Professor Emeritus Emily Carr University of Art and Design, retired from the institution in 1966 after teaching in the ceramics department for 23 years. He has exhibited widely and his work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Anthropology UBC, the West Vancouver Art Museum, the Victoria Art Gallery, the Surrey Art Gallery, the Gardiner Museum Toronto, the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery Waterloo, the Art Gallery of Burlington Ontario, the Canadian Museum of History Ottawa, and the Victoria and Albert Museum London.
Over the years Tam’s work has changed from high fire, wheel-thrown stoneware pots to lower firing ranges using stronger colour and less emphasis on utility.
Recently he has ended his ceramics practice and has transitioned into painting.