(Clearwisdom.net) On July 4 and 5, 2002, Ms. Zhang Cuiying was invited to hold her personal painting exhibitions in the State of Indiana.
Painting exhibition at Purdue University
On July 4, Ms. Zhang's painting exhibition was held in Purdue University's Stewart Center.
Students, faculty, and staff from Purdue University visiting Ms. Zhang Cuiying's painting exhibition | Local TV station camera shooting the Press Conference |
At the opening ceremony, Ms. Zhang Cuiying talked about the persecution she endured during her visit to China. She was wrongfully imprisoned for over 8 months simply for saying, "Falun Dafa is good." She suffered both physical and mental torture that would be unimaginable for most people to imagine. During those 8 months, Ms. Zhang's daughter always woke up in the middle of the night, crying because she yearned for her mother. Ms. Zhang's father also often shed tears, not knowing how Ms. Zhang was doing in jail. His eyes were even strained due to crying. These experiences that Ms. Zhang endured allow many kind-hearted people to have a glimpse of the damage done to families by the Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Gong. Eight months later, with support and help from the Australian Government and people from all walks of life, Ms. Zhang regained her freedom. But in China, countless Falun Gong practitioners are still being imprisoned, beaten and tortured. Deaths caused by torture occur almost every day. Practitioners' families have been pulled apart. Ms. Zhang mentioned that she will sell one of her favorite works for charity. Half of the proceeds will be donated to the "911" Foundation to support those children who lost their parents, and at the same time call on all people to stop the Jiang regime's state-sanctioned terrorism.
Many Chinese and western people came to visit the painting exhibition. Major local TV stations, radio stations and newspapers also came to cover the story. Visitors highly praised Ms. Zhang's elegant, serene and exquisite artwork. They also had the opportunity to learn the truth about Dafa.
Painting exhibition at the Indiana Capitol Hall
On July 5, Ms. Zhang's painting exhibition was held at the Indiana Capitol
Hall. Major TV stations in Indianapolis gave detailed coverage of the event the
same day.
Government Official talking with Ms. Zhang Cuiying and
expressing his support to Falun Gong WISH (CBS) TV Station interviewing Ms. Zhang
Press Conference
During the exhibition, Ms. Zhang Cuiying also visited many major officials of the state legislature and the city government. She used her own experiences of returning to China to appeal for Falun Gong to explain in detail to the state officials about the great price that Falun Gong practitioners in China have been paying for their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She called on all kind-hearted people to urgently rescue and give help to the practitioners in China. A prominent official immediately wrote a warm welcome letter highly praising Ms. Zhang's art and the beauty she brought to Indiana. After attentively viewing Ms. Zhang's paintings, this official also chatted with us. He told us that he had been to Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province. After we told him about the severe persecution encountered by practitioners in Jinzhou, he said that he still has contacts with a few officials in Jinzhou and he would write to them. When reporters interviewed him, he said, "These people (Falun Gong practitioners) are fighting for their freedom of belief, which is also the foundation of our country. Their actions should be supported." Practitioners also demonstrated the five sets of Falun Gong exercises to media reporters and visitors.