First Name: Ann

Last Name: Beam

Full Name: Ann Beam

Name in syllabics: N/A

Alternative Names: Born: Ann Elena Weatherby

Date of birth: 1944

Place of birth: Brooklyn, New York, United States

Date of death: N/A

Place of death: N/A

Community / Heritage: American

Sex: Female

Disc Number: N/A

Website: https://annbeam.com / Neon Raven Gallery website: https://www.neonravenartgallery.com

Art Media: mixed media, oil, acrylic, found art, recycled materials, pottery, paper and cloth

Bio:

Ann Beam (née Ann Elena Weatherby) is an American-born visual artist working in mixed media painting, ceramics and construction using recycled materials. Themes in Beam’s work include the cultural histories of women, motherhood, cooking, teaching and relations with the natural world.

Beam was born in 1944 in Brooklyn, New York. In 1968, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the State University of New York in Buffalo. Later, she studied Etching and Lithography at the Open Studio in Toronto from 1974-1978. In the late 1960s and 1970s, she taught at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Beam married Canadian Ojibwe artist Carl Beam in 1979. They had a daughter together, Anong Migwans Beam.

In 1980, Beam and her family moved to Arroyo Seco, New Mexico to live and work. There they were inspired by traditional ceramics and bowls created by the Anasazi and Mimbres people. Beam and her husband exhibited their ceramic work together, including a show at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. 

Although the couple had achieved a level of success in the United States, in 1983 they returned to Canada and moved to Peterborough, Ontario. In 1992, Ann Beam and Carl Beam began building an adobe house and studio on Manitoulin Island, in Ontario. 

In 2001, the Beams, together with their daughter Anong, returned to working extensively with pottery, using painting techniques on glazeware. In 2004, the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo, Ontario created a traveling exhibition of 50 ceramic pieces by Carl Beam, Ann Beam, and Anong Migwans Beam. This marked the first time all three exhibited together. 

In 2002, Beam opened the Neon Raven Art Gallery. The gallery represents the work of all three Beam family artists. Beam continues to live in M’chigeeng on Manitoulin Island.

Education:

• 1968: State University of New York at Buffalo, Bachelor of Fine Arts.
• 1974-1978: Open Studio, Toronto, Etching and Lithography

Exhibitions

• 1975: “Prints from Open Studio”, The Pollack Gallery, Toronto, ON
• 1976: “The Chair Show”, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
• 1977: “O.S. Prints”, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta
• 1977: “Prints From Open Studio”, McDonald Block, Queens Park, Toronto, ON
• 1982: “The Painted Pottery of Ann and Carl Beam”, Maxwell Museum, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
• 1983: “Indians and Angels”, Ann Beam, Two Person Show, Laurentien University Museum and Art Centre, Sudbury, ON
• 1985: Northern Crafts Gallery, Ann Beam, Two Person Show, South Baymouth, ON
• 1992: “A Response”, Art Space, Peterborough, ON
• 1992: “Works by Ann and Carl Beam”, Uffendi Gallery, Ottawa, ON
• 2001: Novak Graphics Studio, Xien-Shen, China
• 2001: Novak Graphics Studio, Shanghai, China
• 2002: Steel City Gallery, Hamilton, ON
• 2001: Steel City Gallery, Hamilton, ON
• 2002: “Shamans and Ravens”, Ann Beam, Two Person Show, DeLeon White Gallery, Toronto, ON
• 2003: “All Things Are Connected”, Residency at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto, ON
• 2006: Art Gallery of Peterborough, Peterborough, ON
• 2005: Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
• 2004: Algoma Art Gallery, Sault Ste. Marie, ON
• 2004: “It’s All Relative”, Touring Exhibition, Three Person Show, Canadian Clay and Glass Museum, Waterloo, ON
• 2006: “Picturing Her: Images of Girlhood”, McCord Museum, Montreal, QC
• 2007: “On The Table; 100 Years of Functional Ceramics in Canada”, Gardiner Museum, Toronto, ON
• 2008: “Beyond Space and Time”, Durham Art Gallery, Durham, ON, Two Person Show
• 2009: “No Drips Allowed”, Ceramics Exhibition, Jonathan Bancroft Snell Gallery, London, ON
• 2010: “Cross Pollination 2”, Gore Bay Museum, Gore Bay, ON
• 2012: “At The Horse Washing Waterfall”, Neon Raven Art Gallery, M’Chigeeng, ON
• 2013: “The Engine Room”, Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound, ON
• 2014: “Continously Arriving Present Moment”, Gallery Stratford, Stratford, ON
• 2014: “Express Wagon”, La Galerie Nouvelle Ontario, Sudbury, ON
• 2016: “From The Heart of Turtle Island”, Peel Art Gallery, Brampton, ON
• 2016: “Germination”, Ann and Carl Beam, Art Gallery of Peterborough
• 2017: “A Cause for Celebration”, THE MUSEUM, Kitchener, ON
• 2018: “Intervention: 31 Woman Artists” - McClure Gallery/Visual Arts Centre - 350 Victoria Ave. Montreal, QC

Solo Exhibitions:

• 1986: “Constellation of Solitaire”, Solo Exhibition, Brignall Gallery, 80 Spadina Ave, Toronto, ON
• 1992: “East of the Diamond Lightning”, Art Gallery of Peterborough, Peterborough, ON
• 1996: “Nellie and Mary and Related Works”, La Parete Gallery, Toronto, ON
• 2000: “Sub-Division Suite / Earth Builders Narrative”, Strutts Gallery, Sackville, NB
• 2000: “Studies in the Motherline”, V. MacDonnell Gallery, Toronto, ON
• 2003: “Motherlines”, Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON
• 2005: “Corona, Dialogues with Earth Mother”, Sheguiandah Centennial Museum, ON
• 2008: “Earth and Shell”, Gore Bay Museum, Gore Bay, ON
• 2014: “Subdivision Suite / Earth Builders Narrative”, Cambridge Galleries, Preston, ON
• 2015: “Team Lift”, Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, M’Chigeeng First Nation, ON
• 2016: “Team Lift”, Artist on Elgin, Sudbury, ON

Collections

• Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound, ON, Canada
• Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON, Canada
• Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto, ON, Canada
• Art Gallery of Peterborough, Peterborough, ON, Canada
• Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, ON, Canada
• Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, ON, Canada
• MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, ON, Canada
• Simon Fraser University, BC, Canada
• Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
• Art Gallery of Algoma, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada
• Cornwall Art Gallery, Cornwall, ON, Canada
• Truro College, Truro, United Kingdom
• College Boréal, Sudbury, ON, Canada
• University of Toronto, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Collection, Robarts Library, Toronto, ON, Canada
• Red River Community College, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• Collection of Prof. R.M. Vanderburgh
• Collection of Steven J. Orfield
• University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
• Collection of Elizabeth McLuhan
• Collection of Leonard Cohen
• Collection of Lorca Cohen

Articles

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Beam
• https://canadianart.ca/reviews/ann-beam-and-carl-beam/
• https://www.manitoulin.ca/intuition-passion-creative-exploration-defines-artist-ann-beam/

Awards

• 1968: “Best in Show” Allentown Art Show, Buffalo, NY
• 1987, 1994, 1998: Ontario Arts Council Project Grants
• 2003: OAAG, Artist Educator Award, Ann Beam, “Its All Connected”