Lana Yu, a Peekskill resident, educator, and artist – who created the prominent “What Matters?” mural on the outside wall of Peekskill’s Park Street Garage – is being remembered by those who knew her for her kindness, generosity, and talent.

Lana was described as a mixed-media painter and multidisciplinary artist who drew on her emotions and the physics of paint and materials to explore her relationship with herself, others and her environment.

The Peekskill community will be celebrating the life of Lana Yu on what would have been her 57th birthday, Saturday, May 16, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Hudson Valley MOCA, 1701 Main Street, Peekskill, New York.

Robin Kline, a Peekskill potter, recalled moving to Peekskill over a decade ago in what was a lonely first year. After participating in a holiday boutique, Kline was reached out to by Yu, who ended up purchasing Kline’s bowls and later invited Kline to a Chinese hot pot lunch with a group of her friends.

“Lana became my first friend,” Kline said. “She took private pottery lessons with me for about a year. We bartered a painting of hers which is hanging over my bed. She was very special. She was just a very special warm kind person. When you were with Lana you felt like you were really seen.”

Cristina Fagan, another friend of Yu’s, said she first met her at an open studio event years ago and instantly connected with her, taking one of Lana’s water coloring classes. The two shared a passion for art and Frida Kahlo, and would go to the Bronx Botanical Garden and Verplanck’s Kino Saito Arts Center together.

“She was an incredible giving person, very generous spirit, and was very thoughtful,” Fagan said. “Her heritage is Chinese so we shared many hotpot meals together. She had a very giving soul, a very kind person, very kind and generous. I’m at a loss because I loved her so much and she was so talented.”

Lana Yu was born with a twin sister in California on May 16, 1969. She graduated with a bachelors of art in design at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). 

An artist statement on ArtsWestchester reads: 

“After working as a graphic designer and creative director designing educational software and websites for almost twenty years, a life altering car accident put her life on a new path.  In search of a new home, the artist moved to Peekskill, New York in 2010 to be a part of an artist community. 

“She found herself looking out her studio window where she observed school kids walking home, seniors sitting outside and day laborers waiting for work.  She wanted to know the people she lived among.  In Peekskill, she discovered up-close what it is to live in a place of great diversity but also with social and economic challenges.  She wondered how art could transform a place and contribute to our understanding and appreciation of one another.  She began to get involved in public art projects with the community, including a mural about personal truth and a tree sculpture made of driftwood in honor of those affected by HIV.  

“In 2011, she conceived the What Matters project to give all people a voice in sharing larger views of life.  Her desire is to use art to engage all people in an act of personal self-expression, and not only those who consider themselves artists.  In doing so, we find ourselves and our connection to one another.  This project has brought together several thousand people in dozens of live events, installations, workshops and performances, over a six year period sharing responses to the question: What Matters?”

According to the Peekskill Arts Council, the “What Matters?” mural spans 28 by 10 feet on an exterior wall of the Park Street Garage, serving as a visual representation of the voices of over 11,000 diverse individuals who have participated in the project since its inception in 2011. The mural invites people of all ages, backgrounds, and cultures to share what matters most to them in life, capturing their reflections in both English and Spanish.

“It sounds simplistic to ask all these people in town, ‘What matters?’ But on the other hand it’s a pretty profound thing to do, to try to find shared values across the different parts of the Peekskill community,” Kline said.

“She was always interested in the community and the everyday person,” Fagan said. “She always wanted to have them express themselves in some way. It was part of her DNA, I think.”

Yu had a group of friends who called themselves “The Ladies of the Roundtable,” and would do activities together, such as celebrating birthdays , and going out to dinner and museums. Friends remember Lana for her thoughtful handwritten notes with drawings on them, parties, and dancing. Hawaii was a place that was dear to Lana’s heart.

Yu was known for giving to other artists, having housed Peekskill artist Gene Panczenko and his wife for ten days after a power outage in their home. She is also remembered for collaborating with other artists, such as with Karen Allen on the “Garden Passage” mural adorning the entrance to the Sun River Health Center in Peekskill.

When the news about Lana spread, Kline said that Livia Straus, Hudson Valley MOCA president and fiscal sponsor of Lana’s “What Matters?” mural, immediately offered to use the museum to pay tribute to Lana. It will follow a Zoom memorial that was held on Sunday, April 12.

“The people’s lives she touched really were very touched by her,” Kline said. “I really felt that even though some of us got to go to the online memorial that Peekskill as a community needed to have a way to gather and be together and honor her memory.”

Lana was known for her words, “Art is a way to understand ourselves and the world we live in more deeply.”

The tribute to Lana on Saturday, May 16, will feature several speakers sharing memories of Lana, a proclamation in her honor by the City of Peekskill, a slideshow presentation with photos of Lana, and homemade baked sweets as friends of Lana would bring when going to her home.

For further information about the memorial, contact Robin Kline at [email protected].