Respected multidisciplinary Anishinaabe artist Carl Migwans Beam studied at the Kootenay School of Art at the University of Victoria where he earned his bachelor of fine arts degree. Beam also briefly studied at the University of Alberta.
Highly influenced by American artists such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, Beam’s expansive artistic practice encompassed ceramics, painting, printmaking, and collage. His work often explored Indigenous histories, Canadian politics, and his personal life.
In 2000, he was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and in 2005, he received the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. He passed away in 2005.