Secret Gardens We Shared 我們的秘密花園

by ponnapa prakkamakul 陳可意

Located on 9 Knapp Street, Boston, MA

Secret Gardens We Shared is a collaborative project between artist ponnapa prakkamakul and Chinatown residents from the Resident Leadership Academy, a program by Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC) in collaboration with the Mel King Institute. We hope that this mural will help people feel more at home in Chinatown and that residents continue to actively steward the neighborhood and its future.

A resident-driven co-creation

During the mural co-creation process, ponnapa interviewed past residents, Cynthia Yee 余麗馨 (5-7 Knapp Street), Gwen Liu 劉以寬 (9 Knapp Street), and Jennie Chin Hansen 陳禎娜 (77 Harrison Avenue). Cynthia’s family moved to Knapp Street in 1962 after their former home on Hudson Street was torn down for highway construction. She recalls the physical and emotional displacement of moving from vibrant Hudson Street to an alley in what was the Combat Zone. Her family hung large floral drapes to block out the outside activity. Jennie, whose home was located nearby on Harrison Ave, remembers looking out of her window to watch 9-Man volleyball games. Gwen, who lived here in the early 2000s, remembers the “sense of aliveness” of Knapp Street. Even if she spent the whole day at home, she felt connected to the city. Drawing from their memories, ponnapa imagined large “drapes” on these “windows” that mediate the interior and exterior worlds.

The mural is also inspired by present-day Chinatown residents from Resident Leadership Academy, who worked with ponnapa to design the mural panels around the themes of "Solidarity,” “Tomorrow will be better,” “Community," and “Feeling at home.” We hope that this mural will help people feel more at home in Chinatown and that residents continue to actively steward the neighborhood and its future.

Thank you to our sponsors and partners!

Thank you to Cynergy Realty LLC for generously providing the mural site. The project is supported by Activating Boston, a grant program by John Hancock, coordinated by Healthy Places by Design. 

We would like to acknowledge the residents, past and current, who envisioned and co-created this collaborative mural: Amanda Chen, Shirley Deng, Edea (慧丽), Emme, Jennie Chin Hansen (陳禎娜), Gwen Liu (劉以寬), Matthew L, Maliya, Angela Soo Hoo, Jaycyn S, Jeremy Whitehead, Miaoling Xie, Manhua Xu (许曼华), Cynthia Yee (余麗馨), and others.