Painting with Clay: Beam Family Ceramics

Carl Beam, Whale of our Being, 2003. Stoneware, underglaze, glaze. Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery Permanent Collection.

Painting with Clay: Beam Family Ceramics

On view until May 25, 2025
Opening Reception: Sunday, February 2, 2025, 2 – 4pm
Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery, Waterloo

Featuring Carl Beam (1943-2005), Ann Beam (1944-2024), Anong Migwans Beam, Riel Migwans Beam, and Lux Migwans Beam

Guest Curated by Anong Migwans Beam and Elka Weinstein

Painting with Clay features ceramic works made by the Beam family from M’Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island. Carl (1943-2005) and Ann Beam (1944-2024) both had an interest in creating decorative paintings on pottery pieces, partially inspired by Carl’s lifelong search for Anishnaabe pottery. The Beam family’s creative legacy in ceramics continues through Carl and Ann’s daughter, Anong Migwans Beam, and her sons, Riel Migwans Beam, and Lux Migwans Beam. Anong’s lifelong practice of making paint with local natural materials springs from her parents’ practice in making paint and pottery on Manitoulin and in the Southwestern United States.

Painting with Clay walks viewers through three generations of pottery-making, some of which are inspired by the Mimbres and Ancestral Pueblo pottery that Carl and Ann encountered in the Southwest, where the family settled just after Anong was born. Recurring themes in the works are supported by family and archival photos, as well as illustrations from an unpublished children’s book by Ann Beam.

Carl Beam, Ann Beam and Anong Migwans Beam, bowl, Shaman boat, Moon, Cherry Blossoms, 2002. Painted and glazed stoneware, cone 6. Private Collection.

Painting with Clay features works loaned by private collectors, The Gardiner Museum, Canadian Museum of History, The Royal Ontario Museum, Gallery Gevik, Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, and the artists.

Whale of Our Being by Carl Beam was purchased with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program and through the support of The Elizabeth L. Gordon Art Programme of the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation. 2004.008.002

This exhibition is generously supported by a grant from the Ontario Arts Council.

Contact
For additional information contact Peter Flannery, Senior Curator & Collections Manager, at 519-746-1882 ext. 235 or peter@theclayandglass.ca.

About the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery
The Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery is an award-winning, national institution based in Waterloo Region celebrating the art and craft of clay, glass, and enamel. As a dynamic cultural organization, we continue to amplify diverse stories — opening dialogue and inspiring social change. Through exhibitions that address issues relevant to our times, an impressive selection of works in our Gallery Shop, and intriguing public programs that engage, educate, and excite — we are accessible to all. For more information, visit: www.theclayandglass.ca

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