Aidan Choi: Bringing together art, policy and public health to create positive change

Art as a vehicle for storytelling, advocacy, community connections

When Choi debuted "The Move on Chinatown" in 2024, the Providence community was invited to engage with the project through an installation at the Trinity Repertory Company and an event at the Providence Public Library. Supported by a Brown Arts Institute grant, the project grew out of a collaboration with Choi's mentor, Jeffrey Yoo Warren, a Providence-based artist and researcher he met through a course as a first-year student.

"The research ultimately asks, 'Who is included and who is excluded in narratives of urban progress and modernity?'" Choi said. "It's a question, I would argue, as relevant a century ago as it is today."

Choi also wrote his thesis and drew a book-sized comic about Providence's Chinatown, a neighborhood that existed downtown until 1914. The research conveyed in his comic will be preserved at Brown's John Hay Library, which acquired Choi's work last May to add to its collections.

"Aidan's comic stood out to me because it was a great demonstration of primary source research integration," said Jasmine Sykes, the library's head of research services.

Choi said he chose a comic format because he wanted to bring together histories scattered across different collections and "make them feel alive."

"It's a full-circle moment that this work is preserved alongside some of the sources that made it possible," he said. "I hope someone else can encounter it, reinterpret it in their own way and continue the conversation into the present."

Building toward a career in public health, public policy

Choi is now focused on advancing his knowledge through the rigorous curriculum of the dual-degree program offered through Brown's School of Public Health and Watson School of International and Public Affairs. He began a fellowship with the People, Place and Health Collective at the School of Public Health in July and introduced himself to the team of researchers and staff by presenting on his art and archival research.

"That experience was really meaningful and helped me break the ice with the team," Choi said. "It was really motivating for me as well, to continue to think about the connections between my undergraduate training and the work I'm focusing on now as a graduate student."

At the collective, Choi is working with researchers to develop and implement an outreach program to inform Rhode Islanders impacted by recent significant federal changes to Medicaid eligibility, including new work requirements and immigration status restrictions.

Choi said Brown's Open Curriculum allowed him to make deep connections as an undergraduate among different academic areas, which helped inspire him to pursue an MPA/MPH degree.

"I would describe the Brown educational experience, in and out of the classroom, as transformative," said Choi, who received Brown's Royce Fellowship for community-engaged research in 2025. "It allows us to go through many iterations of ourselves."

Beyond advocacy and visual art, Choi also builds connections through poetry by participating in spoken-word poetry nights in Providence.

"Anyone can walk in and talk about anything from heartbreak to what's going on with their job, and that level of intimacy with what people were experiencing in Providence became part of my education," Choi said.