Throughout February, students in Dr. Weirong Yan-Schaefer’s Chinese language courses had their artwork displayed at the Schweitzer Brentwood branch of the Springfield-Greene County library in Springfield, Missouri.

Faith Sheridan, Audrey Roney, Lauren Bleau, Ella Hemingway and Ally Vestal had their works on view in the exhibit. They are enrolled in Schaefer’s Chinese Reading and Composition (CHI 312) and Intermediate Chinese (CHI 202) courses.

Schaefer is a senior instructor of Chinese and Japanese languages in the Department of Languages, Cultures and Religions (LCR).

Project blends language and art

Blending language learning with personal creativity, the students designed artwork incorporating Chinese language and Chinese New Year elements. The artwork ranged from Chinese characters to lotus flowers and New Year’s zodiac signs.

Junior modern languages major Lauren Bleau is in Schaefer’s CHI 312 class. Her project, “The Year of the Horse with Chinese characters,” helped her learn more about the Chinese New Year.

“I loved getting to use art as a way to learn. It made me more interested in learning,” she said.

Students must learn a significant number of Chinese characters in these classes, Schaefer said. They also gain a deeper understanding of Chinese culture through immersive assignments like the Chinese New Year art project.

Schaefer got the idea for the project from her Fun with Kanji (JPN 311) course. In that class, students created artwork entirely from kanji characters.

“Their creativity was impressive,” she said. “Some created kanji maps, some designed flowers made of characters, and some formed complex images using only kanji.”

This inspired her to try the same approach in her Chinese language classes.

Learning Chinese characters poses challenges

Learning Chinese characters presents one of the biggest challenges to her students, Schaefer noted.

“Because characters are very different from alphabet‑based languages, students often spend many hours practicing handwriting and memorization,” she said. “However, I wanted to give students a more creative, enjoyable and cultural way to engage with characters.”

“I enjoyed the opportunity to try calligraphy and to use my Chinese vocabulary in an art piece,” said Faith Sheridan, a physics major and Chinese minor. A student in Schaefer’s CHI 312 class, Sheridan said she appreciated how her project, “Happiness in Chinese character,” pushed her to think about Chinese characters differently.

Freshman modern languages major Ella Hemingway, a student in Schaefer’s CHI 202 course, spent nearly three hours on her project, “Lotus full of Chinese characters.”

“It helped me to practice and memorize my characters,” she said. “I feel like it’s a great way to study, and I like it.”

How the Brentwood Library exhibition developed

The students’ art was first displayed at this year’s Chinese New Year celebration at Missouri State. Their work received such strong and enthusiastic responses on social media that Schaefer decided to share their work with the broader Springfield community.

Schaefer already had her own artwork on display at the Schweitzer Brentwood Library, so she contacted branch manager Katy Pattison to see if they would replace her current exhibit with the students’ artwork instead.

“The library has displayed Dr. Schaefer’s work on many occasions and at several branches over the years, including a small pop-up display of her work in January 2026,” Pattison said. “We were delighted to host the work of some Missouri State students.”

Schaefer and the Brentwood Library have already reserved January and February 2027 for a combined exhibition of her artwork and her students’ Chinese New Year art projects.

“Double happiness”

The student exhibit was stationed outside Pattison’s office. She said she has enjoyed observing staff and library patrons stop to study and discuss the pieces.

“For patrons, this exhibit offers an opportunity to learn about and appreciate Chinese New Year traditions through the creativity of local students,” she said. “For Missouri State, it showcases student talent and highlights the university’s engagement with the broader community.”

Schaefer agreed. “My goal is to help educate the Springfield community about Chinese New Year culture and to promote our Chinese program through visible, community‑centered cultural engagement,” she said.

For junior Chinese major Ally Vestal, the class project was both enjoyable and educational. “I found it a fun way to practice writing while being creative,” she said.

Her project, “Double Happiness,” was especially joyful, she added. It captured how studying Chinese feels to her.

Study Chinese @ Mo State

Photo credits: Weirong Schaefer and Katy Pattison.