Betty Dragon: The Magic of Participatory Art, Concept by Irene Yu
Irene Yu is a belonging builder, connector, inventor, artist, educator, and cultural ambassador. Structural engineer by trade, Yu developed and implemented a concept that motivated community members to lead, organize, and participate in the Betty Dragon Project for Lunar New Year and is impacting over 6,000 Culver City community members to date.
In 2019, Irene Yu created Joan, a red and gold fabric body dragon for about 15 participants to use in their classroom celebration at Linwood E. Howe Elementary, whose mascot is the sea dragon. Since then, Joan’s body evolved to accommodate an entire class of students - the main feature of their all-school Lunar New Year Parade beginning in 2020. In 2024, Yu, now a parent at both Lin Howe and Culver City Middle School, wanted to include even more students in celebrating Lunar New Year. To achieve this goal, a collaborative participatory art project began. Yu developed a concept that included art from 4th and 5th graders from Culver City Unified School District’s five elementary schools with coordination facilitated by fellow parent Connie Wong. Over 1,000 students decorated donated comic book board from The Comic Bug, an Asian American owned Culver City small business. Yu then laser cut the boards into scale shapes to create Betty. Using a design that could be folded and collapsed like modular pieces, Yu assembled the scales onto lightweight webbing with a “backbone” of PVC pipe and hula-hoop ribs attached to an intricately carved cardboard head.
This collaborative project was paraded at each of the five Culver City Unified elementary schools and Culver City Middle School. Wong continued to liaison with each school site to schedule Betty’s appearances and recruit up to 30 adults to support assembly at each parade. We are so thankful to Yu, Wong, and hundreds of hands that have brought Betty to life and joy to all seven of our Lunar New Year parades. Betty concludes her 2024 tour on Friday, March 1st at La Ballona Elementary. After her last parade, we anticipate to display her at the Robert Frost Auditorium lobby where she will continue to delight guests.
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