Selected Works
The Cultural Harvest Gallery highlights selected student works that explore food, culture, memory, family, identity, and belonging. Through poems, essays, visual art, and photography, these pieces show how food can carry personal stories and cultural meaning across generations and communities.
On May 21, 2026, Cultural Harvest celebrated the World Day for Cultural Diversity by inviting selected work participants, their friends, judges, speakers, and community members to gather, share stories, and celebrate student creativity. Participants presented their works and reflected on the memories, cultural traditions, and personal experiences behind their pieces.
Featured Student Works
Eat, she says
Sarah Feng
In this poem, Sarah Feng reflects on the phrase 鈥淓at, she says鈥� as an intimate expression of care. Through repeated scenes of tiredness, happiness, anger, sadness, hunger, and stress, the poem shows how food can become a quiet language of family love.
Food, Family, and Belonging
Joyce Zheng
Joyce Zheng鈥檚 essay explores growing up between cultures through memories of picky eating, family expectations, school experiences, and Asian Student Union community. The piece connects food with cultural acceptance, family memory, and the process of feeling at home in one鈥檚 identity.
Visual Work
Sarah Feng
This handmade collage uses images of fruit, baked goods, and desserts to represent sweetness, memory, and care through food. The layered composition complements the written themes of Cultural Harvest.
A Tongue’s Journey 鈥� From Zhejiang to America
Vivian Xu Vivian Xu鈥檚 digital storytelling project, A Tongue’s Journey 鈥� From Zhejiang to America, explores migration, identity, and belonging through food. The piece follows a journey from Zhejiang to America, reflecting on how taste, spice, memory, and shared meals can become a map of cultural growth and personal transformation. 聽
Cultural Harvest Celebration
During our May 21 celebration, selected work participants and their invited guests joined Cultural Harvest judges and speakers to share their creative work in community. The gathering created space for students to speak about the cultural memories, family traditions, and personal stories that shaped their submissions.
Together, we celebrated the power of storytelling, food, and cultural exchange. The event also honored the students who contributed their voices to Cultural Harvest and helped build a shared archive of community experiences.
Cultural Harvest participants contributed photos, memories, and creative reflections to a shared photo wall celebrating the program鈥檚 workshops, selected works, and community gathering.
Acknowledgements
Cultural Harvest is deeply grateful to our judges, speakers, advisors, funders, and supporters for helping bring this project to life. We would like to thank the , the Mary Gates Endowment, Dr. Christine Stevens, Dr. Elaine Faustman, Tony Wilson, Nyema Clark, Dr. Ziyan Bai, and the CIRCLE Student Advisory Board for supporting our work and contributing to the growth of this student-led cultural storytelling initiative.
Their guidance, encouragement, and generosity helped create a meaningful space for students to share their stories, connect across cultures, and celebrate the role of food in shaping identity and community.
More Photos
Additional photos from Cultural Harvest workshops, student presentations, selected submissions, and community events will be added here as the program continues.
