HELLO FAMOUS SHANGHAI
What an amazing view of today’s Shanghai!
Shanghai is one of the world’s busiest seaports and a major industrial and commercial center in China. It leads as a global financial, trade, and shipping center, and it ranks among the world’s largest cities by GDP and population. Mega-innovative Shanghai is also the world’s second-largest city by scientific outputs, ranking just under Beijing, which ranks number one.
As I began researching for my 3-month artist’s residency at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai, I soon realized that I wasn’t just going on another fabulous travel adventure.
It became apparent that I had been gifted with the very rarest of opportunities to write and paint about Shanghai at a time when China and its truly astounding 21st-century contributions would forever be written about in world history.
When I was a university student at American University in Washington, D.C., I took a yearlong course where we read everything from Plato to John Locke to Karl Marx and beyond. I was taught to read with an open mind and learn.
Without the usual Western fears or prejudice—and keeping an open mind—I must say that once again, China is showing the world that long-term planning, strategic thinking, and steady leadership are powerful tools for a nation’s progress.
For a foundational understanding of China’s thoughts and policies regarding what would lead to the manifestation of these awe-inspiring accomplishments, I highly recommend reading all the 600+ pages of XI JINPING, The Governance of China, V, Foreign Language Press, Beijing, 2025.
It’s an excellent read, and it helped me understand many of the 5-year plan steps taken to make all this smart city technology and sustainability become a reality.
HELLO HUANGPU RIVER
Flowing north through Shanghai is the Huangpu River. It is the last major tributary of the great Yangtze River before it empties into the East China Sea.
Qiantan Leisure Park, a revitalized waterfront park directly on the banks of the Huangpu River
Historically, along this river, Shanghai began as a small fishing village and market town. In the 19th century, Shanghai gained global prominence through its domestic and foreign trade and its favorable port locations.
Like many countries around the world, especially in the 20th century, rapid industrialization led to pollution becoming a significant problem; however, flowing directly from China’s central leadership in the 21st century, today Shanghai has become a city with a vision to promote “ecological civilization.”
What is ecological civilization?
Integrated into China’s policy, ecological civilization is a societal model prioritizing coexistence between people and nature. All along the Huangpu River, industrial brownfields are being transformed into a green, people-oriented waterfront.
As an artist preparing to paint Shanghai’s smart city technology and sustainability, and preparing in advance by seeking out visuals to learn from, it was not at all difficult to find an abundance of real-world examples.
According to AI, “Shanghai is undergoing significant ecological development, shifting from rapid economic growth to an ecological civilization focus, emphasizing green infrastructure, urban forestry, wetland restoration, new energy vehicles, green buildings, and biodiversity conservation through green networks, despite challenges from past land reclamation and ongoing urbanization. Key initiatives include creating vast parklands, implementing low-carbon policies, promoting circular economy practices, and integrating nature into urban design to improve air/water quality and resident well-being.”
Here are some photos I downloaded from my Adobe Stock subscription. I’m still here in Northern Michigan (USA) and dependent on stock photos, but I will be taking lots of pictures once I arrive in Shanghai for my 3-month stay, starting in February 2026.
Highway into Shanghai, with the red China Art Museum in the background.
Shanghai and the Huangpu River
Greenery along the Bund, a historically protected older district in Shanghai. My artist residency will be at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel, located on the Bund and along the Huangpu River. Shanghai is a super safe and friendly city, so I plan to take my morning walks here.
As much as I love learning from photos, I don’t usually paint from them. My process is to physically visit and experience different locations.
For me, I need to understand a location’s history (and reading and photos initially help), get to know its personality, and then try to connect with its spirit/soul.
I did this in the painting Sunshine Rising, which accurately captures many land locations in Northern Michigan. Along the shores of Lake Huron and inland, there are bursts of flowers. The soil is rich and the stems somewhat sparse, but there’s a gentle, delicate beauty all around. It’s a place to relax and experience sunshine and happiness.
Sunshine Rising
Locals in this geographic area easily recognize their land’s particular personality and spirit in this art. From an online gallery in Paris, France, this painting sold within a week or so to a business owner I did not know, right here in Northern Michigan.
The day after it sold, a retired engineer, building a new home in Northern Michigan, saw the painting on one of my Facebook posts and asked to buy it. (I told him I’d make him another one. LOL!)
