taken in Sun Wah Centre by @shanna.cheng

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5 months ago

Introducing our 3rd and last speaker of our Open-Mic, Carmen Cheung alongside our surrogate grandma, Eva Cho!

Carmen Cheung is a poet, musician, and multidisciplinary artist embodying intersecting identities. Her lived experiences shape her work. She explores themes such as nostalgia, trauma, love, pain, and identity in her art. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from UBC where she also studied various writing genres, including non-fiction and graphic forms, at UBC School of Creative Writing. As a professional in the education field and mental health advocate, she strives to find opportunities to incorporate the healing power of expressive arts at work, and in personal life. You can find her on Instagram @carm.chameleon

#LettersToMyGrandParents
#LettersProject White intricate corner frame highlights title "Introducing Carmen Cheung, The Tale End" and "3rd Speaker with Eva Cho" description in dark green serif font. Pale green paint smears reminiscent of wallpaper fades into the background with a jade transparent block featuring Carmen's biography in dark green. Biography is in written description. taken in Sun Wah Centre by @shanna.cheng

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Introducing our 2nd speaker of our Open-Mic, Allison Chow!

Allison Chow is a "Vancouver"-based artist, facilitator, and designer whose work explores embodiment, storytelling, and community connection through art. She creates participatory experiences that invite reflection, play, and emotional awareness. Her practice spans workshops, public activations, and creative research. You can find her work at hellochowder.com and on Instagram @the.good.imp

#LettersToMyGrandParents
#LettersProject White intricate corner frame highlights title "Introducing Allison Chow" and "2nd Speaker" description in dark green serif font. Sage green paint smears reminiscent of wallpaper fades into the background with a white transparent block featuring Allison's biography in green. Biography is in written description. taken in Sun Wah Centre by @shanna.cheng

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5 months ago

Introducing our 1st speaker of our Open-Mic, 李茵諾 Yan Nok Noelle Lee!

李茵諾 Yan Nok Noelle Lee is an interdisciplinary, process-based artist, working predominantly with dance, performance, and visual arts. Their work is rooted in an exploration of the intersections between artistic practice and therapeutic modalities, supported by teachings from the land, the people who tend to it, those who have come before them, and those that will come after. They were born and raised in Hong Kong, they have a Cantonese-Hong Kongese mother, and a Fujianese father raised in Hong Kong and Makassar, Indonesia. You can find them on Instagram @noael_ly

#LettersToMyGrandParents
#LettersProject White intricate corner frame highlights title "Introducing Yan Nok Noelle Lee" and "1st Speaker" description in dark green serif font. Jade green paint smears reminiscent of wallpaper fades into the background with a green transparent block featuring Noelle's biography in white. Biography is in written description. taken in Sun Wah Centre by @shanna.cheng

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FAiR Showcase | Friday May 29, 4-7pm | Sun Wah Centre at 268 Keefer St - Room 400

With @soft.kaur

Future Arts Network presents Divya Kaur:

Join Divya Kaur for a casual art showcase and talk from 5-6pm, in reflection of the experimental process to their work carried out throughout their Future Arts Network residency. Largely trialing cameraless photography, medical imaging, and analogue mediums, the artist's work explores their relationship to disability, with a primary focus on the fragility, unpredictability, and objectification of the body.

*This is a mask-mandatory event. Masks will be provided.

Divya Kaur is a queer disabled Punjabi interdisciplinary artist, writer, community builder, and anti-oppression professional living on stolen Coast Salish territories, including those of the Halkomelem-speaking peoples.

Their work spans mediums and focuses largely on lens-based arts to explore themes of identity, trauma, queerness, disability, pain, and healing, seeking to honor the intersections and tender complexities within these experiences. Divya's work has been featured in 5X Press, Room Magazine, SAD Mag, Cold Tea Collective, Vines Art Society, Kickstart Disability, Enabling Arts, and Vancouver Pride Magazine. They organize with Under The Table Poetry and is the co-creator of HIR, a community-driven South Asian LGBTQIA+ zine.

