Mindy Luo, Visual Media Editor
Senior Mindy Luo has spent her high school career utilizing her artistic skills as a vehicle for her commitment to various social justice movements.
Luo began traditional realism painting from the age of 7 at a bilingual art studio above her favorite childhood Chinese restaurant in Richmond, California. “My mentor was a Chinese woman who really helped me cement my Asian-American identity through my practice,” said Luo.
In her freshman year, Luo won the Congressional Art Competition, a government-run event that fly the top contenders to Washington D.C. to hang up their art in the US Capitol. “My painting was about the historical Pride parades in SF. The story behind it is really actually about addressing homophobia in the Asian community. It was a very sensitive topic for my family, so my initial aim for the painting was to mobilize a conversation between us.”
Luo also co-founded a podcast called 2AM Takeout that tackles Asian-American issues and youth activism as well as creating infographics for its Instagram account. “The podcast is a big passion project of mine and my friends who host the podcast with me have all poured their heart and soul into it,” said Luo. “I watched a ridiculous number of YouTube videos to teach myself how to do low-budget marketing, graphic design, and use GarageBand.”