The art itself has also been appreciated internationally. As soon as it was made public, it was included in the Fragments Of The Present Curation by a curator in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France.
Beach Time Pleasures
Here is another painting, this one is an abstract inspired by water movement and a geographic location. It was included in the Tides and Traces Curation, Dubai, UAE.
When I get to Shanghai, I will be looking for specific locations, including ones along the Huangpu River, that speak to me artistically. (I’m sure there will be too many to pick from.)
My goal will be to paint evidence-based design floral Impressionism unique to Shanghai, and also to paint abstract art inspired by Shanghai’s many innovative and truly awe-inspiring technological and sustainability achievements.
I recently watched an amazing video on the China Daily news website where Shanghai moved an entire historic building complex using advanced robots. In 2025, Shanghai moved and then put back in place a 7,500-ton historically significant Shikumen-style complex in order to build an underground infrastructure.
Now, that’s preserving heritage, while enabling new development, and demonstrating amazing innovation for urban renewal!
To learn more about me and my art, click here: DOROTHEA SANDRA ART
I have been given the great honor of participating in the SWATCH ART PEACE HOTEL artist residency program in Shanghai, China. From mid-February to mid-May 2026, I will be staying at the hotel, where I will receive living and art studio space.
My delight and focus will be to combine science and art by painting smart city technology and sustainability accomplishments throughout beautiful Shanghai and other super fabulous places in China.
Many people have expressed a desire to follow these adventures. If you’d like to come along online, please sign up below.
HELLO CHINA
Evidence-based design, smart city technology, sustainability, and art in Shanghai, China.
Hello Everyone! So many of you have been asking me for a blog series about my adventures in China. Here it is! Today’s blog is the first one, with many more already scheduled to come. ENJOY!
Today’s blog is about who I am and why I am preparing for a 3-month painting and writing stay in Shanghai.
As promised, in these blogs, my focus will be on fabulous China, evidence-based design, smart city technology, sustainability, and art.
HELLO SWATCH ART PEACE HOTEL
In 2025, I was awarded one of the world’s most prestigious artist residencies. For three months, from mid-February 2026 to mid-May, I will have the great honor of staying at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai, China. In my application, I wrote that I wanted to paint and write about evidence-based design, beautiful Shanghai, and its remarkable smart-city technology and sustainability achievements.
My core motivation for going was to learn and exchange. I am an internationally minded person with a keen interest in Shanghai and the exciting developments in China.
As an artist, I thought it would be super fun and happy to capture Shanghai’s beauty through floral impressionism using modern evidence-based design techniques. Evidence-based design uses credible medical and scientific research study results to inform design.
I am evidence-based design trained and certified through The Center For Health Design. In 2024, I was interviewed by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for my art and book 100 Days Of Happy Happy Art, Evidence-Based Design, and in 2024 and 2025, my art appeared in and on the cover of Healthcare Design Magazine.
Here are two photos of the evidence-based design paintings I submitted as part of my application for the Swatch Art Peace Hotel Artist Residency. This first painting is called Abundant Happiness. I was so pleased and honored when the art curators used it as the Spring 2025 digital shopping entrance photo to Condé Nast’s lovely United Kingdom-based magazine, House & Garden.
I was also delighted in 2025 when it got included in the Art Of Feeling Good Curation by Galeria Zunino in Sevilla, Spain.
Abundant Happiness, 36”x36”, is an acrylic painting on gallery-wrapped canvas, which recently sold to a buyer in Hong Kong.
Healing Abundance
Healing Abundance is another evidence-based design painting I submitted as part of my application. Not long after I finished painting it, it got sold through a gallery in Paris, France and then shipped to a television/film company in Hong Kong with channels in mainland China, Macau, and other parts of Asia.
In both paintings, I did something unusual.
I presented them like a bouquet, but then rooted them in soil.
I had my research-based/evidence-based design reasons for doing this.
Flowers rooted in soil represent life and its continuation. Cut flowers, which are typical in a bouquet, will eventually wither and die.
In evidence-based design, the viewer’s state of health and happiness should always be kept in mind. The psychological impact between a cut bouquet of flowers and flowers rooted in soil is the difference between life and death.
In this work of art, I chose life.
I am what is called a polymath painter; in addition to evidence-based design florals, I am also the creator of an abstract art series called Smart City Art. This series was created to reflect and promote smart city technology and sustainability thinking.
