Boston - On April 18, 2025, Governor Maura Healey unveiled a temporary art installment showcasing the talent and creativity of Asian American artists living in Massachusetts. This exhibition includes a wide range of mediums-including photography, embroidery and paintings-from artists of various Asian backgrounds. The exhibition, in partnership with the Mass Cultural Council, is displaying the work of Yu Cheng, Tira Khan, Timothy Hyunsoo Lee and On Kyeong Seong in the reception area of the Governor’s office through May 16.  

“This exhibition is a testament to the incredible contributions of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities to our state,” said Governor Maura Healey. “I am excited to have this exhibition on display for the thousands of visitors to our office, and I’m thankful to Mass Cultural Council for partnering with us to bring more of the people’s work to the People’s House.”  

“Art is a powerful medium for expressing the diversity and vibrancy of our communities and gives us an opportunity to expand the people represented at the State House,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. 

Since taking office, Governor Healey sought to expand diverse art on display in the Governor’s Executive Office Suite by adding Black Tie by Robert T. Freeman and At the Tremont Street Car Barns by Allan Rohan Crite, which are on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts. She has also displayed other temporary exhibitions in the Governor’s reception area, including celebrating Black History, Climate Month, Pride Month, the Cape & Islands, Hispanic Heritage Month, Native American Heritage Month and Women Veterans. The office also has on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Early Summer by J. Appleton Brown, Spring Hillside by J. J. Enneking, George Washington by Francis Alexander, Landscape by Leslie Prince Thompson and Showery May Morning, by J. Appleton Brown. 

Additional information about the temporary installments:

Yu Cheng was born in Harbin, China, and is now a full-time artist based in Quincy, Massachusetts. She works with oil, acrylic, and graphite to explore fleeting moments in everyday life, attempting to record the passage of time by capturing the beauty of the present. Cheng holds an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. Her works Art Studio and Girl in Red are currently on display in the Governor’s Office.

Tira Khan is an American photographer of Indian heritage who explores the meaning of family, the formal and informal moment, and the architecture of place. Khan has exhibited her work nationally and internationally in magazines, galleries, and festivals. Her series A Place I Never Knew was selected in 2025 for a Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant; in Photolucida's 2024 Critical Mass Top 50; and the 2021 Indian Photo Festival. Her images have been published in Vogue India; displayed in solo exhibitions at the Griffin Museum of Photography, The Allen Center in Newton, and the Boston Athenæum, where she was their Artist in Residence in 2022. Her photographs have been published in books, magazines, and newspapers, including Harper’s Magazine, Der Spiegel, Lenscratch, Musee Magazine, The Boston Globe, India’s News9, and The New York Times. Her images, This is Now, and End of the Alley, are currently on display in the Governor’s office.

Timothy Hyunsoo Lee is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice explores the relationship between bodies, borders and rituals. Born in Seoul, South Korea and living in Boston, he creates art that references fortresses, imagined landscapes, fleshy bodies, and the transient moment in-between, to highlight the tumultuous experiences of immigration, of othering, and what belonging means within these communities as a queer body. Timothy’s works have been exhibited widely at venues such as the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Orlando Museum of Art, the Studio Museum, The Wallach Art Gallery of Columbia University, The YoungArts Foundation Gallery and La Casa Encendida, with a public project with the MTA Arts & Design. His work The Cometboy as Iterations of a Thousand Anxious thoughts is on display in the Governor’s office. 

On-Kyeong Seong is a mixed media artist originally from Seoul, South Korea, who currently lives and works in Peabody, MA. She was an elementary school teacher in Korea for many years before coming to Boston to pursue her dream of becoming an artist. Seong immersed herself in art and culture by spending time in both Boston and New York City. She earned her MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and her BFA from Lesley University College of Art and Design in Cambridge. Seong’s work has been widely exhibited, including at the Newport Art Museum and Coastal Contemporary Gallery in Newport, RI; Wheelock College and Boston University; Kingston Gallery, Boston; the Brookline Art Center, Brookline, MA; Harvard University; and Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston and Cove Street Art, Portland, Maine. Her work Rooting through the Grid is currently on display.