ARTIST BIOGRAPHY/CURRICULUM VITAE

Moses (Amik) Beaver

Moses (Amik) Beaver is a professional Aboriginal artist from the isolated fly-in community of Nibinamik, (Summer Beaver) 500 kilometers north of Thunder Bay in Northern Ontario. He was born in 1960 at Landsdowne House and relocated to Summer Beaver in 1975, when members of the Landsdowne House community chose to break away and move into their traditional territory. He spent much of his youth building his community and working on his trap line with his family and extended family. He has lived his life as part of a land based organic and holistic culture that in many respects has remained unchanged. His uncle first suggested that he express himself through drawing and painting as a way of sharing his response to being alive, in his time, when he was fifteen years old.
Moses is self-taught, his use of colour revealing. He works with acrylic on canvas, Indian Ink on paper and watercolour. He is well known in the region for his innovative representation of an interconnected world based in the natural environment. While Moses’ work reflects the black lines of traditional Woodlands art, he embraces his own unique style of embedded images of spirits, human faces and animal forms, transcending physical boundaries to the outer dimensions of the spiritual realm. In this his work reflects symbolism, realism and abstract imagery. The images tell stories, represent ancient teachings of his people and remind those who gaze on his work, we are all connected to each other and the natural world.  As stories for the First Nations People have always been a major tool of cultural transmission, holding the history, values, beliefs and spirituality of the people, through his paintings Moses transcends the verbal storytelling history, entering into the realm of visual arts. In this, he hopes his work will resonate and awaken an awareness that is at once exciting and empowering, a way for all People to understand an Aboriginal world view. Within this context, story telling through colour and imagery, he contributes to cultural revitalization, an awakening that continues to gather strength among the people to express and share the experience of being in and with the world, not masters of it.
Moses completed his first commissioned work on his own reserve for the Nibinamik Educational Centre in 1996. To date this image is used on the schools letterhead. He also worked for the Health Centre in Nibinamik in 2000, and at several of the annual culture camps hosted on the land in the traditional hunting areas surrounding the community. In 2004 he was commissioned to work with students at the local school, completing murals on the walls. In June 2005, with funding in part from the Ontario Arts Council, he again worked with students completing a mural commemorating the history of Summer Beaver and its recent move from Government to Band run education. In August, 2005 he was commissioned by the Band to design a painting/logo for Nibinamiks new tourist fly-in camp at Fish Basket. Moses was also commissioned in August 2004 by a division of the Thunder Bay Community Arts and Heritage Education program to conduct a mask-making workshop with local youth from the Boys and Girls Club. The youth danced with their masks on the final day and the masks were put on display for a month at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery. He also worked with youth through the same programming in August of 2005. In September 2005 Moses was commissioned to work for Ka-Na-Chi-Hih, a specialized solvent abuse treatment center in Thunder Bay, funded through Medical Services Branch, Health Canada. Working with in-patient youth, they designed a massive mural on the wall in the gym.   He also received in 2006 an Aboriginal Art Projects award grant from the Ontario Arts Council to complete a mural on the outside of the Centre with youth, designed in the fall of 2006 and hung in the spring of 2007.  The mural reflects the Centres name and philosophy “To Hold One Sacred”.