In 2025, I was the featured artist at the 2025 SRI Sustainability Research and Innovation International Congress in Chicago, USA. These abstract paintings were part of the exhibit.
Here are visuals of some of the other paintings I submitted as part of my residency application to receive this AMAZING, FABULOUS, and ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL opportunity in Shanghai.
Old City Bravely Transitioning To Smart City
In this vibrant acrylic painting, I immersed myself in the transformative energy of a city evolving into a smarter, more dynamic space. Using abstract and expressionist styles, I captured the chaos and excitement of urban renewal. My brushstrokes intertwine old architectural forms with new digital symbols, suggesting a seamless blend of tradition and innovation. This piece aims to evoke hope and the pulsing rhythm of progress.
Pretty City Art
In this vibrant swirl of emotion and color, I've channeled my deepest joy and curiosity about the urban landscape into each stroke. Utilizing acrylics, I created an abstract, expressionistic celebration of city life, capturing its rhythmic chaos and vibrant diversity. This painting bursts with energy and colors that dance together. It’s perfect to invigorate any space with a spirit of creativity and inspiration.
Smart City Green
In creating this piece, I aimed to express the vibrant dynamism of urban life, intertwined with the pulse of nature. The abstract swirls and explosive color use depict a thriving metropolis alive with energy and movement, while symbols suggest technology's interplay with a green, sustainable future. This painting captures the essence of chaos and harmony, urging viewers to reflect on our complex relationship with the environment and technology.
To learn more about me and my art, click here: DOROTHEA SANDRA ART
What is the title of my next blog? It’s appropriately called HELLO FAMOUS SHANGHAI!
When I see a location as awesome and beautiful as this one, I often think of all the people, today and throughout the ages, who helped create such abundant wonders.
Smart and Sustainable Cities and China
Continuing on my Smart City and Sustainability artistic adventures, and in preparation for my 3-month stay in Shanghai, I have been doing an abundance of research on China.
When I first told people here in the United States that I was going to paint in China, many responses were: “What do you want to do that for?” and “Are you sure you will be safe?”
Separating myself from the naysayers—who I assumed only listened to one heavily biased news/commentary channel—I pressed on.
Both intellectually and artistically, what I discovered was truly fascinating and refreshingly delightful!
When I first started painting my Smart City Art Series, created in 2024, my main focus was on capturing cities in motion through abstract art. I didn’t realize this at the time, but what I had created was an overall, general view of a fun, dynamic city in motion.
Happy City In Motion by Dorothea Sandra. In creating this painting, I embraced the chaos and beauty of motion, infusing my canvas with the energy of a bustling cityscape. Utilizing bold acrylic strokes and an abstract expressionism style, my artwork erupts with vibrant colors and dynamic shapes that capture the perpetual movement and rhythm of urban life.
In Happy Green Cities Of The Future, also part of my Smart City Art Series and a featured painting at the 2025 Sustainability Research and Innovation International Congress in Chicago, I used vibrant swirls of color and form to reflect a vision of connectivity within urban life. Bright blues, passionate reds, and lively yellows dance together, depicting energetic city centers that are safe and welcoming and harmonize well with nature. This painting celebrates the fusion of progress and environmental stewardship, aiming to inspire a brighter, greener future in every location it graces.
"In Pretty City Art, there is a swirl of emotion and color where I channeled my deepest joy and curiosity about the urban landscape into each stroke. Utilizing acrylics, I created an abstract, expressionistic celebration of city life, capturing its rhythmic chaos and vibrant diversity. This painting bursts with energy and colors that dance together, perfect to invigorate any space with a spirit of creativity and inspiration.
In August 2025, I was awarded a 3-month artist residency at the lovely Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai, China, beginning 2026 mid-February to mid-May. After immersing myself in my initial research for this 3-month stay, I soon realized that merely going out and about in Shanghai and other locations in China and merely painting them in the abstract would never capture the reality of what was actually happening in China.
What I discovered from this research is that there is a fabulous, awesome, and historically significant technological revolution happening in China—right now!
Through smart planning and implementation, China has transformed from a manufacturing hub to a global technological leader.
It has jumped to the forefront of telecommunications, e-commerce, and smart city development.
Not only has it built a generation of tech-savvy leaders ready to drive global innovation, its smart city expertise, digital infrastructure, and AI advancements offer other nations rapid urban transformations.
“China’s approach to smart cities and technology is revolutionizing not only its own future but potentially the future of urban life around the world.” (Smart Cities, China’s Model Of Success by Eduardo Moreno L)
What I have also come to believe is that—before I paint Shanghai and certain smart and sustainable locations in China—I first want to understand these locations from a point of historical and scientific depth and knowledge.
Unlike a tourist on a week’s hurried vacation taking photographs, I don’t just want to go to China and paint its buildings and surface structures.
I want to capture, through abstract works of art, beautiful Shanghai and other locations and the smart city technology and sustainability vibrancy and life—happening right now—deep inside the soul.
In addition to scientific books about smart city technology and sustainability, my latest readings include Shanghai tourist guides, “The Yellow Emperor’s Classic Of Medicine, A New Translation Of The Neijing Suwen With Commentary by Maoshing Ni,” and “Smart Cities, China’s Model Of Success” by Eduardo Moreno L.
I am not leaving until the middle of February 2026, so if you have other recommended readings for me, I would be most grateful. Just send the titles to me at dorothea@dorotheasandra.com or contact me through my website at https://www.dorotheasandraart.com. Thank you!
Here are a few of the books I have been reading.
A NEW ABSTRACT ART STYLE RISING
SMART CITY EQUALITY by Dorothea Sandra, EDAC. Featured at the 2025 Sustainability Research and Innovation International Congress in Chicago.
Really? What makes this art so different?
It’s clean! It’s fresh! It has a science-based dopamine-triggering happy abstract style!
There is no universal objective criterion for judging abstract art; however, critics and enthusiasts can use several analysis approaches based on the artwork’s formal elements, the artist’s intent, and the viewer’s personal experience.
Certified evidence-based design artist, Dorothea Sandra, takes the latest scientific evidence and blends it with abstract art through a new art series. The intent of this art series, called SMART CITY ART, is to connect smart technology and sustainability science with happy dopamine-triggering evidence based design science and art.
Simply said, how is this done?
SMART CITY EQUALITY by Dorothea Sandra
At the 2025 SRI Sustainability Research and Innovation International Congress in Chicago, Dorothea Sandra's abstract paintings from the Smart City Art series were on display. Scientists and researchers gathered from around the world to speak on and discuss many of today’s topics in their fields. What were so many of them saying?
“The science is already here, but the information desperately needs to get out and be heard.”
Dorothea Sandra’s featured Smart City Art series at the 2025 SRI Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress, Chicago, USA.
Smart City Equality, the painting below, was a featured piece at this congress. Evidence-based design artist Dorothea Sandra takes the latest scientific evidence and blends it with abstract art.
ARTISTIC MERIT OF THIS ARTWORK
Skilled art techniques were essential to create this 24” x 24” work of art. The shapes, colors, and lines in the painting SMART CITY EQUALITY were arranged on the canvas to create a cohesive and visually pleasing (dopamine-triggering) experience. Composition and balance, color and value, line and shape, and texture were also successfully demonstrated.
Looking closer, especially at the symbology and iconography, the artwork shows a clear sense of purpose. It features, supports, and promotes the concepts of smart city technology and sustainability.
The emotional impact is unusual and perhaps even unique among many modern works of abstract art. Using knowledge gained from being EDAC, evidence-based design trained and certified, Dorothea Sandra drew from her background to deliberately and strategically create positive, dopamine-triggering happy emotions in viewers.
The formula of SMART TECHNOLOGY KNOWLEDGE + SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE + EVIDENCE-BASED DESIGN + ABSTRACT ART TECHNIQUES = SMART CITY ART SERIES was used throughout this artwork.
SCIENTIFIC MERIT OF THIS ARTWORK
The concepts of equality and sustainability are deeply intertwined. Sustainability science focuses on achieving a just and thriving world for all, now and in the future. Achieving environmental sustainability is possible through addressing social equity, as environmental burdens and benefits are disproportionately distributed.
According to China Daily. com, “Thirty years ago, 186 countries met in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the first Social Summit for Social Development. The gathering was the largest meeting of world leaders ever at the time. By the end of the summit, their agenda was clear: the challenges faced by our societies are global and so are the solutions.
In response, governments vowed to put people at the center of global development. They recognized that social justice must be the foundation for economic progress if progress is to be sustainable. It means ensuring that people, regardless of gender, nationality, background or place of birth, have the right to live in dignity, with equal opportunities to work, thrive and succeed. Societies built on fairness work better, trust more and grow stronger.
