Professor Yuan Hongbin said that under the totalitarian system of the CCP and the tight media censorship, all artists of any discipline have to support the CCP in order to survive. Freedom is the source of true art, and no true art can prosper where freedom is suppressed. From this understanding, he believed that the arts in China died a long time ago. Yuan said: "These artworks depict the struggle between tyranny and the free spirit. From these bitter sufferings, the artists successfully show us the beauty of art. While the CCP has been boasting that China is in its best time in terms of human rights, these artworks open a crack in the mask of the CCP's tyranny. Through this crack, you can see the true situation in China and the ongoing human rights catastrophe." Professor Yuan hoped that people could sense the immortal human spirit from these artworks.

During the ceremony, practitioner Jane Dai and her daughter Fadu both spoke out to testify to the brutal persecution of practitioners.

The exhibition site

The exhibition site

This exhibition attracted many students, especially Chinese international students. One student said: "In China, the government always lies to us, all media are owned by the CCP, and they have been spreading propaganda to turn public opinion against Falun Gong. We don't know anything about what the government has been doing under the table. We have only learned the truth of the persecution from this exhibition, fliers we received on streets and some local news reports. As we have learned about the truth, we won't just listen to the propaganda any more. I feel that this exhibition is very shocking."

Another Chinese international student said: "From what I have learned in China, Falun Gong has always been depicted to be very bad. However, if what is shown by the paintings is true, the persecution is too brutal."

Many students said that they would bring their classmates so that they can learn the truth about Faun Gong.