Free First Thursday - December

Zhonghe (Elena) Li is a Cambridge-based multimedia artist who bridges traditional Chinese papercutting with contemporary storytelling. Rooted in Taoist philosophy, her work explores balance, transformation, and humanity’s connection to nature. Through light, shadow, and delicate hand-cut forms, along with a pair of scissors, Li invites community members of all ages to come together—to slow down; reflect; and find peace within, a shared humanity between, and harmony with the natural world—much like the Gardner’s Courtyard itself does.  

She has received numerous grants and awards, including a 2021 Artist-in-Residence grant from Mount Auburn Cemetery, four grants from the Cambridge Arts Council, a 2022 Massachusetts Cultural Council Traditional Arts Fellowship, and a 2022–24 MCC Traditional Arts Apprenticeship. Li also collaborates with local communities, including Mass Audubon’s Nature in the City Program. More of her work can be found on Instagram: @hehe.li

Josh Knowles is an electric violinist, singer/songwriter, and composer based in Boston, MA. He brings an eclectic array of influences to his original work, continually striving to fuse his traditional foundation with modern songwriting, experimental studio production, and stunning live performances. 

An in-demand and versatile musician, Knowles has been featured on albums by The Front Bottoms, John Nolan, Taking Back Sunday, and An Horse; performed on stages for Barack Obama, David Letterman, and James Taylor; and frequently collaborates with Cirio Collective and Boston Ballet, with whom he has appeared on stage for historic runs at the Boston Opera House and the Lincoln Center in New York. He is currently a Neighborhood Salon Luminary at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, where he performs regularly.

Instagram: @joshknowlesmusic

Beth Mochizuki is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Asian American Ballet Project. She is a biracial Asian American from Clovis, California who studied ballet under Diane Mosier of New England Civic Ballet. Beth danced professionally for 20 years at companies such as Ballet Rhode Island, José Mateo Ballet Theatre, Ithaca Ballet, and State Street Ballet. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies with a focus on Performance and Representation from Tufts University, where she received the Ted Shapiro Prize and highest thesis honors for her paper “The Asian American Experience in Ballet.” Beth has taught ballet in New York, California, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, including at Tony Williams Dance Center (TWDC) where she is currently the Ballet Division Coordinator. She has staged classical repertoire at TWDC, School of Ballet RI, Dance Theater of New England, South Shore Ballet Theatre, and City Ballet of Boston, where she was the Ballet Master and later the Assistant Director of the Urban Nutcracker from 2013–2021. Beth founded AABP in 2022 and has staged excerpts from Sleeping Beauty and La Bayadère for the company. She is active in the AAPI and Boston arts community as a NACHMO Boston mentor, a Reagle Music Theater panelist, and an ASPIRE presenter. She is an alumni of NAAC Boston’s Mentorship/Sponsorship program and was featured in 2024 as an artist in WBUR’s The Makers series.

Instagram: @aabp.boston
Website: https://asianamericanballetproject.org/
 

Kathy Eow (she/her) is a writer and performing artist whose work is influenced by her experience as an adopted Korean American woman. Creative projects include Dear Mother, a music and dance short film centering transracial adoption, and Reclamation, a multidisciplinary experience exploring family heritage through an adoptee lens. Kathy’s community-focused work includes serving as vice president of Boston Korean Adoptees, Fundraising Committee Member of Boston Post Adoption Resources, and Outreach Coordinator for BAAFF. She is an alumnus of American Repertory Theater’s Arts & Cultural Organizational Management program with Harvard University and the Network of Arts Administrators of Color (NAAC) Boston’s mentorship program. Previously, Kathy was Associate Director of Institutional Giving at ArtsEmerson.