OKEMOS, Mich. — Okemos twins Max and Louis Boyang are taking the art world by storm winning all sorts of national and international awards, but what they are doing with their art makes them this week’s Good Neighbors.
The 17-year-old brothers are working on one of their latest projects at MSU Abrams Planetarium, where their art will become part of an exhibit in the fall.
The twins' art is incredible, but their hearts are what really make these brothers stand out. Max says it all started when the pair experienced the loss of a good friend.
“After one of our friends passed away from brain cancer, it showed us how pertinent of an issue pediatric cancer is and youth cancer is in general,” Max said.
That loss became their inspiration.
The twins got involved with the nonprofit Joey’s Wings, which helps to fund research on kidney cancers affecting children and young adults.
“Our first solo exhibition, we donated a lot of the proceeds to the Joey’s Wings Foundation. And in 2020, we also helped to design the logo for the 5k run that they do annually," Max said. "Then, this year we also designed their logo.”
Vivian Dwyer is the teen's art teacher. She says the twins are the epitome of what a good neighbor is.
“I nominated them as Good Neighbors because they do things for everybody around. They have completely different styles. They have completely different abilities. One can't do what the other one can, but put together, they can do anything,” Dwyer said.
As for what’s next for the twins, they just wrapped up a youth art competition and are now in the process of creating a calendar with the art pieces created by kids across mid-Michigan. They plan to sell the calendar as a fundraiser for Joey’s Wings.
Max says, since September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, the Boyang twins are also working with Joey’s Wings to ship 2,000 origami cranes to mid-Michigan.
“We will put them up inside the planetarium and then make them glow in the dark. So, I think it'd be a really cool thing,” Max said.
The piece of art honors the lives of the approximately 2,000 children lost to cancer every year in the U.S. and will be on display, along with the twin’s art, at the Norma Gray Gallery in Brighton. Eventually, the display will move to the MSU Planetarium.
We want to say thank you to Okemos artists Max and Louis Boyang for using their talent to not only create amazing works of art but for using that talent to help others.
