Through print and art, Corona del Mar teen aims to connect different generations
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The summer before she entered ninth grade, Phoebe Qiu spent a lot of time with her grandmother. They painted and danced together. They even put on a fashion show, dressing up in old scarves while her grandfather took photos.
“That was the first time I actually connected with my grandma, and I was surprised at how much fun we were able to have together despite being in completely different generations,” said Qiu, 16, of Corona del Mar.
It’s part of what helped her develop the column, “Generation Talk,” that she began in January for her Corona del Mar neighborhood magazine, Stroll Spyglass Hill, which is run by a neighbor and edited by Qiu. The goal of her column is to build a collection of conversations between two people from different generations. The conversations are transcribed in a question-answer format along with an illustrated portrait of the two interview subjects that Qiu does herself.
“When I was in ninth grade, I met my magazine publisher’s dad at a neighborhood picnic. He was 100 years old then — he’s 101 now,” Qiu said. “I learned that he was a World War II veteran. He also contributed to the neighborhood magazine — he had his own column called ‘Life in the Slow Lane,’ where he wrote poetry about life philosophies and aging. I talked a lot with him about his writing and even went to visit him at his house once. We became great friends.”
She said after getting to know the centenarian and reflecting on the experience with her grandparents, she realized that it is possible to connect with people in completely different generations.
“There’s a lot of talk about generation gaps,” Qiu said. “And while it is true that growing up in distinct time periods leads to a lot of differences between two people, I really believe that people have more in common than they think. I started this column as a sort of experiment to test this hypothesis. And so far, I’ve noticed that people from different generations have a lot to connect about. Conversations often go on longer than we all expect. It’s really heartwarming to watch.”
The conversations are published in the monthly magazine as well as her website, phoebeqiu.com.
“I have interviewed six pairs of people so far. This group includes next-door neighbors, Lyon Air Museum docents who have lived through World War II, a film director and local businesswomen. Recently, I interviewed my dad and my maternal grandpa,” she said.
She tries to pair the subjects of the Q&As along a common theme, she said, like “societal expectations of women, immigration, World War II, growing up with technology, etc.”
“I’ve interviewed people who have immigrated to America from many different places,” she said. “One participant from the Silent Generation was born in Germany during World War II, and another participant from Generation X emigrated from China. They were in different conversations and had very different circumstances, but both of them talked about how they came to America for a better life. They thought that being in America would give them the best chance to compete and build a good future.”
She said as technology expands, people don’t sit down and talk face-to-face enough.
“Bringing people together to have in-person conversations is something that we need to do more often,” she said.
Qiu said the conversations have never turned heated or contentious.
“Everyone is very polite,” she said. “People want to express themselves, but they also know that they’re there to listen.”
She said she’s looking to turn the column into a podcast so that there can be recordings and videos of the conversations.
“The stories that people have to say about their life experiences are very valuable,” she said. “They need to be saved and shared in our society.”
Brenda McCroskey, Qiu’s neighbor in Corona del Mar’s Spyglass Hill community, participated in Generation Talk with her 93-year-old mother. McCroskey said it was enjoyable hearing her mom’s thoughts on motherhood.
“Our local reporter, Phoebe Qiu, just came over and held a fun conversation with us,” said McCroskey, 67. “She had great thought-provoking questions, so we basically just had a dialogue.”
Corona del Mar neighbors Lore Waechter, and her husband, Fred, both participated in Generation Talk in separate conversations. Lore’s interview was with her daughter, Caryn.
“In our interview, Phoebe asked me several questions about expectations, which I answered in detail,” said Lore Waechter, 84. “I wanted to provide my children the best possible opportunities to be successful in life. I wanted to give them opportunities that I did not have when I was growing up. Times were different then, and definitely there were different expectations for women at that time. Every generation provides new opportunities. Our talk was a very good experience for me. It made me reflect on my life and family, the decisions I made along the way, which led to a fulfilled and happy life.”
Fred Waechter, 85, recommended his fellow Lyon Air Museum docent, Hal Marshall, who is part of the Greatest Generation (people born between 1901 and 1927), for their talk.
“The concept of comparing perspectives across different generations immediately struck me as a wonderful idea to spark engagement,” Fred said. “Sharing experiences and viewpoints between people of various ages seemed valuable, and in addition I gained insight into other cultures. After all, the United States is a melting pot of nations and traditions. I thought it was a splendid initiative.”
He said participating in Generation Talk helped him better appreciate the concerns, hopes, values and expectations of both younger and older generations.
“At one point, Phoebe’s mother joined the group, and we were able to have a rare discussion among four generations,” he said. “This experience also gave me another chance to talk about the Greatest Generation — great people, who persevered, struggled and often sacrificed lives.”
Qiu said this project has inspired thoughts of a future career where she can create content that gets people to share ideas and perspectives. She is also an artist. She has a custom portrait business called Art That Barks. She’s created more than 50 drawings and paintings of mostly dogs, some cats, a horse, a turtle and people, too. She also has a book titled “Mom, What’s Love?” that she said will be coming out on Amazon soon.
“My medium can be print, audio or art,” she said. “I haven’t decided on a specific industry yet. It could be entertainment, journalism or marketing,” Qiu said. “But I do know that I want to create content that connects people.”
