A Fresh Look at Creative Hub Worcester: Rediscovering the Chinese Empresses
When Xiang Li’s original silk paintings were first installed at Creative Hub Worcester in April, they helped bring warmth, history, and color into the gallery during the Hub’s opening season. After several months, we felt it was time to give the space a fresh look.
For this gallery refresh, we introduced a new selection of high-quality giclée prints on canvas from Xiang Li’s Chinese Empresses collection. Rather than returning to the historical figures we exhibit most often—such as Wu Zetian, Empress Dowager Cixi, and Lü Zhi—we chose to highlight empresses who are less widely known and less frequently shown in our exhibitions.
This decision reflects one of the central ideas behind Xiang Li’s larger body of work. She has painted more than 200 Chinese empresses because she believes history should not belong only to the most famous names. Each woman occupied a place in history, lived within a particular political and cultural world, and deserves the opportunity to be seen, studied, and remembered in her own way.
The new canvases brought an immediate sense of energy to the main gallery. Several visitors who walked by during the installation stopped to look more closely, and some initially believed the works were original paintings because of their vivid colors, fine details, and luminous surface.
That reaction meant a great deal to us. Xiang Li’s originals are painted in watercolor and mineral pigments on silk, and while nothing can fully replace the experience of viewing an original work, these carefully produced giclée canvases allow more people and more spaces to experience the richness of her art.
More Than an Installation
Over the past two or three years, art installation has become an important part of what we do.
We have learned how to plan a wall, select artwork for a particular audience, prepare labels and signs, and think about how each piece relates to the surrounding space. But installing an exhibition is never only about measuring walls or hanging canvases.
It also means being present.
People often stop while we are working. They ask about Xiang Li, her 37 years as a professional artist at the Palace Museum in Beijing, her techniques, the silk, the pigments, and the lives of the empresses themselves.
Whenever possible, I pause and answer their questions.
I have come to see these conversations as another kind of opening reception—often quieter and more spontaneous, but no less meaningful. There is no formal schedule, no announcement, and no expectation that someone must arrive at a particular time. A person simply walks by, becomes curious, and begins a conversation.
Artists often talk about “finding our audience,” as though the audience is always somewhere else.
But sometimes, they are already right there.
They are not only the people who purchase artwork. They are not only those who have time to attend an opening reception. They may be a visitor passing through the building, a staff member on a break, another artist working nearby, or someone who simply pauses in front of a painting and wants to understand more.
The challenge—and the opportunity—is to notice them.
Creative Connections at the Hub
Creative Hub Worcester makes these kinds of connections possible.
The building is not only an exhibition space. It is also home to a growing community of artists and creative professionals. The Hub is actively renting artist studios, and the spaces are filling quickly.
We love being able to meet visitors through our exhibitions, but we also value the opportunity to build relationships with the artists who work there every day.
At the end of our installation, we visited the studio of doll maker Denise Satterfield. Denise and Xiang connected immediately. Her studio was filled with personality, imagination, and handmade work, and what began as a simple visit became one of the most memorable parts of the day.
It reminded me how generative it can feel to be in a creative space together—not rushing toward the next task, not thinking only about promotion or outcomes, but simply being present and allowing a conversation to unfold.
These moments can lead to friendship, collaboration, inspiration, or sometimes just the pleasure of feeling understood by another artist.
That is part of what makes Creative Hub Worcester special. It creates room not only for artwork, but also for the relationships that grow around it.
We are grateful to continue sharing Xiang Li’s Chinese Empresses collection at the Hub and to introduce visitors to more of the women who inspired this extraordinary body of work.
The refreshed gallery is now on view at Creative Hub Worcester. We hope visitors will take their time, look closely, and perhaps discover an empress whose story they have never encountered before.
Visit the Refreshed Gallery
We are grateful to continue sharing Xiang Li’s Chinese Empresses collection at Creative Hub Worcester and to introduce visitors to more of the women who inspired this extraordinary body of work.
The refreshed gallery is now on view at:
Creative Hub Worcester
2 Ionic Avenue
Worcester, MA 01610
We hope visitors will take their time, look closely, and perhaps discover an empress whose story they have never encountered before. While you are there, explore the Hub, learn about its programs, and meet some of the artists helping this growing creative community come to life.
Bring Xiang Li’s Art to Your Space
Over the past several years, the Xiang Li Art team has developed extensive experience planning and installing exhibitions in libraries, museums, hospitals, galleries, cultural institutions, educational settings, and other community spaces.
- Voices of Strength: Xiang Li’s Original Paintings at Newton Free Library
- Chinese Empresses Arrive at Wellesley Free Library
- From Forbidden City to Cambridge Public Library: Artist Xiang Li’s Chinese Empress Paintings on Display
- Xiang Li Joins the Cambridge Science Festival – Exploring the Fusion of Traditional Art and Technology
We can help organizations select artwork from Xiang Li’s collections, determine the right sizes and arrangement for their walls, prepare exhibition signage and educational materials, and coordinate a simple installation process. Available collections include Chinese Empresses, Chinese zodiac animals, pandas, dragons, phoenixes, botanical works, and more.
Xiang Li’s original silk paintings may be available for select exhibitions, while our museum-quality giclée canvases offer a vibrant, durable, and accessible option for longer-term displays. The canvases can be carefully packaged and shipped to most locations throughout North America.
Exhibitions may also be paired with artist talks, book signings, family-friendly art activities, cultural programming, and multisensory experiences designed for visitors of different ages and backgrounds.
Whether you represent a library, hospital, gallery, school, community center, workplace, or another public-facing venue, we would be delighted to explore what an installation could look like in your space.
Interested in hosting a Xiang Li Art exhibition or discussing an art installation?
Contact the Xiang Li Art team to begin a conversation.
