Kam Mak FDGA 2015

Kam Mak
Assistant Chairperson, Illustration Department
Report-Seed Grant/ Exhibition Grant

The Brooklyn Public Library serves 2.5 million residents of Brooklyn and fully supports creative expression, culture and arts throughout Brooklyn. In addition, the library is uniquely situated to bring together artists with very different backgrounds to engage in dialogue and build community.

The grant from FDGA helped make the exhibition that took place from October 1, 2015 through January 24, 2016 in the Grand Lobby of Central Library possible. The exposure of my work to the general public was enormous. It showcased my creative endeavor and most importantly provided me the opportunity to share and disseminate what I had learned about egg tempera with the artistic community especially on the subject of Tempera Grassa. Tempera Grassa is an emulsion of egg yolk and oil instead of egg yolk and water as the binder. As part of the exhibition program at the Brooklyn Public Library I gave a lecture and workshop to a large group of students from a public middle school in the surrounding area of Brooklyn.

There were 20 paintings in the exhibition including 9 portraits of FIT’s faculty and staff. These 9 portraits highlight the diversity of our FIT community. In addition to the paintings a small display of the tools and material used to create these egg tempera paintings was part of the exhibition.

I believe my exhibition at the Brooklyn Public Library, including FITs sponsorship which was credited on all library and exhibition signage, has given our school more visibility as a major creative hub in higher learning for the visual art.