We were lucky to catch up with Jenny Lam recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jenny, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Thank you for interviewing me! I’ll begin by saying that I was literally born an artist, which might sound clichéd, but it’s true. I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. I started as soon as I could grip a pen in my infant hand, which is why, to this day, I still hold all writing and drawing utensils incorrectly; my hand looks like it’s balled up in a fist (but it works!).

Throughout childhood I loved creating my own picture books; I’d write stories and illustrate them, all on printer paper that I’d then staple together.

And as a young child I loved watching and was quite inspired by animated films and TV shows, and I think that early association of art being something that is so common and accessible informed how I approach contemporary and fine art.

Pursuing art professionally, then, was a no-brainer. I still have an assignment from when I was 5 years old, and it says, “When I grow up, I want to be an artist.” It’s been a lifelong continuation. In other words, I’ve always known!

As for also being a curator though, that’s something I got into when I was an undergrad at Columbia University in New York City. My freshman year, there was only one undergraduate student-run organization related to art—so of course I immediately joined—called Postcrypt Art Gallery, where we put together shows on our own, featuring art by other undergrads regardless of their involvement with the university’s art department. I became President of the organization as a junior and curated my first exhibition that year, and I fell in love with the whole process (and, of course, fell in love with the results, of somehow pulling off these events that tons of people came to and had fun at).

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?

Sure! So, first I’ll talk about Artists on the Lam, which I founded in 2011. Yes, it’s a play on my name, which sets the tone for my entire curatorial venture, of not taking this art stuff too seriously, and always employing a bit of playfulness and slight irreverence.

As an independent curator, I put together art shows all over the place, in wildly different venues, from traditional spaces to the more unconventional (for instance, I’ve curated a show in a massive former bank building, and before that it was an old vaudeville theater), and I curate art across all mediums, from painting to sculpture to performance and everything in between. Most of the artists in my shows are local to my home of Chicago, and I have artists from all over the world as well; Artists on the Lam’s motto since its inception has always been, “Championing local artists; channeling global perspectives.” And each show has a different concept, but the common thread is often interaction—interactive art, audience participation, collaboration, community.

The first show I curated independently in 2011 was called Exquisite Corpse, based on the old salon game of, well, an exquisite corpse. I put out an open call, selected artists, and arranged the artists into groups and pairs. Most of these artists didn’t know one another beforehand, and I had them collaborate on creating new art together for the show.

My follow-up to that was 2012’s I CAN DO THAT (which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year!). I created this show based on how a lot of people go up to contemporary art and say, “Well, I can do that,” or “my kid could do that.” So at the show I had the artists’ original art supplies in front of each piece, as well as blank canvases and other surfaces, and challenged people to see if they could, indeed, “do that,” or if they felt like they could improve a piece, they were able to directly paint or make any mark on that original work of art. It was glorious fun, and was eventually named audience choice for “Best Art Exhibit” in the 20th anniversary edition of NewCity’s Best of Chicago issue.

Another show I’m proud of is LEXICON in 2016. One of my pet peeves in the art world is “artspeak,” or jargon. So LEXICON was a massive international exhibition where I didn’t display any artist statements next to the pieces. Instead, I invited viewers to write down on Post-it notes what each artwork meant to them, or what they felt like each piece meant, and displayed their own interpretations right next to the artwork.

In addition to exhibitions, under Artists on the Lam I also provide writing services for artists. I know it can be tough to talk about yourself and it’s much easier to brag about other people, so I help them write artist statements, bios, and more.

My interest in interactive art extends to my own artwork as well, such as an ongoing passion project I have called Dreams of a City. I started this labor of love in 2008 in New York (back then I just referred to it as “Manhattan Map” and “Postcard Project”) and then revamped it in 2012 in Chicago, where it’s still going. For this project, I handmake thousands of blank pre-stamped self-addressed postcards, each with the prompt, “Tell me one thing you dream of doing before you die. Use this card as your canvas,” and each with a different code on the corner. I leave these cards in public spaces throughout the city, using these codes to record where I leave each one. So, when a card returns to me, I’m able to tell where it was found, and gradually, I’ve been creating a map of the city with all these people’s hopes and dreams.

I also still draw of course, and paint, and take photos. My photography from 2014-2021 is all from my iPhone 5s (and before that, I used a point-and-shoot). I like to demonstrate that it’s not the tool; it’s the artist.

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My mission is making art accessible. Most people might feel intimidated going into a contemporary gallery; I’d like to think my shows do away with that. Art is for everyone.

So many receptions I’ve been to, barely anyone even looks at the art. At I CAN DO THAT, however, people were directly involved with the art, and a lot of people stayed for hours—which rarely happens—spending time with each piece, and having spontaneous encounters and experiences with one another.

That show exemplified my objective: bringing people together, getting people to have fun with each other, getting people to have fun with art. And, maybe, seeing the world anew, and learning a new thing or two.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Let’s journey back to early 2020, *the* year of resilience, and a show I curated called SLAYSIAN, a celebration of Asian artists in Chicago and the surrounding Midwest area. I’m Chinese, my parents are immigrants from Hong Kong, and I’ve always been proud of my heritage; I have my parents and the way they raised me to thank for that. Yet, even though my shows have been wonderfully diverse in every way, I had never explicitly curated a show celebrating this huge part of me. So I figured it was time, and I put out an open call for artists. And in this call I specified that there was no theme, that these artists didn’t have to necessarily make art *about* being Asian in the Midwest; they just had to *be* artists who were Asian and in the Midwest. There were dozens of artists in the exhibition, each with different dreams, desires, and beliefs—because that’s who we are.

The show was originally scheduled to open on March 20, 2020. The weeks leading up to that were quite something. With the COVID pandemic starting to become a reality, one week before the show was to open, I postponed it—at the time, indefinitely. And I moved the entire exhibition online. Resilience is being able to adapt.

Of course, the show also took on a different importance. With the beginning of COVID also came scapegoating, and a resurgence of Sinophobia and in turn anti-Asian racism in general. Now, the onus shouldn’t be on marginalized people to teach others that we’re actual human beings. That said, art cultivates empathy. Art can be used as a means for compassion and connection.

At the very least, I figured the show could provide comfort, to everyone in a universal way in a frightening time, as well as within our community.

It went full circle to my mission of making art accessible. The internet is the *most* accessible space for artwork, more than any gallery. I had people tell me how happy they were that this show was viewable online because they lived in different countries and wouldn’t have been able to travel to see it, and now they could.

And then, nearly two years later, in November 2021, the physical exhibition finally happened, and what a joy it was.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.artistsonthelam.com, http://artistsonthelam.blogspot.com
• Instagram: @artistsonthelam, @dreamsofacity
• Facebook: @TheJennyLam
• Linkedin: @TheJennyLam
• Twitter: @TheJennyLam