I’m raising funds to create a bronze bust of Mr. Wong Kim Ark (WKA) for San Francisco’s Chinatown. WKA was the first individual to win official birthright citizenship in our nation when the Supreme Court decided in his favor in 1898 in The United States v. Wong Kim Ark. He was born and lived in San Francisco’s Chinatown (ca. 1873), not far from my sculpture studio. Emboldened by the Chinese Exclusion Act, The United States attempted to deport him in 1895, claiming that he was not a legal citizen. With the financial support of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in Chinatown, he fought deportation. The case escalated to the Supreme Court, and was decided in WKA’s favor, establishing birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment.

The story fascinated me when I first heard it, and I began working on this project right away. I’m planning on a full-scale portrait of WKA, including head, neck, and upper body. My 1/2 scale plaster model is currently on display for AAPI week celebrations at the Veterans’ Building in San Francisco’s Civic Center and will be shown throughout May 2026. At a time when the Supreme Court is set to reconsider this longstanding policy, I’m interested in humanizing the idividuals whose lives are affected by these changes. Regardless of the outcome, the story of WKA is an important one in our journey and development of national identity.

Here’s where the project stands: