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Photo credit: Karen Ami
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Photo Credit: Karen Ami
Karen Ami was born in Chicago, Illinois and has a Masters in Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and undergraduate degrees from The Boston Museum School and Tufts University. Her works have been shown in the United States and around the world, and she was the first American artist to win the Prix Picassiette in Chartres, France. Other exhibitions include Italy (Ravenna, Aquilea and Nazzano) France (Chartres and Parlay-le-Monial) and this month in Chicago at SXU Gallery, Chicago. She is the Founder and Executive Director of , which will celebrate its 13 year in 2018.
What does it mean to be a woman artist to you? What does it mean to be a Chicago artist?
I have been a single mom for most of my sons' lives, so integrating my work with family is no different than any other working family. Thankfully, my studio has always been attached to the funky house we’ve lived in for almost 30 years, so I have always had a workspace where I live. I have supported myself myself and my family as an artist, as a teacher and by renting out rooms to other artists, musicians and students. Raising my boys - being both mother and father, running a house and later founding The Chicago Mosaic School is something I did because I had to. It has been a struggle and it has been exquisite. I wouldn’t change a thing.
What causes are you passionate about?
The Chicago Mosaic School was born out of my own need and hunger for a program in mosaic arts that did not exist anywhere in the United States. While I was in grad school at SAIC in the 90’s, I found that there was no formal training or education available – no accredited mosaic art classes in the US whatsoever. I learned what I could through books, the internet and contacting artists from Europe for guidance. I had the opportunity to go to Italy and do a short mosaic course and visited mosaic schools there. I felt that the American model for a mosaic school should be different; the artists in America are less bound by specific ancient traditions and I believe, more desirous of experimentation with different materials and contemporary applications.
CMS is now the only non-for profit Mosaic Arts school outside of Europe. It has been my passion for almost 13 years; we have 11 faculty members, a successful gallery (GoCM), and a great location on Granville Avenue in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood. We have artists that come from around the world year-round to both teach and attend the course and workshops at the school. CMS does a great deal of work in the community, public school projects, educational seminars and additional public outreach though tours and lectures. The school has grown to become an internationally recognized center for artists who create well-made, innovative contemporary mosaic art.
What is the best advice you’ve received?
If you want to be taken seriously as an artist, study. Seek out great teachers to study who understands how to discuss art critically. A good instructor will encourage you to take risks with your work, experiment, and grow. Art should not be inert – it constantly ebbs and flows like other things in our lives. Don’t be afraid to fail; every piece you create is an experiment. If you don’t love what you do, keep looking for something that gives you joy. Find a community, don’t create in isolation or without a support system. Fight for the greater good, and do not stay silent when you see injustice!
Where can someone see your work?
My exhibition, “Birth Marks" features over 30 of my mosaics, drawings and sculptures at SXU Gallery at Saint Xavier University, Chicago. The exhibition includes works that explore ongoing themes of maternity, identity and love. The exhibition runs September 27 through October 24th, 2017. You can also see my works at The Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics (GoCM) and at SOFA Chicago in November at Navy Pier.
You can follow Karen on Instagram at @chicagomosaicschool and @gocmosaics, as well as on .