As part of the long-standing exchange program between Missouri State University and Tainan National University of the Arts (TNUA), two artists from Taiwan — Yi Hung Chang and Yi Ping Ku — spent the Spring 2025 semester working alongside faculty and students in the Department of Art and Design. Their presence brought fresh energy and new perspectives to the studio spaces on campus.

Missouri State’s partnership with TNUA began informally in 2001 and was officially recognized by the Education Abroad program in 2014. Since then, 31 students have participated in the exchange, gaining firsthand experience in new artistic settings and cultural perspectives. The program continues to foster creative dialogue and collaboration between the two universities, enriching both communities through shared learning and making.

Yi Hung Chang

Chang, who specializes in metal raising, said he was impressed with the department’s metals studio. His interest in the exchange program stemmed from a love for adventure and a desire to experience life in a new culture.

“Even the smallest aspects of daily life and ideas can become precious memories,” he said.

While at Missouri State, the openness of student-faculty relationships Chang encountered impressed him. “The relationship between teachers and students is very equal, which is quite different from the more hierarchical dynamic often found in Asian culture,” he said. “For me, that’s a refreshing experience that allows ideas to come out naturally and freely.”

Although he didn’t lead formal workshops, Chang emphasized the natural collaboration that occurred in shared studio spaces. He hopes to carry back what he described as “the bold and open creative spirit” he experienced in Springfield.

Yi Ping Ku

As a ceramics graduate student, Ku came to Missouri seeking artistic growth through exposure to a different environment. During her stay, she had an exhibit at Springfield Pottery, explored the metalworking studio and engaged in interdisciplinary critiques to acquire new techniques and ideas outside her primary medium.

For her art, Ku draws inspiration “from plants and architecture to everyday public utilities like fire hydrants. I believe these subtle environmental differences have influenced the local students’ choice of colors, inspiring me to rethink the possibilities of color in my own work,” she explained.

Ku also described how navigating a new language helped her clarify her artistic intentions. “This pushed me to reorganize my thoughts,” she said. “It became a kind of self-decoding exercise.”

In Taiwan, she often felt like she was “groping through fog” when explaining her work. In Missouri, the need to communicate clearly pushed her to examine the core of her practice and question “why do I make this work? What is my relationship to it?”

Her experience during the exchange helped Ku see her art from a new perspective and break through creative blocks. “I’ll miss the moments of making and being here more than I can say,” she said.

Photos courtesy of the Department of Art and Design.

News edited by the Reynolds College Communications Team.

Sam Barnette is a writer for the Department of Art and Design. She holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from Missouri State’s Department of Communication, Media, Journalism and Film. She is working toward an MS in Data Science and Analytic Storytelling at Truman State University.