Moses has worked in collaboration with a number of artists and art organizations. He has worked with Toronto’s Red Pepper Spectacle Arts on a variety of community projects in Toronto, Nibinamik and other communities over the years. In Dec. of 2001 he participated in Red Pepper’s annual “Festival of Lights” in Toronto. This festival is a joyous blend of visual spectacle, popular theatre and celebration, annually uniting hundreds of artists, musicians, volunteers, merchants and community members, creating a Winter Solstice celebration in Toronto’s culturally rich Kensington Market. Moses worked in collaboration with Red Pepper again in Moose Factory for two weeks in July, 2008 for an art festival “The Gathering of Our People” Celebration.  Moses has also worked along side De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre Group from Wikwemikong on many occassions. This group is a community based professional touring company, which creates and produces works by and about Aboriginal people. Since 1995 the Company has been providing an outreach program to youth on reserves, with a special focus on Northern isolated and remote communities where opportunities for creative development are limited. Moses has been involved with designing stage and set elements for the Company’s millennium project, “New World Brave”. In the summer of 2003 he was involved in the training of a group of 8 youth from the James Bay Lowlands, supporting a collective creation with visual elements “Dreaming” at De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre. He has collaboratively led three community spectacle projects in Nibinamik over the years, with Red Pepper and De-ba-jeh-mu-jig, providing workshops in mask making, large puppet making, stilt walking and clay pit firing. The third annual “Under the Big Sky” festival/parade was held in collaboration with artists from De-ba-jeh-mu-jig in September 2004, with that year’s festival featuring a short drama inspired by the local legend of Windigo as depicted by Moses in his artwork. In the spring of 2004 he collaborated with Aboriginal musician Julian Nowgabow and together they did a flute/bone making workshop with community members in Nibinamik, funded by the Ontario Arts Council. In July, 2005 Moses received funding by the Ontario Arts Councils Aboriginal Arts Projects to attend a two week Artists in Residency program at Pukaskwa National Park. Here he had the opportunity to interact with other Artists and completed a mural which was donated to the Park. As well, he conducted three workshops building canoes from spruce roots and other natural products.  Over the weekend of October 19, 2007, Moses was invited to conduct a two day workshop at the Marguerite Centre (margueritecentre.com) spirituality and conference centre in Pembroke, Ontario. The theme of the workshop was “Exploring Aboriginal Spirit through Art” and cumulated in the joint creation of a large mural.  Moses donated his time painting/overseeing a massive mural on the wall at Lakehead University, Thunder Bay  for the Aboriginal Awareness Center during aboriginal awareness week, March 15- 20, 2004. On June 21, 2004 Moses participated in National Aboriginal Day at Old Fort William Historical Park in Thunder Bay, painting on stage to songs by local Aboriginal singer Alice Sabourin. He also donated his time to work with children of all ages building rock sculptures at the Thunder Bay Pass Lake Fall Fair in August, 2004. On February 17, 2005 Moses was invited to celebrate First Nations Public Library Week “Proud Past, Proud Future” at the Waverley Resource Library. A grassroots initiative started in 2000, citizens of Thunder Bay were invited out to celebrate and “Paint with the Artist”. While recognizing the vital role of reading and writing especially in today’s society, this workshop explored the Aboriginal history of storytelling as one of the oldest forms of communication. Following, a painting was created by Moses, with the assistance of workshop participants, transcending the verbal storytelling history into the realm of visual arts as a form of communication. This painting was donated to the library as a permanent piece. In August 2005 Moses was invited to participate in the three day Barrie 35th annual Kempenfest Festival, by the MacLaren Art Center, with travel assistance from the Canada Councils Aboriginal Peoples Collaborative Exchange. Along with Toronto’s 7th Generation Image Makers, an interactive mural with local and international visitors was completed and put on permanent display in the courtyard at MacLaren Center. In March, 2006 he donated a painting to the Defeat Autism Together Association’s Charity Auction in Thunder Bay, a group formed in 2005 due to a critical shortage of resources in the area of treatment and recovery for these children.  A number of Moses’s images were also used in a not for profit video produced on behalf of Minwaashin Lodge and the women’s Directorate of Ontario and in conjunction with Canterbury High School in Ottawa, designed to promote healthy relationships in and amongst aboriginal people.  The song features award-winning Aboriginal hip hop artists Lakota and Dro as well as scores of children and adults.  The video exceeded all parties’ expectations and it is hoped that it will be utilized in many capacities, including airing on APTN and Much Music.  A link/video clip is available on www.mosesbeaver.com.
Moses has also worked extensively in schools with youth, both mainstream and special education, aboriginal and non-aboriginal over the past 5 years, recently completing the Jan – June 2008 term.  These initiatives are funded for the most part by the Ontario Arts Councils Aboriginal Artists in Education and Artists in Education Programs, and on numerous occasions the schools themselves.  Workshop themes are “story telling through colour and imagery” with paintings, murals, masks, puppetry, totems, fire sculptures etc.  He has worked on various northern reserves, including King Fisher, Pikangikum, Fort Hope, Summer Beaver, Big Trout Lake, Fort Severn, Peawanuk, Kasabonika, Gull Bay and Ear Falls.  He has also taught in various schools across Ontario including  London, Grimsby, Ottawa and District and Toronto and District.  Moses has also worked in various Thunder Bay schools, with two of the schools having the students work displayed at local galleries.  Masks and murals from Moses’ mask making workshop with aboriginal youth at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School in Thunder Bay were on display at Definitely Superior Art Gallery for the month of November and December, 2004 and masks from the mask-making workshop with Grades 6 English and French students at Agnew H. Johnston School in Thunder Bay were put on display at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery for February 2005. The Thunder Bay and District Catholic School, St. Thomas Aquinas, independently commissioned Moses to offer three half-day art/culture courses to Grades 4, 5, and 6 students, as did Five Mile School in Thunder Bay. He also worked independently with grades 5 and 6 students at Algonquin School for two days in April, 2005.
