Curator Janet Oh facilitates a discussion with Erika Chong Shuch of For You Performance Collective and Cathy Michalec, executive director of Little Brothers -- Friends of the Elderly, around the topic of elder isolation and community ties during a pandemic. They will also share the collaborative process of engaging elders with artists for the Great AAPI Elder Print Off, an ongoing hybrid creative exchange and conversation project.

Erika Chong Shuch is a performance maker, choreographer, and director interested in expanding ideas around how performance is created and shared. Erika’s most recent body of work is presented through For You, a performance making collective that Erika founded in 2016. As a response to worldwide shelter-in-place ordinances due to COVID-19, and with awareness that many elders are at risk in terms of infection and the compounding hardships of isolation, For You launched Artists & Elders, a project that brings artists and elders together for shared creative exchange.

Cathy Michalec has been a nonprofit professional for over 20 years. She is the executive director of Little Brothers -- Friends of the Elderly (LBFE), a non-profit in San Francisco, whose mission is to relieve isolation among older adults. During the pandemic, Cathy and her team have provided over 10,000 hours of phone support to the older adults they serve. Cathy lives in Oakland with her husband, Jon, and their dog, Koda.

Janet Oh is a Bay Area-based visual and performing arts curator and occasional musician. She earned her BA at Northwestern University and MA at Columbia University. Currently she is Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art and Programs at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.