Alumni household celebrates father with images exhibit at ULM

Published February 19, 2026

CAPTION: Pictured L-R: Scholarship recipient Jacob Chambers, ULM President Dr. Carrie L. Castille, Anna Tan, Hualian Liu, Xiaoan Wang, Dr. Jun Tan 

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MONROE, La. – A brand new images exhibit is now on show in ULM’s Walker Hall – Through the Lens of Tianyu Wang: Shaanxi Province within the Sixties-2000s. This exhibit celebrates and honors Tianyu Wang, an esteemed Chinese photojournalist. 

Mr. Wang is intimately linked to ULM by means of his daughter, Xiaoan Wang, and son-in-law,
Dr. Jun Tan. In summer time 2025, the Tan household created a memorial scholarship in Mr.
Wang’s honor, the Tianyu Wang Endowed Scholarship in Communication. This scholarship
helps an upperclassman pursuing a level in communication with pursuits in photojournalism.  

“I see the facility of images and my dad’s contribution within the discipline of photojournalism.
I wish to share his ardour for images and his lifelong work with a larger viewers.
In my dad’s personal phrases, images presents a technique to ‘keep in mind our good historical past in
order to encourage us to make progress sooner or later,’” Xiaoan recalled. 

To proceed his legacy, the household, in partnership with the ULM Foundation, is exhibiting alternatives
of his work at the side of the Chinese New Year. Through the Lens of Tianyu Wang: Shaanxi Province within the Sixties-2000s options eighteen pictures that documented each day life, cultural traditions, and
landscapes whereas China was present process a interval of dramatic change. The Tan household
invitations viewers to discover the exhibition as a technique to interact in cross-cultural and
intergenerational dialogue. 

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Thursday, February 12, 2026. Community arts
advocates, ULM administration, and staff gathered to have a good time this momentous
event.  

“This exhibit is precisely the place it must be within the entrance to Walker Hall, the place
our college students, college, and employees will get to view this nice work and the historical past
behind it, and the way masterfully it’s executed,” mentioned ULM President Dr. Carrie L. Castille.
“We’re very grateful to the Tan family and very honored,” she added. 

The images exhibit will run by means of May 15, 2026. Hours of operation are Monday
by means of Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to five:30 p.m., Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 

“We are deeply grateful to the University of Louisiana at Monroe and the ULM Foundation
for serving to us honor Tianyu Wang’s legacy by means of this exhibition and the endowed
scholarship. Together, they replicate his dedication to training, mentorship, cultural
understanding, and accountable storytelling, and we hope his work continues to encourage
studying and significant dialogue locally,” mentioned Xiaoan Wang.  

Learn extra concerning the Tianyu Wang Endowed Scholarship in Communication here.  

Xiaoan Wang acknowledged that the Tan household selected to arrange the picture exhibit to amplify
the impression of the Tianyu Wang Endowed Scholarship. The household invitations the ULM neighborhood
in addition to the bigger Monroe/West Monroe neighborhood to attach with historical past and tradition
by means of Mr. Wang’s lens. “We needed to honor my father’s perception that images might educate,
protect historical past, and encourage progress,” mentioned Wang.  

The pictures within the exhibition have been taken in Shaanxi Province, China, the place Mr. Wang
was a lifelong resident, from the Sixties to 2000s. Mr. Wang traveled extensively all through
Shaanxi Province over the course of his profession, utilizing his digicam to doc the individuals,
occasions, and landscapes round him and seize 1000’s of pictures. The pictures
within the exhibit are divided into three classes: News Photography, Arts and Culture,
and Landscapes. The household says they curated a group of pictures in these three
classes to exhibit how Mr. Wang understood images as each documentation
and storytelling.  

“We hope viewers will get a glimpse of the individuals, locations, and moments captured in
the pictures, and we hope it can spark curiosity for viewers to study concerning the fashionable
and historical historical past of China. We additionally hope it can encourage viewers to understand images
as each an artwork type and a historic report and to contemplate the impression of pictures
on how audiences replicate on and interpret their significance and which means,” mentioned Xiaoan Wang. 

A studying useful resource web page was developed to supply historic context and encourage additional exploration. 

About Tianyu Wang 

TIANYU WANG | 王天育 

Tianyu Wang was an award-winning photographer, writer, and journalist (born 1939,
Baoji, China – died 2024, Xi’an, China). Over the course of his decades-long profession,
which spanned information and documentary movies, photojournalism, and information reporting, he
held posts together with Senior Photojournalist on the Shaanxi Daily, the Vice President
of the Shaanxi Art Photography Society, and the Vice Chairman of the Shaanxi Branch
of the China Photographers Association. 

Tianyu Wang was a self-taught photographer, refining his approach and artistic strategy
by means of experimentation and hands-on apply. He was enthusiastic about images
and believed images might educate, protect historical past, and encourage progress. He
was a robust supporter of upper training and mentored different aspiring photojournalists
who went on to be profitable. 

Over the course of his profession, Wang took tens of 1000’s of pictures and edited and
revealed greater than 50 editions of pictorial magazines. Many of his works have been exhibited domestically
in China and showcased overseas. He additionally penned articles on the idea and apply
of stories images, which have been revealed by retailers such because the Shaanxi People’s
Fine Arts Publishing House and lauded by his friends as “a selfless contribution to
China’s information images business.”  

Wang additionally authored books showcasing pictures and textual content to signify the wealthy tradition,
pure surroundings, and fantastic thing about Shaanxi Province in China. His publications obtained
reward from critics as wealthy and detailed information that seize the interweaving of
the traditional and fashionable traditions of the area in a colourful, encyclopedic epic.