A Tale of two cities: In memory of Mr. James Fang — Chair of the San Francisco-Shanghai Sister City Committee

Yesterday morning, I was saddened and shocked to learn that Jame Fang, Chair of the San Francisco-Shanghai Sister City Committee, passed away on Friday.

I still vividly remember when we met at the US-China Relationship Summit in San Francisco last year, where James was the host of the event. His dedication towards building the US-China friendship and exchange, advocating communication, understanding, and mutual respect, for a forward US-China relationship, resonated with me.

Since then, I got to know a bit more about James through work, while he encouraged me to create art pieces to celebrate the 40th-Anniversary celebration between San Francisco and Shanghai Sister Cities in 2020. James started this initiative 40 years ago in San Francisco, as he has a special bond with both cities: He was a Chinese-American born and raised in San Francisco, both his father and wife were born and raised in Shanghai. One of his major life purposes was being a bridge between these two cities, and the two nations — the US and China. He believed that my art could capture both cities’ spirits and bring people together to celebrate their unity.

To inspire me, James gifted me a book from the 30th-Anniversary of San Francisco and Shanghai Sister Cities. From which, I learned a lot of history between these two beautiful cities that are both dear to my heart. I still remember when I saw the cover for the first time, it brought me to tears: My hometown, Shanghai, in the bottom, and a place called home, San Francisco, on the top.

I have been fortunate enough to get to know him and his family a little bit more. I enjoyed hearing his childhood growing up in San Francisco as a Chinese-American, his memory of his favorite places to visit from my hometown Shanghai, and those loving anecdotes between him and wife Daphne, who was born in Shanghai. When he showed off the flower arrangement his wife made for her in his office or recalling his mother’s favorite animal, he laughed like a little kid.

With James’ encouragement, I created these new art pieces below:

1. China — California: 2nd & 5th Largest Economies in the World, inspired by the Great Seal of California.

2. 40th-Anniversary Logo of San Francisco and Shanghai Sister Cities: The Phoenix & Magnolia Flower (Inspired by Symbols of the City of San Francisco & Shanghai).

I created the above designs as part of the 40th-Anniversary of San Francisco and Shanghai Sister Cities’ cultural exchange campaign art. They were about to be applied to campaign collaterals such as posters, scarves, T-shirts, bags, and printed books. I was looking forward to seeing my design being worn by delegates from California to Shanghai, and late 2020 for the Chinese delegates to California to strengthen the economic and cultural exchange between people in both nations. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, these events were canceled, and the artworks I have created, with James’ kind encouragement and support, never got the chance to be published, until today.

Today, I would like to finally share these art pieces I spent months creating, with the world, in memory of James Fang:

Thank you, James, for your devotion to bridging the gap between the two nations. Thank you for your guidance and inspiration. Thank you for believing in me and letting me discover the higher purpose of my being, and allowing me to realize why I was born in Shanghai and eventually moved to San Francisco.

Even though we know each other rather briefly in person, your presence and work profoundly impacted me. You have brought out this new realization in me:

I moved to San Francisco 5 years ago from Sydney on a mission to bridge the gap between art and tech, knowing that I can contribute to the tech community as an artist, but then over time, I realized there is a bigger mission. After meeting James, it got intensified:

To bridge the gap between China and the US, Asia and the rest of the world,

or rather,

the East and the West.

Thank you, James, you will be missed. And your dedication and work towards building the US-China friendship and exchange, advocating communication, understanding, and mutual respect, will be carried forward. Rest in peace.

**********************

昨天上午，获悉旧金山-上海姐妹城市委员会主席方以伟James Fang先生于上周五去世，我深感悲痛。

我还清楚地记得，第一次在去年在旧金山举行的中美关系峰会上认识James。他是那次活动的主持人。James对建立中美友谊和交流，倡导沟通、理解和相互尊重，促进中美关系向前发展的愿望和前景，使我深有同感。

自此，我在设计创作促进中美关系的艺术作品的同时，对James有了更深的了解。他鼓励我为2020年旧金山和上海姐妹城市40周年庆典创作一些艺术作品。40年前，James在旧金山发起了这一倡议，由于他对上海和旧金山两座城市特别的亲情。他是在旧金山土生土长的华裔，而他的父亲和妻子都在上海出生长大。他毕生的贡献之一就是成为这两个城市，以及中美两个国家之间的桥梁。他深信，我的艺术作品可以捕捉到这两个城市的精神，并将人们聚集一堂，共同携手远航。

为了给我更多创作灵感，James赠予我一本《旧金山和上海姐妹城市30周年纪念册》。从中，我了解到这两个美丽的城市之间的源远流长的历史和友谊，如获至宝。还记得我第一次看到此书的封面时，不由得潸然泪下：书的下方是我的出生长大，魂牵梦萦的家乡 — — 上海，而书上方是我现在的所在地， 另一个难以割舍的家乡 — — 旧金山。

我有幸对James及其家人有了更多的了解：听他讲述作为一个华裔美国人在旧金山长大的童年，和他对父亲及妻子的家乡上海的美好回忆。当他在办公室里得意地展示妻子为他亲自做的插花作品时，或是谈及他母亲最喜爱的小动物时，每次都笑得合不拢嘴，开心得像个小孩子。

James鼓励我创作了下面这些标志性的艺术作品。

中国-加州：世界第二和第五大经济体，灵感来自加州大印。

2. 旧金山和上海40周年徽标（灵感来自旧金山的凤凰和上海的白玉兰城市标志）。

我创作了上述艺术设计作品，作为旧金山和上海姐妹城市40周年文化交流活动的标志。它们原本会被运用到40周年庆典的广告宣传品上：海报、围巾、T恤、包和印刷书籍。我也非常期待看到我的设计能随同加州代表赴上海交流，2020年底，中国代表会来到加州，也能穿上我的设计，加强两国人民的经济和文化交流。但遗憾的是，由于COVID-19新冠病毒的原因，这些活动均被取消，因此我也一直没能够将这些注入大量心血，也得到James指点的作品，公诸于世。

今天，我决定大家分享这些我花了数月时间创作的艺术作品，借以纪念James Fang方以伟先生。

感谢您，James，谢谢您为中美友好作出的努力。感谢您给予我的信任与启发。尽管我们彼此认识的时间相当短暂，然而您的工作使我意识到我出生于上海，来到旧金山的深层使命：

5年前，我从澳大利亚悉尼搬赴旧金山，我原以为我的使命是在艺术和科技之间架起一座桥梁。我意识到，作为一名设计师，我能用创意为科技界做出贡献。但随着时间的推移，我意识到了自己肩负着一个更大的使命。遇到James之后，就更加坚定了这个想法：

为中国和美国，亚洲和世界其他地区之间的交流和发展架起更多的桥梁。

或者说，

架起更多东方和西方之间的桥梁。

感谢您，James。您的工作将被发扬光大。愿您安息。