We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jeff Lambson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jeff thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Looking back on your career, have you ever worked with a great leader or boss? We’d love to hear about the experience and what you think made them such a great leader.

The best boss I ever had was Olga Viso. She was director at the Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the nation’s museum for modern and contemporary art in Washington, DC. I was fresh out of grad school and working as a temp in the museum library, filing books and helping curators with research. This was at the dawn of the internet, when it was mostly filled with AOL chat rooms and MySpace without much helpful information. Olga took me under her wing and provided opportunities for me to learn and grow. She recognized a young and naïve person who was eager to work and be part of the creative community. She went out of her way to involve me in exhibitions and projects she was working on, traveling to museums around the country. Her mentorship set me up for a career as a curator where I’ve been able to work with artists from around the world. Over twenty years later she has still been supportive of me and a mentor. It was probably extra work for her at the time, but she invested in me and sacrificed her own time to help me off the ground in an overwhelming and competitive field. She was a leader who cared about the institution and its mission, but also had great care for her staff and the people she served. Much of my career has been at university museums and galleries, and I’ve tried to follow the example she set to help students in their professional lives.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I owe much of my art practice to two women, my mother Susan and my spouse Ann Baier Lambson. When I was a child, my mom would constantly “drag” us to museums. At the time I was less than thrilled, but something must have rubbed off and her persistence had an enduring impact. Later in life when Ann and I were young newly weds, I was making the difficult decision switching from pre-dental to art history in college. It was Ann’s encouragement to follow my passion and study something I love that led to a career in the arts.

Inspired by dreams of becoming the next Indiana Jones, I studied art history in graduate school. I quickly learned that similar to Indy, I do not like snakes. I also learned about the rampant colonialism tied to many historic museum collections. I was able to shift and work in contemporary art spaces with living artists. Being a contemporary curator is vastly different than working with historic art. A contemporary art curator works with living artists, and instead of fulfilling your own vision for an exhibition or show, you work with an artist to help facilitate the impact their art will have on visitors. Some of the most profound experiences of my life have been the result of helping visitors engage with the art of our time. Witnessing how art prompts people to reflect on their actions and motivations has been transformative. It enables us to perceive the world from diverse perspectives, fostering understanding and empathy.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

We are all creative. I have had many times in my life where a museum patron would say, “my kid could do that.” Great! Encourage your kid to do that, to paint, to sculpt, to make something new. Early in my career I fell into the common assumption that logical and stoic people are left-brained, and creatives are more right-brained. I’ve found through many instances that this simply is not true. Everyone is creative, anyone can be an artist. Creating AI programming or new code for a website can be just as creative as making a clay pot, starting a restaurant from scratch, or leading a division of your business in a new direction. Creativity is problem-solving and communicating with others. My first full-time job was working graveyards as a trashman and forklift driver while I studied art by day. There was great creativity in my colleagues, finding new and faster ways to load trucks or disassembling production lines for the OSHA inspectors at a factory. The bigger the problem, the more creativity it takes to find a new solution. Creativity is a lot of trial and error, with even more persistence.

Visual Artists are often called creatives because they make something on a canvas that can be beautiful, abstract, displeasing, or provocative. Artists are unique in that they often create something that speaks to us in unspeakable ways. Like music it can inspire us, communicate ideas difficult to describe through words. And while many artists are inspiring and an integral part of our community, creativity is needed in every field and endeavor.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

We need art, society needs art. Life without art is bland and safe. Art can inspire, provoke, and challenge us. The best way in most western economies to support artists is to buy local art and to support legislation that provides funding for the arts. Most cities have a local art gallery that sponsors artists from your community. Some people buy art as an investment, but the best reason to purchase an artwork is because you love it and it says something to you. Go to local art fairs, art markets, and find your local galleries. Many communities also have local co-op galleries that are run by the artists themselves. It is a special experience to meet an artist and purchase something from them, it becomes more meaningful to you and your family as it hangs in your home.

Supporting legislation that funds the arts is also critical. From ballet and theatre to dance and science museums, many local arts organizations depend on tax dollars. According to the American Alliance of Museums, there are over 850 Million visits to museums, almost twice as many that attend sporting events. Museums are much more affordable (and often free) because of support from taxes and legislation. Support legislation such as Denver’s Scientific and Cultural Facilities District. Just one penny on every $10 of sales tax goes to support culture, allowing over $60 Million to support zoos, museums, and theatres every year. Denverites overwhelmingly support this miniscule tax, find ways to support similar ideas in your own community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.emmanuelgallery.org/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-lambson-2479494/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cudenvercollegeofartsmedia

Image Credits
Credit for chrome baseball sculpture: Yoram Walberger, “Male Baseball #1” 3D CNC sculpting, bronze and chrome, 2009, courtesy artistsofutah.org Giant Banana Sculpture: courtesy Denverite.com, photographer Kevin J. Beaty All other photos courtesy CU Denver College of Arts & Media