Artwork by Deaf artist Jiayi Zhou will be for sale and on display.
Deaf-friendly music incorporating bass and reverberations will be performed by DJ Chris Nitti and classically trained musician Matthew Hemerlein.
About Jiayi:
Born and raised in Shanghai, China, prior to her arrival to the United States in 2004, Jiayi communicated only through her native languages, written Mandarin and Chinese Sign Language. She has since mastered English and American Sign Language, graduated from Gallaudet with honors in Graphic Design and entered a Master’s Program in International Development for People with Disabilities.
In Mandarin, Jiayi means excellence in art. Her parents had hoped Jiayi would become a pianist, but fate intervened and Jiayi became deaf from an unexpected accident. Her love of visual art was a direct result of her learning to express herself without sound. When Jiayi wanted to eat an apple but did not know how to ask for it and her parents struggled to deduct their daughter’s wishes, her mother encouraged her daughter to draw her desires. Jiayi drew the apple. Drawing thus became the primary mode of communication between Jiayi and her family. Over time, the color pencils and paper and the colors, lines and shapes they produced evolved from tools for expressing desire to tools for expressing feelings, conveying love and creating and celebrating beauty.