By Rosalind Russell – A new book, Carl Beam: Life & Work, recounts the career of Manitoulin Island Ojibwe artist Carl Beam (1934–2005) and his resolve to create art for “thinking people.”
A survivor of the residential school system, Beam was born in M’Chigeeng First Nation and was one of the first artists in Canada to shine a light on the abuses endured by more than 150,000 children.
Written by Beam’s daughter, artist and scholar Anong Migwans Beam, it shares family stories and Beam’s mixed-media works.
Anong recounts her father was sent at age 10 to Garnier High School, an all-boys boarding school operated by the Jesuits in the Town of Spanish and it was there he endured the cultural and physical violence of Canada’s residential school system.
She adds as an act of rebellion, Beam left Garnier in grade 10 and finished high school through correspondence courses and turned to painting to reclaim a sense of agency.
After completing formal training at the University of Victoria in 1977, Beam decided to become a full-time artist with his work now featured in many national galleries across Canada.
The book is available at: www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/
Photo of book cover provided by Anong Migwans Beam
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