REDWOOD CITY – A 10-year-old girl named Dayanna stands frozen in a photograph, her eyes focused on the bracelet wrapped around her wrist.
A QR code next to the frame unlocks the story.
“I made this bracelet to remember my bunny,” Dayanna says. “If my bracelet could talk, it would say my bunny misses me.”
Dayanna’s image and recording are among two dozen people featured in “Objects of Belonging,” a multimedia exhibit created by San Mateo County Youth Arts Fellow Taryn Hwang.
“One of the things I love most about art and history," Hwang said, "is their ability to reveal the stories behind our lived experiences.”
For the exhibit, now on display at the Center for Creativity in downtown Redwood City, she invited people to pose with an object that holds special meaning and record a short explanation of why.
“Even though they were often very ordinary, the stories behind them were definitely extraordinary,” Hwang said.
The San Mateo resident is one of five San Mateo County Youth Arts Fellows who wrapped up a year of service. The program, administered through the County’s Office of Arts and Culture, gives one young artist from each supervisorial district the opportunity to design and lead a public arts project.
“What stands out to me is how these local high school students find ways to bring people together through art,” said Mara Grimes of the Office of Arts and Culture. “They’re creating spaces for people to share meaningful experiences through music, photography, writing and design.”
A closing reception for Objects of Belonging will be held at the Center for Creativity on Sunday, June 28, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Over the course of the 2025-26 school year, arts fellows received mentorship, worked with County staff and developed projects designed to engage their communities through art. In addition to Hwang (District 4), they are:
Kat Messner (District 1) developed Every Piece Matters, a community art project inviting participants to share experiences of being LGBTQ+ in the Bay Area hosted at the San Mateo Pride Celebration.
Jaydon Li (District 2) created Music for the Youth Mind, a workshop combining live classical music and dance/movement therapy to promote teen mental health awareness.
Anoushka Swaminathan (District 3) organized Writing Bridges, bringing artists of different ages and backgrounds together for a workshop, discussion and collaborative mixed-media art piece inspired by prompts centered on interconnection.
Ryan Chow (District 5) founded the For(e)thought Collective, a youth design and arts organization that published a magazine and encouraged young people to explore the future through art and design. Additionally, he created 1.0 Building Block, a curriculum to teach the fundamentals of design thinking with interactive lessons and activities.
At the Center for Creativity, Hwang’s portraits hang on a back wall. Next to each image is simply a name and QR code.
Veena, 49, holds mandala art and talks about “calmness and inviting peace on earth.”
Jackee, 43, holds a worn college ID that tells a story about a deceased parent.
Catherine, a 79-year-old Army veteran, holds a bowl used by her beloved 19-pound cat with huge whiskers.
And there’s Dayanna, who stares at the bracelet on her outstretched arm, the yellow beads standing out in an otherwise black-and-white photo.
“In 100 years,” she said, “I want people to know that this bracelet is important to me, because it reminds me of my bunny.”
Mara Grimes
Office of Arts and Culture
mgrimes@smcgov.org