Hello! I’m shaina lu 呂明穎 (she/her)!!
I am a queer Taiwanese-American artist interested in the intersection of art, education, and activism.
I like to create community art for social change, which means that my art happens in conversation with community members of places that I live, work, or play. Basically, my art is made through dialogue with other people. Sometimes I photograph protests; sometimes I paint murals in collaboration with youth; and sometimes I write and illustrate stories for a more just and liberated world, like NOODLE & BAO (2024, HarperCollins Quill Tree).
When I’m not creating community art, I work with young artists and makers in the public school system. We design cool stickers, photograph our communities, make joyful comics, and imagine our radiant futures through art. See my teaching artist experience here!
I hold a B.A. from Wellesley College and a Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education, where I drew comics and ate Hot Cheetos under my desk studied Arts in Education.
& most important, I drink juice every day, and I am full of sugar.
🤵 Serious Professional Bio:
Shaina Lu 呂明穎 (she/her) is a queer Taiwanese-American artist interested in the intersection of art, education, and activism.
She creates community art for social change through dialogue and conversation with local youth, residents, and grassroots organizers. You can see her public art throughout Boston’s Chinatown, MA, where she works, and in Malden, MA, where she lives. In 2023, the Massachusetts AAPI Commission honored Shaina as an Unsung Hero for her work as an artist and organizer.
Shaina has worked in the education field since 2012, both as a public school teacher and as a program director in a community-based organization. As an educator, Shaina develops project-based learning experiences for young artists to draw knowledge and inspiration from their communities and to use art as a tool to effect social change.
Shaina also writes and illustrates for a more just and liberated world. She is the author and illustrator of NOODLE & BAO (2024, HarperCollins Quill Tree), a middle grade graphic novel about food, family, and fighting against gentrification. She also has two upcoming picture books with Penguin Kokila.
Shaina is a proud alumna of Wellesley College, and she holds a Masters in Arts in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Most important, she drinks juice every day, and she is full of sugar.
Contact Me!
For publishing inquiries, contact (the very patient and knowledgeable) Wendi Gu (wendi @ hgliterary.com), and for all other inquiries (photography, public art, editorial illustrations, indie zines), please use the contact form below!
Indie Comic Anthologies
Author & Illustrator, Yeh-Yeh, Dirty Diamonds Issue 10: Death, 2020.
Artist, [ b a y s t a t e r o l l a z ], Strange Waters, Arledge Comics, 2020.
Artist, Run Hard!, Dates III: Adventure, Margins Publishing, 2019.
Artist, The Fisher and the Jeweler, Shout Out, TO Comix Press, 2019.
Artist, Unwanted, Heartwood, Power & Magic Press, 2019.
Artist, Between Worlds, Lilies Vol VI: Corpse Lily, Lilies Anthology, 2018.
Selected Press:
Artist, Writer Shaina Lu Draws From Life Stories in Chinatown / Noodle & Bao与归属感:吕明颖笔下的社会变化, Sampan
The Seekers, Harvard Ed Magazine
Community Members Restore Mural in Chinatown, Boston Globe
Local artist, author Shaina Lu talks art activism and pays homage to Chinatown activists in upcoming book, The Scope
Project Community: Activism pushing forward against Asian hate, WCVB
MAPC Teams Up with Artists on COVID Communications, MAPC
Wah Lum Mural Honors 'Unity And Solidarity,” Wonderland
A Dragon Hugs the Corner: Wah Lum Academy Embraces Unity Amid a Pandemic, Neighborhood View
How Can Artists and Residents Work Together to Shape the Future of Rapidly Changing Chinatown? Asian Community Development Corporation
Galleries & Shows
“Inspired By…Artwork by Josiah Quincy Elementary School”, student art exhibition, Pao Arts Center, 2024
“Year of the Dragon”, group exhibition, Blue Triangle Gallery, 2024
”Call and Response: Illustration in Uncertain Times”, group exhibition, Pao Arts Center 2023
”Experience Chinatown Arts Festival”, Pao Arts Center, 2021
”Queer + Trans Artists // On Love for Ourselves + Each Other”, group exhibition, The Meeting Point, 2015
