Exhibitions / February 10, 2007

Gold Mountain (2007)

Artist Flo Oy Wong’s Gold Mountain, inspired by the stories of four notable Chinese Americans – Dr. Edna Mae Fong, Ming Nee Mah, Frank Fat, and Bill King, was an art installation created for “Whispers of the Past,” an art exhibition held from January 20 – March 24, 2007 at the Forty Acres Art Gallery in Sacramento, CA.

“Gold Mountain: Edna Mae Fong” scroll (2007) by Flo Oy Wong

“Gold Mountain: Edna Mae Wong” cabinet detail (2007) by Flo Oy Wong

“Gold Mountain: Bill King” scroll (2007) by Flo Oy Wong

“Gold Mountain: Edna Mae Fong” by Flo Oy Wong

“Gold Mountain: Frank Fat” scroll (2007) by Flo Oy Wong

“Gold Mountain: Frank Fat” by Flo Oy Wong

“Gold Mountain: Ming Nee Mah” collage (2007) by Flo Oy Wong

“Gold Mountain” Art installation by Flo Oy Wong

Matchbooks from “Gold Mountain: Frank Fat” by Flo Oy Wong

In her essay, On Voice and Memory: Flo Oy Wong, art historian Dr. Melanie Herzog wrote, “In Whispers of the Past, four installations Wong created in 2007, previously untold stories are revealed in visual form and accompanying text—like whispered, fragmentary memories buried and exposed over time. Wong sought to uncover the stories of key Chinese individuals in Sacramento and the Delta region of central California. Deeply honored to hear these stories, told to her by relatives of her subjects, Wong describes their reclamation as a process of “collaborative retrieval” in which these unspoken narratives poured forth “like a waterfall that has been sequestered in a teeny, tiny faucet.”

Dr. Edna Mae Fong (was the first Chinese female doctor in Sacramento. Flo’s installation for Dr. Fong included a collaged scroll of family photos, a chest of drawers with Fong’s medical instruments and supplies.

Learn more about Dr. Edna Mae Fong. “Overcoming Obstacles,” a story told to Wong by Edna Mae Fong’s daughter, Rebecca Strickland, which recounts the challenges faced by Fong both personally and professionally, as well as her achievements.

Read Overcoming Obstacles

Ming Nee Mah, was a well-known resident who operated Ming Mah’s barber shop in the Walnut Grove, California.

Dong-Sai Fat was born in near Canton, China in 1904. He came to the US in 1919, adopting his American name, Frank Fat. He opened his namesake restaurant in 1939 in downtown Sacramento, near the State capital. Known for quality food and service, the restaurant soon became popular with state legislators and lobbyists. In March of 2013, Frank Fat’s received the James Beard Foundation America’s Classics Award— an honor bestowed upon locally owned and operated restaurants that are the fabric of their community.

Learn more about Frank Fat:
Visit the Frank Fat Family Exhibit at Sacramento State University Library—part of a larger collection archived in the University Library Special Collections and Archives.

Bill King (1916 -2002), a third generation American-born Chinese from Locke, California, volunteered to fly for the Chinese Air Force in World War II and was assigned to the Chinese American Composite Wing (CACW) of the 14th Air Force. He was a highly decorated Flying Tiger pilot.

Learn more about Bill King:
China Insight, May 2016: From railroad workers to Flying Tigers: a legacy of progress by Carolyn Kuhn, Gene Chan and Bill Chen, page 10-11.