Make it Public:
A Playful Approach to Public Art &
Culturally Responsive Connections
CAT CHIU
Public Artist & Educator
President-Elect, CAEA
Doctoral Candidate, San Diego State University
Visual & Media Arts Resource Teacher, San Diego Unified School District
Scan for Slide Deck
Culturally RELEVANT | Culturally RESPONSIVE |
Connects to students’ lived experiences | Adapts to community context |
Reflects identity & representation | Centers voice & co-design |
Makes content meaningful | Shifts power & participation |
Make it Public:
A Playful Approach to Public Art &
Culturally Responsive Connections
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
CAT CHIU
About Me & My Practice
Public Artist & K-12 Visual Arts Educator
• Large-scale, site-specific public art installations
• Sustainable & repurposed materials
• Collective authorship & community co-creation
• Playful interventions in civic space
• 24+ years in public school art education (mostly middle school)
I build bridges between classrooms and civic space.
Kamayan: Textile Project
City of San Diego’s Creative City Strategic Planning Listening Sessions
• Filipino style of communal dining
• Food shared on banana leaves
• Eaten with hands (kamay = hand)
• Rooted in gathering, conversation, & connection
Traditionally common in:
• Family meals
• Celebrations, fiestas, picnics
• Community gatherings
Values embedded in the practice:
• Collective participation
• Hospitality
• Resourcefulness & sustainability
• Shared experience over individual portions
What is KAMAYAN?
“Bangus”
Fried Milkfish
“Kakanin”
Sweet Rice Cakes
Fish Balls with Sauce
“Inihaw”
Bbq Skewers
Examples of Foods Often Shared in Kamayan Meals
A Taste of Kamayan: Filipino BBQ Marinade
1/2 cup Soy sauce
1/2 cup Banana ketchup (e.g., Jufran)
1/2 cup Sprite or 7-Up
1/4 cup Calamansi juice (or lemon/lime)
1/4 cup White Vinegar
1/2 cup Light brown sugar
1/4 cup Minced garlic (about 1 whole head)
1 tbsp Ground black pepper
Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, ideally overnight.
Glaze: Save some marinade, mix with a little more ketchup and oil, and brush on the meat while grilling.
Grill: Thread onto soaked skewers and grill over medium heat for 10-12 minutes
What food brings back a memory of home for you?
(Turn to an elbow partner and share your food memory.)
Let’s Build Our Kamayan Civic Table!
What food brings back a memory of home for you?
-Draw your food on your “paper skewer”
-Add a word or short phrase what it represents
(ex: Papa’s misua noodles= comfort)
-When finished, bring your skewer up and place it on the shared kamayan table
What do you notice about the food on our table?
(Patterns? Anything Missing?)
Practical Classroom Implementation: Host a Potluck of Ideas!
-Identity Potluck
-Draw a food that represents who you are
-Add 3 words about what it represents
-Community Potluck
-What does our community need more of?
-Draw a symbolic “dish” that feeds the community need
-Creativity Potluck
-What feeds your creativity?
-Draw your “creative fuel”
-Civic Potluck
-If our city was the table, what should we serve? (Justice, care, visibility, joy)
Culturally RELEVANT | Culturally RESPONSIVE |
Introduces Filipino communal tradition | Invites participants to contribute their own cultural memories |
Uses food and shared table as cultural reference | Builds a shared table shaped by collective voice |
Expands awareness of global dining experiences | Uses reflection and noticing to surface belonging and identiy |
Kamayan: Culturally Relevant vs. Culturally Responsive
Cat Chiu
Booked
2025
Book jackets
San Diego Museum of Art
-Inspired by the quilted storytelling works of Faith Ringgold in the permanent collection of SDMA
-Reclaimed children’s book jackets transformed into folded cootie catchers (fortune tellers)
-References the patchwork structure of quilts and the narrative power of books
-Explores themes of storytelling, literacy, and collective imagination
Public Art Generator
How to fold a fortune teller (cootie catcher)
-Start with blank side up
Public Art Generator
Write 4 OVERLOOKED SPACES in your school on the outside flaps.
Public Art Generator
Write 4 overlooked spaces in your school on the outside flaps, some ideas include:
Circulation Spaces
Functional Spaces
w
Transitional / Invisible Spaces
Round 1: WHERE
-Choose one site/location
-Write it down
-Activate it by opening and closing according to space #
Round 2: HOW
-Choose one technique
-Write it down
-Activate it by opening and closing according to space #
Round 3: WHY
-Pick a space #
-Reveal the cause
-Take few moments and jot down some ideas from the combinations
Public Art Generator
Let’s Play!
Rapid Public Art Proposal
In small groups:
-Participation: Which students/classes will participate?
-Creation:
-How would students create it? (Make or add)
-What materials could you realistically use?
-Location/Display:
-Where would artwork live? Would it be temporary or permanent?
-Meaning/Connection:
Why would it matter for students or community?
-Feasibility:
-What would be the first step to make this happen?
Public Art Generator:
What Emerged?
What ideas surprised you?
What feels exciting?
What feels complicated?
