Working in comics, illustration, design, animation, architecture, and multidisciplinary art, each artist brings a distinct creative practice and perspective to Moving Stories.

Moving Stories Artist Cohort Self-Portraits.

Monyee Chau (F + R Lines) is an artist exploring personal and collective healing through their lens as a queer Taiwanese/Chinese American, grounded in a belief in the power of storytelling and breaking bread as tools for community building and pathways toward justice and liberation. Working across comics, printmaking, ceramics, photography, and other media, Monyee's practice explores labor, diaspora, and collective care through work centered on healing and relationship.

For Moving Stories: Monyee will gather and illustrate stories along the R Line (currently Route 7), drawing on deep roots in the Chinatown–International District, as well as the F Line, which connects Burien, SeaTac, Tukwila, and Renton.

Monyee reflects, “Public transit is the intersection across neighborhoods, workers, families, and all of our histories.”

Clyde Petersen (D + E Lines) is a transgender Northwest artist working across film, animation, visual art, music, and installation. Clyde re-creates lost worlds and documents cultures largely erased by AIDS, capitalism, and gentrification, offering more equitable futures through the reexamination of overlooked histories. Their previous work with 4Culture includes Boating with Clyde at Gallery 4Culture and The Wild World of Pesticides, a stop-motion video commissioned for the King County Hazardous Waste Management Program.

For Moving Stories: Clyde's experience with maritime communities will inform research along the D Line, while an interest in the midcentury hotels and longstanding businesses that characterize the E Line will shape their exploration of that corridor.

Clyde observes, “The bus can be an anonymous portal, a way for a rider to travel to secret locations or discover new parts of a city, and in turn, new parts of themselves. I look forward to illustrating these adventures.”

Jonathan Ya’el Eden (A + C Lines) is a South African-American speculative writer and visual artist whose work explores monstrosity, liminality, and memory, with a focus on the experiences of trans and disabled people of color. He sees each act of creation as one of embodiment and resistance. Most recently, he illustrated the children’s book All of Us: A First Conversation About Disability (Penguin x Rise).      

For Moving Stories: Jonathan will focus on stories along the A Line, which connects the Tukwila International Boulevard Station and the Federal Way Transit Center, and the C Line, which connects South Lake Union and West Seattle—an essential route for him since his teenage years.     

He shares, “I’m moved by Moving Stories’ goals to use art as a means of deepening relationships with the people and places that make up our communities. Transit is unifying—it’s one of the few places where strangers converge, and I’m excited to explore the possibilities for connection within that.” 

Myra Lara (H + I Lines) is a Mexican American architectural designer, illustrator, cartoonist, and organizer. Their work explores the politics of the built and unbuilt in service of justice, self-expression, and belonging. Myra was born and raised on the border by the sea in Brownsville, Texas and has lived in Seattle since 2010. 

For Moving Stories: Myra’s fluency in Spanish and commitment to working across communities will inform research along the H Line, which runs from Burien to Downtown Seattle through White Center and Delridge, and the planned I Line (currently Route 160), which will connect Renton, Kent, and Auburn.     

Myra states: “Politeness curbs my curiosity every bus ride—so what a wonderful excuse this is to get to know you. Tell me a story! I would love to draw it so you can share it with your community.”

E.T. Russian (G + K Lines) is a multi-sensory artist and cartoonist whose practice engages sight, sound, and touch. Their work has been exhibited widely and is held in the permanent collections of institutions including the Library of Congress, the Wellcome Collection, the Washington State Convention Center, and the City of Seattle.

For Moving Stories: E.T.'s long-standing connection to First Hill, Capitol Hill, and Madison Valley will inform their approach to the G Line, while growing up on the Eastside provides a personal perspective on the future K Line, which will connect Kirkland and Bellevue.

E.T. shares, “The Moving Stories project excites me because I love public transit. It's the cultural lifeline of this area and connects all the neighborhoods. I grew up here, and I love drawing the places and people of the Pacific Northwest.”

Kiku Hughes (B + J Lines) is a Japanese American (Yonsei) comic artist and organizer born and raised in Kenmore. Her first graphic novel, Displacement (First Second, 2020), was an APALA Literature Award Honor title and an Eisner Award nominee. Kiku’s work explores concepts of inherited memory and the power of community action, ideas that align closely with Moving Stories.      

For Moving Stories: Kiku will create graphic novels for the B Line, which connects Redmond and Bellevue, and the future J Line (currently Route 70), which will link the University District and Belltown via Eastlake and South Lake Union, corridors associated with student activism and political organizing. 

Kiku says: “This project called to me like no other! I’m a lifelong King County Metro rider, an avid local and community history buff, and someone who believes deeply in the power of comics to tell complex, often overlooked stories.”

Advisors

The artist cohort is supported by an interdisciplinary team of advisors whose expertise spans graphic design, comics, storytelling, publishing, and community-based practice: Jayme Yen, Jenny Asarnow, Tom Eykemans, and Tessa Hulls.