Local Hero #61: Kam Mak

Did you know that Kam Mak, the artist who designed a series of Lunar New Year stamps for the U.S.P.S., lives right here in Brooklyn?

Here’s the story of how we met and details about his prestigious 12-year contract with the United States Postal Service:

Meeting Kam

For two years in a row, I watched Kam unveil the Lunar New Year stamp in front of the teachers, students, parents and grandparents of PS 124 in Chinatown during their annual Lunar New Year celebration. I remember Principal Alice Hom introducing Kam to the children, saying to them "Maybe someday, this could be you." How great that the school would publicly acknowledge the accomplishments of an artist! And being a lover of stamps, I thought it would be fun to interview him at some point.

One summer, I ran into Kam while he was playing basketball with his son and his son’s friend in Carroll Park. I approached him and found out that he lived only a few streets away from me in Carroll Gardens!

Shortly after, I had the pleasure of meeting Kam in his artist studio in the top floor of his home. What a treat to learn more about his work and his life!

Q: How did Kam land the job of designing the Lunar New Year Stamp series?

A: As Kam shared, "There is little in the U.S. that celebrates the contributions of the Chinese to this country." It was this fact which motivated the OCA (Organization of Chinese in America) to lobby the United States Postal service in the 1980s to do something which would acknowledge Chinese heritage.

The USPS decided that the Lunar New Year would be a good vehicle to celebrate the richness of Chinese culture.

After the first series of Lunar New Year stamps was completed in 2004, the OCA lobbied for a second series and Kam was chosen to do this next group of 12 stamps which would run from 2008 - 2019.

Kam, who worked in conjunction on the project with USPS Art Director Ethel Kessler, shared that the Lunar New Year stamps have been a huge source of pride for the Chinese community. "The stamps have been mentioned in most Chinese newspapers in New York," Kam noted. He also communicated his hope that people in the U.S. who don't celebrate the Lunar New Year will develop an appreciation for Chinese culture and history.

Kam is sometimes asked why he does not make the traditional Chinese Zodiac animals more central to the design of the stamps. His response? After decades of celebrating the Lunar New Year, he feels that the animal is just a small part of the symbolism of the celebration. According to Kam, There are actually other symbols which just as powerfully convey the essence of the New Year and the beauty of the Chinese culture.

Q: What else is there to know about Kam?

A: Kam is also a celebrated children's book illustrator who wrote and created the artwork for My Chinatown based on his own experiences growing up there. In 1971, when Kam was 10 years old, he and his family moved from Hong Kong to New York's Chinatown. Kam said it was quite the dangerous neighborhood back then, full of gang violence. His mom worked 6 days a week 12 hours a day in a sweatshop. His dad lived mostly in a bunkhouse in Long Island, where he worked in a restaurant. He came home one day a week to be with the family.

Kam's dad, who is deceased, ultimately became the person who took care of Kam's children when they were very young. The death, according to Kam, hit his son particularly hard.

Kam's mom, who lives in Chinatown, is extremely proud of the fact that her son has been publicly lauded by Chinese organizations and newspapers for his honor of being chosen to create the Lunar New Year stamp series. According to Kam, the public recognition helped his mom feel connected to her son's choice to make art his central work.

Kam is married to illustrator Mari Takabayashi, who created the children's books I Live in Brooklyn and I Live in Tokyo. Kam and Mari are parents to a son and a daughter.

For more information about Kam, visit his website: http://www.kammak.net/

To see the full stamp series: https://postalmuseum.si.edu/ex...

My Local Heroes is a celebration of Brooklyn-based activists, artists, athletes and entrepreneurs who are leading the way, making lives go better with little fanfare and a lot of heart and smarts. We were featured in News12 and The Patch, and received a Covid-19 Heroes Award from former Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

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