We are pleased to announce that graduate student Natalie Zhang will be representing the UCLA Department of Art History at the 7th annual Getty Graduate Symposium, which showcases the work of emerging scholars from art history graduate programs across California.
In Natalie Zhang’s paper titled Murals and Menus: Artistic Community and Cultural Negotiation at the Dragon’s Den Restaurant, Los Angeles, she examines how the Dragon’s Den Restaurant (1935-1942)–a Chinese American restaurant once located in Los Angeles’s Old Chinatown–nurtured the early careers of aspiring Asian American artists such as Benji Okubo (1904-1975) and Tyrus Wong (1910-2016). Restaurant paraphernalia designed by these artists not only attest to the rich cultural life of interwar-era Los Angeles that Asian Americans undoubtedly contributed to, but also underscore how creative production emerging from these “mundane” spaces reflects diverse strategies of cultural negotiation.
This exciting symposium will be held at the Getty Center on February 7, 2025 from 9:45am–6pm. All are welcome to attend the free event in person or via Zoom, to RSVP please click here.
Additionally, the individual presentations, moderated panel discussions, and Q&A sessions with the audience will be uploaded to YouTube following the event.
