NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — MOSAIC at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) is hosting cultural organizer and multimedia visual artist Ngoc-Tran Vu as the 2026 Benedetti Artist in Residence for the spring semester.

 

Vu will support creative advocacy in North Adams through Creative Sector Advocacy Week with MASSCreative, taking place March 2-6, 2026, as well as her opening lecture at noon on Feb. 12 at MCLA. Her residency will culminate in a public event and exhibition on May 14 at MOSAIC's Eventspace, located at 49 Main Street.

 

During her Benedetti Teaching Artist Residency, Vu will bring her practice into the classroom, studio, and wider North Adams community as a space for public memory making and creative civic engagement. Her residency will support the next advocacy phase of "1975: A Vietnamese Diaspora Memorial," an intergenerational, community-led public art initiative rooted in storytelling, healing, and belonging. 

 

According to a press release, Vu is committed to strengthening local networks, navigating resources with care and nourishments, while building new relationships that help move shared visions forward with accountability and clarity.

 

Through participatory gatherings such as memory mapping, story circles, and collaborative sessions, Vu invites students, local artists, and residents to explore how resilience, sustainability, and belonging live across generations. 

 

As part of the residency, she will also prototype interpretive approaches that can support long-term stewardship and community ownership of public memory work beyond Boston, where she was raised and is currently based.