Carl Beam

Carl Beam R.C.A. (May 24, 1943 – July 30, 2005), born Carl Edward Migwans, made Canadian art history as the first artist of Native Ancestry (Ojibwe), to have his work purchased by the National Gallery of Canada as Contemporary Art. A major retrospective of his work, mounted by the National Gallery of Canada, was exhibited in 2010, recognizing Beam as one of Canada's most important artists. He worked in various photographic mediums, mixed media, oil, acrylic, spontaneously scripted text on canvas, works on paper, Plexiglas, stone, cement, wood, handmade ceramic pottery, and found objects, in addition to etching, lithography, and screen process.

Carl Beam was born Carl Edward Migwans on May 24, 1943, in M'Chigeeng First Nation. His mother, Barbara Migwans was the Ojibwe daughter of Dominic Migwans who was then the Chief of the Ojibways of West Bay (later renamed M'Chigeeng First Nation). "The Beam family's true name derives from miigwaans which means little feather or bird." His father Edward Cooper, was an American soldier, who died as a prisoner-of-war in World War II. "He was raised by his grandparents Dominic and Annie for most of his young life. His exceptional qualities were observed by his elders at a young age, and he was given the name "Ahkideh", from aakode' meaning "one who is brave" in the Ojibwe language." He was sent to Garnier Residential School, in Spanish, Ontario, from the age of ten until he left as a young man.

After working at a variety of jobs, from construction work on the Toronto subway, to working as a millwright in Wawa, Ontario, Beam entered Kootenay School of Art (1971). He went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Victoria in 1974, and entered into post-graduate studies at the University of Alberta, (1975–76). He left the University of Alberta over a dispute about his thesis on native art, and returned to Ontario.

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