The consensus of the summit became the cornerstone for the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Since 2015, the SDGs have been the blueprint for achieving a socially just, peaceful and sustainable world. The deadline for their realization has been set for 2030.”
Price is not the prime consideration.
I kept the prices for the paintings in this series deliberately low. My primary purpose for creating this art is to celebrate and promote knowledge and favor for smart and sustainable cities in the future, not make a big art sale.
Price: $650
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For reduced International Shipping, please contact me at dorothea@dorotheasandra.com.
Inspiration: Evidence-based design for healthy cities
Category: Abstract Expressionism
Size: 24” x 24”
Medium: Premium acrylic paint on gallery wrapped canvas
To purchase this painting click here: https://dorotheasandraart.com/shop-/p/smart-city-equality
Here’s a little video featuring today’s art that actively promotes SMART and SUSTAINABLE CITIES today and in the future.
ENJOY!
I have been given the great honor of participating in the SWATCH ART PEACE HOTEL artist residency program in Shanghai, China. From mid-February to mid-May 2026, I will be staying at the hotel, where I will receive living and art studio space. My delight and focus will be to paint smart city technology and sustainability accomplishments throughout Shanghai and other super fabulous places in China. Many people have expressed a desire to follow these adventures. If you’d like to come along online, please sign up below.
A NEW ABSTRACT ART STYLE RISING
Fresh art style uses the latest scientific evidence and blends it with floral and abstract art.
Really? What makes this art so different?
It’s clean! It’s fresh! It has a dopamine-triggering happy style!
Evidence-based design artist Dorothea Sandra takes the latest scientific evidence and blends it with floral and abstract art.
Take a look at the first page of a recent magazine article about this rising art style.
In 2024, my Smart City Art series was born, and by 2025, it was featured at the 2025 SRI Sustainability Research and Innovation International Congress held at the Sheraton Grand Riverwalk Hotel in Chicago, June 2025.
Smart City Art series at the 2025 SRI Sustainability Research and Innovation International Congresss in Chicago.
ARTISTIC MERIT OF THE ARTWORK
In this 15-Minute Walkability painting below, which was also featured at the 2025 Sustainability Research and Innovation International Congress, I went deeper into the rhythmic pulse of urban life, where swirls of vibrant paths represent the bustling walkability of a smart city.
Each stroke and color choice pulsates with the dynamic interplay of technology and human connectivity, embodying the chaotic harmony of city living.
It’s a visual symphony that invites viewers to explore an abstract yet deeply interconnected world.
This painting brings an energetic and thought-provoking perspective into any space, enhancing the environment with a sense of modern vitality and colorful complexity.
It’s clean! It’s fresh! It has a dopamine-triggering happy abstract style!
15-Minute Walkability is a painting inspired by the science of walkability. It is a work of art that conveys messages, emotions, and ideas. Although an abstract, it does not lack a sense of deliberate decision-making.
SCIENTIFIC MERIT BEHIND THE ARTWORK
The science of 15-minute walkability is the concept that residents should be able to access their daily necessities and basic services within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from their homes. This human-centered approach to living aims to reduce car dependence, promote healthier lifestyles, improve environmental sustainability, and foster stronger communities by integrating amenities and green spaces into neighborhoods.
“With 70% of the world’s population expected to live in urban areas by 2030, cities have an increasingly important role in shaping human health, quality of life, and happiness. Mobility—the ability to move around freely and easily—is integral to the intrinsic value of a city. The renaissance of sustainable urban mobility has led to the reimaging of urban landscapes and urban areas to reclaim the streets and public spaces for people.
Encouraging walking and physical activity improves not only human wellbeing and health of cities but also manifests social, economic, environmental, and political benefits.”
This painting is no longer for sale. During the 2025 SRI congress, I told the University of Illinois I would donate any painting I brought with me to Chicago. 15-Minute Walkability was the painting they wanted.
I have been given the great honor of participating in the SWATCH ART PEACE HOTEL artist residency program in Shanghai, China. From mid-February to mid-May 2026, I will be staying at the hotel, where I will receive living and art studio space. My delight and focus will be to paint smart city technology and sustainability accomplishments throughout Shanghai and other super fabulous places in China. Many people have expressed a desire to follow these adventures. If you’d like to come along online, please sign up below.