Moses has had a number of his works on exhibition across Ontario over the past 8 years.  Some were on display at the Health Unit in Nibinamik from 1997 to 2000, and at Toronto’s Red Pepper Spectacle in early 2001 to 2003. In August, 2003 Moses had his first solo art show at GrannArt Gallery Inc. Thunder Bay, Ontario, where he continued to display for another year. Moses’ also displayed in a group exhibition at the same gallery, for the first annual, Black and White night in 2003, followed by two group exhibitions with various local visual artists at Mercedes Benz, Thunder Bay, Ontario. He had two paintings on display at the Woodlands Cultural Center for both the 2004 and 2005 First Nations Art Exhibitions. He was also featured in their Exhibition catalogues. Moses work was also selected to exhibit in the “Dancing Through Time Fine Art Exhibition” from Dec. 2004 – March 2005, at the MacLaren Art Center, Barrie, Ontario, featuring 21 Great Lakes Region First Nations Peoples artwork. He attended the opening ceremonies December 10, 2004, donating his time to do a rock-sculpturing workshop on Dec. 10 at the Center for local youth. He also spoke at the Barrie Area Indian Friendship Center to other Aboriginal artists about the importance of collaboration. The Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce and Mayors Office have also had select paintings of Moses’ work on display throughout 2004. On January 1, 2005 he was invited to display his artwork at the Lieutenant Governor’s New Years Levee held in Thunder Bay at the local Armoury. It was with great pleasure that he created and presented to the Lt. Governor a painting titled “Inheritance”. For the month of February, 2005 twenty-five pieces of Moses’ work were on exhibition at Definitely Superior Art Gallery in Thunder Bay, Ontario. In June, 2005 – July 2005 his painting titled “Deana, Tragedy of Suicide” was on display at Definitely Superior Art Galleries Members Exhibition, which featured works that investigated social, political and critical issues of importance.   One of his works was also chosen for the Galleries September 2006 Regional Juried Exhibition.   From June 2005, until present, over 15 of Moses paintings are on display at Thunder Bay’s Ahnisnabae Art Gallery (ahnisnabae-art.com). In memory of renowned Aboriginal Artist Roy Thomas, this gallery features his artwork and the artwork of a select group of other Woodlands artists including Moses.   The Thunder Bay Historical Museum also exhibited one of Moses paintings and hand made flutes, along with various other local Aboriginal Artists,  from the period of September 24 through to Dec 31, 2006.  Three of Moses paintings were selected by the Association for Native Development in the Performing and Visual Arts (ANDPVA) to participate in the Tenth Annual Fine Arts Exhibit at the Rogers Center (Sky Dome) from November 24 - 26, 2006.  The theme of the exhibition was “In the Circle of Giving Back”. Also, www.lakesuperiorstore.com and lakesuperioroutdoors.com feature the artwork of Moses and crafts/flutes/carvings from the land of Nishnawbe Aski Nation.  In March, 2006 Moses was invited by the University of Wisconsin-Superior, USA to partake in their annual 2007 Native American Art Scholarship Exhibit set for March.  He was the first Canadian Aboriginal Artist to exhibit, along with Native artists from the area.  This exhibit gave Native high school students in the area a chance to display their work alongside professional artists, with a $1000.00 scholarship going to the first place winner of the competition. The Museum of Ontario Archaeology (www.uwo.ca/museum) is hosting an art show from Sept. 2007 - April 2008, called “ Gathering of Good Minds” where two of Moses’s works are on display. From June 2005, until present, over 20 of Moses' paintings are on display at Thunder Bay’s Ahnisnabae Art Gallery (ahnisnabae-art.com). In memory of renowned Aboriginal Artist Roy Thomas, this gallery features his artwork and the artwork of a select group of other Woodlands artists including Moses.  A selection of Moses’ works are also on permanent exhibition at the Native Art Gallery, 293 Lakeshore Road East, Oakville ON Tel: 905-845-5577.  He has also displayed select paintings and promoted his website which has a gallery of all his works, at numerous venues across Ontario over the past five years while teaching art related workshops with youth in schools. Many of Moses paintings and pictures of projects he has completed in the past few years are featured on his website at www.mosesbeaver.com
