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About

Sandy Lam (she/they) is a queer Asian American storyteller.They are particularly passionate about creating and amplifying stories that explore Asian American identity, culture, belonging, and healing.Sandy considers herself a "jane of many trades" or "happy dabbler" of many artistic mediums, including writing, acting, theatre, film, music, digital content creation, and more! They also enjoy creating spaces for connection and learning through community workshops and gatherings both virtually and in person.For six years, Sandy worked as a non-profit professional in the college access & success space. During that time, they managed a program that mentored first generation students to and through college. Working in non-profit spaces taught her project management, event planning, budgeting, team building, training, recruitment, and JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, inclusivity) advocacy.In her free time, she enjoys overanalyzing movies, playing games with her friends, and talking to her cat.Header photo by Kelly Zhu.***A note on acronyms:
You may have noticed across this site, multiple acronyms have been used to refer to "Asian American." As a community, I don't think we've quite agreed on a universal acronym. I believe this is partly because we are constantly navigating the balance of wanting to be in solidarity while also acknowledging that we are not a monolith and have vastly different experiences across our community. In some ways, I think that not having a set acronym is a tribute to the complex, nuanced identities we all hold.For the listings on this site, I stuck with the acronym I had used when I was working on a particular project in order to capture the language / time / space I was occupying at the time.Terms used on this site:
Asian American
AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander)
APIDA (Asian Pacific Islander Desi American)
LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual/Aromantic/Agender+)

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selected works

Dinosaur on the Moon is a devised theatrical experiment that asks: what would our elders say to us if they were with here us today?As a part of the WTFringe Lab cohort, my team and I collectively devised, wrote, directed, produced, and performed together to create Dinosaur on the Moon. (As in, all five of us did all five of those things! - breaking the traditional single director/playwright model often seen in theatre.)I was also our show's graphic designer and created our program art and playbill.Dinosaur on the Moon won Fringiest Production (Jury) and Best of Overall Production (Jury) at the National Women's Theatre Festival.

The AAPI Storytelling Summit was a community event I coordinated in collaboration with the Austin Asian American Film Festival.With a team of three Program Coordinators, we curated a series of sessions to equip the Asian American community with tools to tell their own stories.In addition to developing our programming, I moderated a panel titled "How do we tell AAPI stories?" which invited three local AAPI leaders (Vy Ngo, Minh Vu, and Erica Deiparine-Sugars) to speak on their experiences in art and advocacy.Photo by Kelly Zhu.

So Lucky was a play exploring intergenerational trauma, mental health, and cultural belonging within the Asian American community. I served a producer, playwright, and performer for the show.So Lucky was the first time I've ever been in a production that was made up of a majority APIDA and/or LGBTQIA+ cast and crew, and it was so meaningful to me to share creation space with people who shared my identities.Before each show, we featured a performance from a local APIDA artist. At the end of each show, we held a talk back facilitated by a APIDA community leader.Photo by Steve Rogers Photography.

In response to the Atlanta shootings, I created the APIDA Community Circle with Casie Luong. Our intention was to create a space where participants could process their experiences as Asian American folks through writing and discussion. We specifically sought out female-identifying and non-binary writers to be involved.After three workshops, that Casie and I developed and facilitated on our own, we compiled participant work into a digital zine.We are currently working on developing these sessions into a series of classes to teach locally in person.

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playwriting

Twitter FeedI wrote Twitter Feed in response to the increase of Anti-Asian violence during COVID-19. In it, an Asian American woman ruminates on the violence she's seen in her community and in her own life.Twitter Feed has been produced digitally by Theatre 3 (dir. Regina King) and hybrid live/digitally by New Manifest Theatre (dir. Simone Alexander.)Actress Mia King featured in photo.

bloom (in development)bloom is a new piece I am working on following the story of two Asian American immigrant families navigating surviving in America.The story will feature themes such as intergenerational trauma, family, and LGBTQIA+ communities.So far, bloom has had two table readings with a full cast. The first was part of a virtual event w/ ASPIRE, and the second is pictured here.

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acting

Notable RolesLove in Everybody
Written by Branden Jacob Jenkins
Directed by Yesenia Garcia-HerringtonIsobel in Primary Colors
Written by Nina Ki
Directed by Simone TetraultJ in Alone Together
Written and directed by Zoe ChenFeaturing photos by @pen_yah, Steve Rogers photography, and Morgan Eisenstot.

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digital media

Dinsoaur on the Moon
Here are a few promotional graphics I created for my original production, Dinosaur on the Moon.
From left to right, I've included (1) our program art (2) a sample from our digital playbill and (3) Instagram stories designed to promote ticket sales.

Carrot Cards
I was a facilitator for UW Bothell's BIPOC Story Circle (led by Prof. Ching-In Chen), in which we created spaces for participants to share stories about a time when they experienced community care. Inspired by their stories, I created a set of carrot cards (care + tarot = carrot.) These cards are meant to be drawn when someone is in need of care, but they aren't sure of what kind of care that they need.

hometown
hometown is a short film that I created after taking TELL YOUR STORY, a class through the Asian American Resource Center in which we learned how to create our short films using our own cell phones! My film, hometown, was an exploration of the double lives I live: as an artist who works a 9-5 office job, as a homebody who occasionally has to brave the outdoors, as a Houstonian who has found a second home in Austin.

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community events

bloom: playreading and talk back
for Asian Sisters Participating in Excellence
OnlineFor this workshop, I put together a cast to read a scene from my play-in-development bloom.The playreading was followed by an audience discussion, facilitated by me, in which participants could reflect on their experiences through the lens of the play.

Honoring Ourselves in Our Self Advocacy
for the the AALEAD Conference
at Texas A&MIn this workshop, I wanted to acknowledge that self advocacy for Asian Americans doesn't have to look one specific way and encouraged participants to use their voice in the way that was most authentic to themselves.This was an interactive session that was mostly led by participant-based discussions and reflections.

Other Workshops
Working Title: Artist Speed Friending
for Emerging Arts Leaders AustinWorking Title: Building Artist Communities
for Emerging Arts Leaders AustinAspiring Talks: So Lucky playreading + workshop
for Asian Sisters Participating in ExcellenceMaking, Taking, Holding Space in Leadership
for the Asian American Womxn Leadership Conference