I am a collagist, zine-maker, poet, and workshop facilitator. I come from the Hmong diaspora displaced to Wausau, WI, and am born and raised and still residing here. My experience coming from a lineage of Hmong refugees and growing up in a predominantly white city caused me to develop internalized racism, which negatively affected my sense of identity and belonging. When I was in college I took a sociology class about race and ethnicity and learned about the concept of internalized racism, which allowed me to understand the deep impact that social systems had on my sense of self. In 2022, I graduated from UW-Stevens Point with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and a minor in International Studies, where I developed my interest in social change work. Post-graduation, I began my healing journey, and found poetry and collaging to be great outlets for processing my emotions. It was during this process that I discovered my specific role in social change work: using art and creativity as a means of healing and liberation from oppressive social systems. All my experiences of growing up marginalized, getting an education in sociology, and forming my sense of self through creating art shaped my worldview and influenced my work I do now. My work is rooted in social change, systems thinking, and collective healing and liberation.
I was a changemaker in the The SEAD Project’s SEA Change Lab fellowship in 2024, designed the play poster for “SIXPACK” written by Katie Ka Vang in 2025, and have poetry published in the anthology “The Survivors” (2024) and the “Stevens Point Community Poets Showcase” chapbook (2025). I have facilitated art and healing workshops at the Racial Justice Summit, the Coalition of Asian American Leaders, Theater Mu, and UW-Stevens Point. I also facilitated a community collage activity at the 2026 Wausau Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. Overall, I experience healing through writing poetry, making zines and collages, and attending the Second Tuesdays Poetry Open Mic in Stevens Point.
"The arts truly make a community better. It makes a community a more healthy, sustainable place to live. "
My community-based project is rooted in social change with the objective to empower people to reconnect with their creativity as an intentional act of resistance. To build the world we wish to see, we must be able to imagine it first. I am proposing to offer three different workshops in the series “If You Can Imagine It, It’s Possible”: 1) Collage as a Guide for Social Change Practices; 2) Collage as a Mindfulness Practice; 3) Collage as a Guide for a Liberated Life. The workshops include collaging while having a guided discussion about the philosophical lessons art teaches us about life, and how the application of these lessons foster healing and liberation. The four lessons I will discuss are: using creativity as an act of resistance; embracing imperfection and growth; valuing the process over the outcome; and the importance of collaboration. The first workshop is intended for participants that are already engaged in art making and/or social change work, such as nonprofit workers or local activists. The second is intended for community members interested in mental health, healing and embodied practice as a mindfulness technique. The third is intended for a general audience and is more introductory in the concepts discussed. Each is designed for a small group of less than 20 participants sitting together around a table to create an intimate setting for deeper connections. In designing this workshop format, I was inspired by methods from peer support, behavioral activation, and indigenous learning by asking open-ended questions and valuing participants as experts in their own life experiences, using the physical act of collaging to stimulate learning and engagement, and learning through storytelling and wisdom-sharing. My intention is to get participants to engage in the practice of creating in a cost-free, non-judgemental setting to embrace their creativity, identify the healing and liberating nature of creating, and learn how to apply those philosophies to our lives and build a more equitable world.
By collaborating with people in my personal network, I have been able to facilitate workshops at the Racial Justice Summit in Madison, for the creative team of a Hmong-American play at Theater Mu in St. Paul, a youth leadership cohort at the Coalition of Asian American Leaders in St. Paul, and students and faculty of the UW-Stevens Point Sociology & Social Work department. After each workshop, I received positive comments from participants about the thoughtfulness of the discussion and the opportunity to make meaningful art.
During the grant timeline, I will facilitate 10 workshops in Central Wisconsin and publish a zine of collages from the workshops. I already have numerous connections with local organizations like MOSAIC, NAOMI, the Woodson Art Museum, and other groups and activists that are interested in these workshops. I want to continue doing this workshop specifically for practitioners of social change (e.g. nonprofit staff, local activists, school/university staff), university and high school student organizations related to social change, and community members interested in social change.
