OUR STORY
TONGWOOD started with a question Yajun had been carrying for years: what would it feel like to be a student in a classroom where someone actually believed in you? Growing up in a rigid school system that overlooked individuality, she found her answer in Boston — through teachers who saw her, opened doors, and changed the direction of her life. She never forgot that feeling. And she decided to build a place that gave it to others.
How It Started
With Todd's support, Yajun took the idea from a dream to a real space. They found a Brookline storefront that had been sitting vacant for 13 years, rebuilt it from the ground up, designed the courses, built the website, and opened the doors. No outside funding. No shortcuts. Just the two of them, figuring it out as they went.
What We Teach
We believe art is more than technique. At TONGWOOD, students learn to observe carefully, think visually, and make decisions about their own work. The goal is not a perfect painting. It is a student who knows how to look at the world differently — and feels confident enough to show what they see.
Independence
We built TONGWOOD from the ground up — transforming a space vacant for 13 years into working studios, designing every course ourselves, and building everything you see today. It has never been easy. But independence gives us something that cannot be bought: the freedom to do things the right way, even when the right way is harder.
FROM TWO TO A TEAM
In our second year, TONGWOOD grew from just the two of us into a team of more than ten. Each person who joined brought something new — different backgrounds, different strengths, different ways of seeing. We are still learning from each other every day.
Family First
Even while building TONGWOOD, Yajun and Todd never lost sight of what mattered outside the studio. Time with their cat Fufu. The simple pleasure of making something. The balance of being partners in life and in work. It is a balance they try to bring into the studio too.
More Than an Art Center
Over time, TONGWOOD became something we did not fully plan for. Families started recognizing each other in the hallways. Students started asking their parents every week when they were coming back. Adults started showing up on weeknights just to make something and meet people. It became a community — not because we designed it that way, but because that is what happens when a space genuinely welcomes people.
We Are Still Building
Many years in, two locations, a team we are proud of, and a community that keeps growing. We do not know exactly where TONGWOOD goes from here. But we know why we started, and we know what we want every person who walks through our door to feel.
Welcome. We are glad you found us.
