Hudson Street Stoop 2023-25:
Dancing Dragon by Katherine Chin & Parke MacDowell
ACDC’s Modern-day Stoop to Connect Neighbors
Photos by Lee-Daniel Tran
Dancing Dragon is the second Hudson Street Stoop exhibit developed to cultivate a vibrant, inclusive neighborhood space.
Designed and fabricated by HSS Artists Katherine Chin & Parke MacDowell, Dancing Dragon was developed in collaboration with Chinatown residents through a series of community visioning, design, and painting sessions. Inspired by traditional Chinese dragon dance, the interactive installation consists of a steel pavilion with a meandering canopy structure providing seating, shade, and the armature for community activity.
About Hudson Street Stoop
Hudson Street Stoop is Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC)’s public art initiative of ongoing installations on One Greenway Park created in collaboration with Chinatown residents and local artists. Through this modern day “stoop”, we seek to create opportunities for social connection, reinforce Chinatown’s identity and resident’s sense of belonging, and improve access to and inclusive use of open space.
Opening Celebration
We celebrated ACDC’s Hudson Street Stoop Opening Celebration for Dancing Dragon in November 2023. We are excited that this structure, co-created by our residents and artists, was finally up for the community to enjoy until 2025. Participants who attended learned about the history behind the Hudson Street Stoop, made crafts and left memories, and met the installation Artists, accompanied by various performances.
The Process
In May 2022, ACDC and the HSS Committee released a request for qualifications (RFQ) for the second HSS installation, seeking artists experienced in creating public art and engaging with community members as part of the creative process. The advisory committee of Chinatown residents and local arts administrators includes Janiqwa Johnson, Angela Soo Hoo, Dianyvet Serrano, Ada Wu, Cherry Yang, and Sheila Novak. The committee reviewed several submissions and selected Katherine Chin & Parke MacDowell's Dancing Dragon proposal.
Designing Together
ACDC worked with Katherine and Parke to host Visioning Workshops and Design sessions to co-create the final design with Chinatown residents and community members. Katherine also held a workshop with youth from ACDC's Summer Leadership Academy to engage high school students interested in careers in art and design.
Rendering of Dancing Dragon by Katherine Chin and Parke MacDowell
Fabrication
Dancing Dragon was fabricated by Parke MacDowell.
Photos courtesy of the Artist
Community Paint Day
ACDC and the Artists hosted a Community Paint Day in September 2023 to finish the structure. It was a fun group activity to get hands-on engagement and build a sense of shared ownership!
Recap video by @themiguelrubiera
Meet the Artists
Katherine is an architect and artist who combines these interests to create large scale projects that are conceptually driven and contextual. Evident in all her work is a desire to create art that not only reflects the community, but is also dynamic, ever-changing, and tells a story of a time and place.
Parke is committed to the community-building potential of art, framing design as a powerful tool for outreach, engagement, and building for the future. As an architect, Parke embeds fabrication within his design process to foster shared-authorship and position collaborators for success.
Hudson Street Stoop’s Dancing Dragon is a recipient of Activating Boston, a grant program by John Hancock, coordinated by Healthy Places by Design and its partners:
Dancing Dragon is also generously supported by
Evaluation Community Partners
Site Partners