Visual & Physical Installations:
-Murals
-Temporary Installations
-Interactive Sculptures
-Textile / Fiber Installations
Community Participation:
-Collaborative Drawing or Painting
-Community Story Walls
-Message Boards or Wish Walls
-Ephemeral & Low-Cost Works
-Chalk / Pavement Art
-Projection or Light Art
-Sticker Campaigns
-Paper Installations
Performance & Time-Based
-Performance Art
-Spoken Word or Sound Installations
-Pop-up Art Events
-Public art can be temporary, participatory, low-cost, and adaptable for school settings.
List of Possible Public Art Methods:
-Kindness & empathy
-Anti-bullying / inclusion
-Mental health & wellness
-Student voice & belonging
-Cultural identity & heritage
-Diversity, equity & representation�-Environmental sustainability
-Climate awareness
-Campus pride / school spirit�-Community connection
-Celebrating student achievements
-Peace & conflict resolution
-Digital citizenship
-Healthy habits & well-being
-Gratitude for teachers, staff, and community
List of Possible School Causes:
WHERE | HOW | WHY |
Where does this live? | How does it activate participation? | Why does this exist here? |
Who moves through this space? | How does material change meaning? | What civic story is it telling? |
Who is centered? Who is not? | How does scale shift power? | Who benefits? |
WHERE, HOW, WHY
WHERE |
Where does this live? |
Who moves through this space? |
Who is centered? Who is not? |
WHERE, HOW, WHY
Image courtesy: City of Chicago / Millennium Park
HOW |
How does it activate participation? |
How does material change meaning? |
How does scale shift power? |
WHERE, HOW, WHY
Image courtesy: City of Chicago / Millennium Park
WHY |
Why does this exist here? |
What civic story is it telling? |
Who benefits? |
WHERE, HOW, WHY
Image courtesy: City of Chicago / Millennium Park
Anish Kapoor
Born: 1954, born Mumbai (Bombay), India
Lives & Works: London, UK
Artistic Focus:
-Monumental sculptural forms
-Reflection, illusion, and perception
-Industrial materials (stainless steel, pigment, stone)
-Viewer interaction and spatial experience
Accolades:
-Turner Prize (1991); Knighted in 2013
-Represented Britain at the Venice Biennale
Artistic Significance:
-Major figure in contemporary sculpture
-Explores identity and global culture
-Transforms public space into shared, reflective experience
Photo by Vogler, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
www.TeachPublicArt.com
Structured public art slide decks designed for classroom use. Each deck includes:
• VTS & Inquiry prompts
• Community connection lens
• Standards alignment
• Ready-to-use discussion slides
All free and adaptable.
Reflect on bias (Ladson-Billings, 1995) |
Audit engagement practices for equity (Gay, 2018) |
Ensure multilingual communication (Ishimaru, 2019) |
Create culturally welcoming environments (Souto-Manning, 2013) |
What Culturally Responsive Leaders Do
(Ladson-Billings, 1995; Gay, 2018; Ishimaru, 2019; Souto-Manning, 2013)
Family-school learning nights |
Storytelling or cultural nights |
Multilingual parent workshops |
Community partnerships |
Universal Examples
(Henderson & Mapp, 2002; Gonzales et al., 2005; Mapp & Kuttner, 2013; Giroux, 2004)
World Design Capital: Friendship Bracelet
Collective project with 10 San Diego Unified schools and 3 Tijuana schools
Primed canvas, paint markers, and acrylic paint
400’
2024
A binational public art project in which students painted a strand of a lengthy “friendship bracelet.” This is a cross-cultural collaboration that celebrates the unique relationship between neighboring communities while highlighting the talent and creativity of students from both sides of the border.
Plastic Garden Float
Plastic bags, plastic bottles, & trailer
10’x12’
Installed for the Tournament of Roses Parade (Pasadena, California)
2016
Commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts’ My Pasadena project, a parade float was created from donated plastic bags and bottles. Over a thousand students from Pasadena Unified School District decorated and contributed to the float using plastic waste. This non-traditional version offers a contrasting perspective, imagining in this time of anthropocene, what if recyclable materials were used for such a traditional event.
Art Event Planning Organizer
Historical & Community Context | What cultural, historical, or community experiences should be acknowledged? |
Family & Student Voice | How will families and students co-design the event? |
Immediacy & Relational Practices | How will facilitators build personal connection (warmth, storytelling, shared-making)? |
Communication | Are materials and information accessible for all? |
Representation & Cultural Inclusion | Does the event honor the cultural identities of students/families (themes, materials, artists, languages)? Are cultural traditions represented authentically, not tokenized? Are teaching artists reflective of the community? |
Asset-Based Engagement | How will families bring cultural knowledge, skills, or traditions into the event? |
Shared-Making Design | What hands-on activity brings all together? (Collective practice) |
Logistics | Space accessability? Parking? Time of Day? Other details? |
Trust-Building & Follow-Through | How will we sustain relationships beyond this single event? |
Partnerships | Which community partners or cultural organizations can meaningfully contribute? Which artists, museums, cultural centers, or nonprofits can support learning? |
Let’s Connect!
LinkedIn: CatChiu
Instagram: @teachpublicart
@catchiu_art
Email: teachpublicart@gmail.com
www.TeachPublicArt.com