As customers walk in and out of a popular Vietnamese market in City Heights, they stop and stare at the parking lot floor.

There, residents find the latest art installation of “Little Saigon Stories,” an ongoing program focusing on the stories of the local Vietnamese-American community.

Inspired by the 2 million refugees who after 1975 boarded ships and boats to escape the fallout of the Vietnam War, the 120-foot-by-30-foot mural stands out among the asphalt and cars at Sin Lee Food’s parking lot.

It’s a painting of a 66-foot long ship, like the ones used to transport refugees, floating atop words written in white and blue, symbolizing the waves and the generations that came after. The words are in English because the children of Vietnamese immigrants were commonly taught to speak only English in an effort to assimilate to their new home.


Artist Shinpei Takeda said the words tell the stories of youth forming an identity as second generation Vietnamese-Americans.

The mural is semi-permanent, and with time it will be erased by the people and cars that go over it.

For Takeda, that’s an important aspect of the project.

“The whole idea of this is not just to set it in stone but to talk about things that we don’t often talk about,” said Takeda. “Hopefully it adds to the conversations about what it means to be Vietnamese.”


The Little Saigon Stories project began in 2017 and was funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. It is facilitated by the Media Arts Center San Diego in collaboration with the AjA Project, Little Saigon Foundation and the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association.

The project organizers have worked with City Heights youth for almost two years, conducting interviews with community members to capture first-hand stories of Vietnamese refugees and immigrants. They also bring attention to the stories of second and third generation Vietnamese-Americans, sharing the stories in a series of public art installations, with the mural at Sin Lee Food as the latest project.

Earlier this year, the project launched at Fair@44 as a pop-up exhibit of photos, stories and videos collected by participants of the project in City Heights. It was followed by a series of workshops and lectures to increase dialogue about Little Saigon Stories.

Takeda, the artist, also is co-founder of the AjA Project, a photography program for refugee and immigrant youth.


His initial idea was to cover sidewalks in the Little Saigon Cultural and Commercial District with depictions of stories of Vietnamese-Americans who reside in City Heights, but he did not have permits required by the city.

Instead, Andy Tang, owner of Sin Lee Food offered his lot for the project. Tang’s uncle was one of the many people who fled on a ship to the United States, which took in about 1 million refugees.

Over eight days, Takeda and volunteers power-washed the lot and used road paint to create the image of the ship

Sin Lee Food is in the heart of Little Saigon. Tang said he appreciates the boat concept but, he said, some of his older clientele is not entirely engaging with the project.


Tang said they see the mural but don’t understand that it’s about them. Tang would like to create something, like a pamphlet, to help his customers understand that the mural is about them and their family history.

Tang said the mural depicts the trials and tribulations of parents and grandparents who sacrificed everything for a better life. It is not something they are used to celebrating or bringing attention to, because for them there was no other option.

“How do you bridge the gap between old school Vietnamese people and younger people?” Tang asked. “For parents or grandparents it was natural, like breathing, and even though they don’t want attention to it, it should still be celebrated.”

Natalia Valerdi-Rogers, education and community productions manager with the Media Arts Center San Diego, said closing that gap is especially challenging in the Vietnamese community because oftentimes there are language barriers between generations.


It also takes time to develop trust in the community. she said; and the key to addressing that gap is to show them the power of media and then allow the community to tell their own stories.

The mural is part of a larger strategy to activate the community, said Beryl Forman, marketing and mobility coordinator for the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association. The Boulevard plans to continue engaging with Sin Lee Food and other businesses to create gathering places that allow for more stories to be shared of the community, she said.

Another installation is also available for viewing at a vacant storefront on the corner of 30th Street and El Cajon Boulevard in North Park. Photos and written stories of the Vietnamese-American community in City Heights are on display.