Register in LinkTree. taken in Sun Wah Centre by @shanna.cheng

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FAiR Showcase | Friday May 29, 1-4pm
Sun Wah Centre at 268 Keefer St - Room 400

With @marisacraftsthings

Future Arts Network presents Marisa Law:

During Marisa’s time in residence at FAiR, she explored how our natural environment can be honoured, transformed, and woven into our practice

Through interactions with mediums such as natural dye, cyanotype, and photography as well as beading, paper making, and lino carving, Marisa held those relationships and knowledges that connect us with our land—showcasing the deep kinship we have with nature.

During the showcase, aside from Marisa’s artwork being displayed, you may also see her wool weaving a community piece with an open invitation to engage in conversation and casually try weaving as well!

Marisa Law (she/her), is an Indigenous youth artist and facilitator based in East Vancouver with Upper Smelqmix Okanagan and British heritage. She explores creation through multiple mediums, blending visions of visual and textile arts ~ interwoven with natural materials, textural experiences and cultural reflections. Marisa can often be found as a vendor at Indigenous craft markets/events sharing her artwork with the community or as a workshop facilitator during booked events. She has also worked in the creation of many art projects throughout the community in spaces like neighbourhood houses, community centres and more. You can find more of her work at @marisacraftsthings on Instagram or by her website https://marisacraftsthings.square.site

Register in LinkTree. taken in Sun Wah Centre by @shanna.cheng

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FAiR Showcase | Friday May 29, 1-4pm
Sun Wah Centre at 268 Keefer St - Room 400

With @anata.laylay

Future Arts Network presents anata laylay:

anata laylay will be showcasing their new pieces that are dyed with plants from the Philippines, eco-prints, and new Indigo dyed pieces. During this residency, anata laylay has worked on their natural dye process, cyanotypes, weaving, and mordant-printing.

anata laylay (they/them) is a trans nonbinary Filipinx curator, ancestral medicine worker, and textile artist from the rivers and hills of Bulacan and Quezon. They are currently living and working on stolen and unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, səlilwətaɬ land. They are passionate about curating, fibre arts, plant materials, and weaving. Their practice reflects and centres themes of Filipino history, Kapwa, climate justice, ancestral practices, and the QTBIPOC experience. anata laylay is deeply committed to honouring their ancestors, community organizing, decolonization and fighting for genuine liberation through community carework and continuing to learn as a Filipinx healer and ritual worker!

Register in LinkTree. taken in Sun Wah Centre by @shanna.cheng

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Introducing our mahjong teachers of Letters to My (Grand)Parents!

5 - 6pm | Mahjong Time with Mom and Dad Cheng

Learn how to play Hong Kong style mahjong! Three tables will be available for 30 minute rotation playtime with two beginner tables and one intermediate table.

#LettersToMyGrandParents
#LettersProject ID: Close up shot of green mahjong tiles clustered along the wooden table with a pink chinaware brimming the top. On a yellow slab and green tile; the title, introduction, and event details are overlaid on top. Times in bolded yellow rests above. Written text is in description. taken in Sun Wah Centre by @shanna.cheng

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Introducing our partner of Letters to My (Grand)Parents, Chinatown Together!

5-6pm | Heavenly Beasts Printmaking

Print "Heavenly Beasts" with Gal and Chinatown Together! Attendees can make their own custom linoprint with supplies provided.

About Gal:
Gal 敏怡 (they/she) is a queer, fourth-generation Chinese settler living in so-called Vancouver, with deep familial roots in their local Chinatown. They are a visual artist, tattooer, and community organizer whose work centres art as a tool for advocacy, awareness-building, and mindful solidarity.

They are a co-founder of Chinatown Together, a non-profit organization dedicated to resisting gentrification through arts-based organizing, destigmatizing the neighbourhood, and practicing mutual aid. Gal’s work is grounded in a belief in diversity, autonomy, and collective care, and guided by the principle: “Come as you are, act with care, and we’ll learn our way through the rest."

#LettersToMyGrandParents
#LettersProject ID Slide 1: Against a textured jade wallpaper, hawflakes are scattered on a peony tablecloth with white rabbit candies placed on pink chinaware. On a yellow slab and green tile; the title, introduction, and event details are overlaid on top. Times in bolded yellow rests above. Written text is in description. taken in Sun Wah Centre by @shanna.cheng

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