Lynn Yarne

Lynn Yarne is a Portland-based artist and educator who uses animation and collage to explore neighborhood memory and public pedagogy. Her C45 project, Photos of Your Auntie Smiling as a Monument, features an installation and social dance workshops in Chinatown’s vacated Fong Chong restaurant that aim to pass down cultural traditions through joy rather than trauma. Working with elders, she invites audiences to learn Japanese Obon and soul line dancing. Accompanied by archival photos of historic joy, Yarne’s work complicates local narratives and brings new audiences to a neighborhood that deeply shaped Portland’s immigrant communities.