The DuPage County Board recently recognized Naperville resident and Chinese native Rich Lo for his community contributions amid Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The honor comes on the cusp of Lo’s latest in a series of eye-catching exhibits.
This summer, Lo is partnering with cities and villages across DuPage County — including Naperville — as he creates ukiyo-e styled images that will be displayed in the months ahead. Lo’s latest project is in conjunction with the 2025 exhibition, “Hokusai and Ukiyo-e: The Floating World.”
The College of DuPage, McAninch Arts Center, and Cleve Carney Museum of Art are working in tandem on the exhibition, which runs from May 31 to Sept. 21.
‘Humbled by this experience’
After receiving the recognition at the DuPage County Board’s Tuesday, May 13 meeting, Lo briefly reflected on his love of art, which began as a child in Canton, China, where he and his six siblings first discovered their love of drawing and painting.
Fast-forward to the present, and Lo said he is grateful to share his passion of art with people from all walks of life.
“I am humbled by this experience,” Lo said. “It’s been a long journey; it’s been a difficult journey. I still struggle every day. But to be here with everybody is an unthinkable situation.”
As a child, Lo and his family emigrated from Hong Kong to the U.S., settling in Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood. Lo eventually moved to Naperville.
Over time, Lo began working professionally as an artist, creating packaging and advertisements for national brands and television commercials. His professional resume also includes publishing, where he has released bilingual books.
Lo’s foray into public art began in Chinatown
In his comments at the DuPage County Board meeting, Lo said he did not initially set out to be a public artist. But his first foray in a community that was a pivotal part of his formative years continued to have an indelible impact as an adult.
In 2022, Lo created a mural, “Chinese Opera,” on the west wall of the Chinese American Museum in Chicago. Last year, he made another public art contribution with a mural painted at the DuPage Children’s Museum in Naperville.
“Even though I published bilingual books, I never thought of myself being a public artist,” Lo said. “What changed me is that during the entire process of doing that mural, in the community that I grew up in — which is Chicago’s Chinatown — everybody stopped by, and I mean everybody. People I hadn’t seen in 30 years.”
Public art ‘brings us all together,’ says Rich Lo
The experiences Lo had in his first public art project gave him a newfound appreciation for the medium and the opportunity it has to transcend cultural, geographic and ethnic boundaries.
“The experience (in Chinatown) was incredible, but the experience of what affects people later on is even more incredible,” Lo said. “Public art brings us all together. It inspires us to be imaginative, to be creative — not only in the arts, but in our everyday life. I am so fortunate to be here today.”
As she read aloud DuPage County’s proclamation in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, County Board Chair Deborah Conroy noted Lo’s impact, echoing some of the sentiments Lo himself shared about the innumerable benefits art has on a collective community.
“Rich Lo’s creative expression through art evokes positive economic impact, emotional healing, and cultural reflection in DuPage County and beyond,” Conroy said as she read aloud one of the “whereas” clauses within the proclamation.
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