New exhibit at the Glass & Clay Gallery displays three generations of Indigenous art from one family

The new ‘Painting with Clay’ exhibit opened on Jan. 18 at the Glass & Clay Gallery in Waterloo and presents three generations of art from the Beam family, showcasing Indigenous influence from Canada and the U.S. The exhibit’s Senior Curator is Peter Flannery, and the assistant curator of the exhibit, Cheyenne Mapplebeck, is a UW alumni of Indigenous descent. 

The exhibit has been in the works for almost two years. As a nonprofit, exhibits require planning to start multiple years in advance to ensure proper funding is in place. Multiple museums including the Gardiner Museum, the Canadian Museum of History, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation contributed pieces to the exhibit. 

Karl and Ann Beam began their artistic work in the early 80s and explored Pueblo pottery from the Southwestern U.S. Additionally, many of the pieces use raw materials from their land on Manitoulin Island. As Karl was of Indigenous descent, their work heavily reflected this influence. Eventually, both Karl and Ann passed down these techniques to their daughter, Anong Beam, who began making art along with them.

The current exhibit was inspired by a similar one in 2004 which showcased Karl, Ann, and Anong’s work. The current exhibit has added a third generation to the collection and now includes pieces from Anong’s two sons Reil and Lux. ‘Painting with Clay’ shows how the work has progressed over the decades and through the generations. Mapplebeck explained how showcasing how Indigenous art is taught through different generations is incredibly important as skills and interests are not being passed down anymore and traditions are being forgotten. 

Karl Beam often incorporated animal figurines into his pottery creations and in the newest additions to the Beam family collection, you can see Reil Beam incorporate the same figurative pottery techniques.

“It’s really wonderful to see that they’re still using Grandpa’s figures in their own work,” said Mapplebeck.

The Glass & Clay Gallery took on a different approach to presenting this exhibit as they wanted to highlight the importance of the generational and Indigenous context of the pieces. The new exhibit challenges the concept of the “white cube gallery”, and aims to incorporate the lives of the family into the exhibit itself. Archival photos of the family are displayed along with the art pieces to help provide this context.  

Flannery and Mapplebeck explained how the exhibit shows how Indigenous ceramic artistry is a contemporary practice. They also went on to explain how they hope visitors take away the message of the importance of passing down artistic traditions.

Every Saturday the Gallery holds family events to encourage people to interact with the exhibit. They include themed activities that relate to the exhibit for families to participate in.

“It’s very important for us that the community is able to connect with the exhibitions more than just coming to see it,” explained Mapplebeck.