New London artist Juner Patnode, a native of China, has been teaching art from her studio on Granite Street. Her artwork is astonishing, and her work with students is remarkable.

And the artwork of the students has become very interesting.

One class of high school and junior high school students is competing in a national competition. To inspire her young artists without directing them, Juner simply asked them to choose a theme they wanted to express.

Her approach transcends emotions and the genres of art.

“Sometimes the meaning of art is equivalent to literature,” she says. “It is a true expression of children’s feelings and emotions.”

She insists that her role in choosing what to express and how to express it is not important. She’s just there to help with the techniques of painting.

By coincidence, two of her students, both from East Lyme High School, are of Asian descent. Though both were born in the United States, they were concerned about recent hate crimes against Asians. Both chose to resist the hatred with their art.

William Bao titled his piece, “We Are Part of Building America.”

“Before I created this piece of artwork, I had already learned the history of Asian-American immigrants from the class,” he says. “They first came to America in the mid-1800s and have played a vital role in America’s history, such as the construction of the transcontinental railroad. However, at the same time, the Asian-American immigrants were facing numerous discriminations.”

Bao cited the Page Act of 1875, and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, both of which, he said targeted Asian Americans and made them feel as if they didn’t belong.

He also noted more recent acts of discrimination related to the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, when Asian Americans took the brunt of some Americans’ ire for its apparent origin in China.

“I wanted to address this rising issue through my artwork to make people realize that we are also Americans who made and are making contributions to this country,” Bao said. “We all make this country better and stronger!”

Rose Zhou’s “Life’s Puzzle” is a clear depiction of the strength of unity.

“Whenever I start out with a drawing idea,” she says, “the drawing will never be exactly what I planned it out to be. The combination of my ideas as well as some input from my art teacher combine to create a beautiful masterpiece.

“For this drawing, ‘Life’s a Puzzle,’ I originally just wanted to convey my own personal life as a puzzling experience. I especially wanted to include a marching band, as I am drum major. School is also a huge part of my life, as education comes first before many things, which led to our discussion of incorporating discrimination. Those three hands became the center of my drawing. Without cooperation and acceptance of each other, many things in a community, especially a school cannot be done.”

Glenn Alan Cheney lives in Hanover.