YUL-SAN LIEM
Gallatin School of Individualized Study
Master of Arts, May 2011
Specialization: Art as a Tool for Social Change
Bio and Resume (.pdf)
Yul-san Liem is a social justice activist and artist whose work addresses issues of war, trauma and resistance. She is a member and leader of Nodutdol for Korean Community Development, a Queens-based organization dedicated to achieving peace in Korea and empowering the Korean American community. One of her earliest contributions was to help build the Korean Youth Action Program, which uses popular education to provide youth with a space to discuss the root causes of the struggles they face and build strategies for creating change within their communities.
Yul-san received a BFA from the School of the Visual Arts in New York City in 2002. From 2002-2007, she served as Nodutdol's Development Coordinator and Coordinator of its leadership body, raising over $530,000 to finance its work; developing local, national and international campaigns; and helping the organization build relationships with Asian American, African American, Latino/a and LGBT organizations. She currently represents Nodutdol in People's Justice, an anti-police violence coalition.
In 2003, Yul-san began work on Still Present Pasts: Korean Americans and the "Forgotten War", a multi-media exhibit that embodies stories of survivors of the Korean War and the legacies it has left for the Korean American community. A collaboration between artists, activists and scholars, Still Present Pasts is cutting-edge in its use of oral history, art, archival photography and text to create space for collective memory, healing and action. The exhibit has been on national and international tour for the past four and a half years. From facilitating its visioning process, to creating interactive art installations, to conducting curatorial visits and leading installation processes throughout the US and South Korea, Yul-san's role in Still Present Pasts has been and continues to be multi-faceted. She is currently developing Still Present Pasts into a virtual exhibit.
Through her work with Nodutdol and Still Present Pasts, Yul-san has developed a deep appreciation for the power of community-inspired, collective visioning and a dedication to developing innovative methods of artistic practice for social change. As a student at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, she examines historical and contemporary examples of progressive art movements and social change theory and practice in order to ground her next steps as an artist and activist. Ultimately, she hopes to develop a unique model of collaboration between community members, artists, scholars and activists and contribute to re-envisioning the role of art in creating social change.