Moses has been supported by various grants over the past five years. He received an Emerging Artist Grant from the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) in 2002 and again in 2004. He was the recipient of numerous Aboriginal Arts in Education Grants from the OAC over the past four years, up to and including 2007/08, as well as grants from the Arts in Education Division, Aboriginal Arts Projects and Artists in the Community. He was also the recipient of a Recommender Grant, administered through the OAC in 2003. In June 2004 Moses received a grant from the Aboriginal Arts Projects Department of the OAC to complete a series of 6 paintings “At The Apex of Change”. These works explored the relationship between a natural land based way of seeing informed by the dependency of the urban environment and its resources from the perspective of past, present and future. They were on exhibition in select locations in Thunder Bay from September 2005 - March, 2006, including Magnus Theatre, in support of the play “Tales of an Urban Indian”. Moses also received a travel grant from the Canada Council for the Arts in 2001 and through the Aboriginal Peoples Collaborative Exchange fund in August 2005.  In December, 2006 Moses received a grant to explore colour theory and the creation of a new body of works reflecting the nuances of colour as related to the evolution of aboriginal art.  These works are depicted in his first book released in November 2007 “A Christmas Carol” with writer David Bouchard and singer Susan Aglukark.
Moses spent a lot of time in Thunder Bay in 2005 and 2006, working with youth in the local schools and in various community projects, while continuing to develop his own talent as an Artist. Since becoming actively involved in the Thunder Bay arts community, he has had the honour of interacting with many local artists and galleries, sharing life experiences, techniques and the love of Art. He will continue to be involved in the development of the arts in his own community (Summer Beaver) and on other Northern Reserves.  In 2007/8 Moses completed the Illustration of a series of 23 legends for a Legend Book with American writer Tamarack Song, which it is hoped will be published and distributed across Canada, America and overseas in 2009. Following this, he plans to illustrate a series of children’s books with the same Author.  Moses was also the feature artist in a film entitled “Transformation” which is a documentary filmed by David Clement, exploring the Woodlands Art movement, weaving a path of historical and contemporary significance in the ongoing development of First Nations visual art.  This film was completed in  October 2006 and released in September 2007, to be aired on TV Ontario and the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.  Pictures of the making of the film are available on www.mosesbeaver.com  It is also with great honour that Moses worked along side award winning, best selling writer David Bouchard, creating  13 paintings for an Aboriginal Christmas Book “A Christmas Carol” with an Aboriginal Arts Projects Grant from the Ontario Art Council.  The book is accompanied by a CD of the song, sung by well known singer Susan Aglukark and released in November, 2007 by Red Dear Press.  One of the illustrations from this book was selected to be on the cover of the publication “Books For Everyone” (BFE), distributed in book stores across Canada. 
Moses has received a great deal of media attention surrounding his artwork over the past few years, particularly in regards to his community and educational work with Youth. He has been featured on a number of occasions in the Wawatay, Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal, Anishinaek News, Ontario Birchbark, London Star, Toronto Star, Niagara This Week, Sagatay (Wasaya Inflight Magazine 2004/2005), The Hamilton Spectator and the Thunder Bay Source. He was interviewed on CBC Radio in August 2003, and was featured on Thunder Bay Television News for his Artists in Education work on October 6, 2004 as well as the local television news in Grimsby, Ontario in April 2005. In October 2005 he was featured in various Ottawa papers for his work with youth in schools through the OAC Artists in Education Program (Kanata Kourier-Standard; Ottawa News; Ottawa Daily Observer). He was featured in the September 2004 edition of Transcending Boundaries, an International Journal of Creativity and Connection (www.transformingboundaries.com). Maggie Milne titled the article “The Art of Collaboration, The Man Behind the Bird’s Eye”. Also, a portion of the mural he assisted students to create at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay was on the January 2005 cover of Transcending Boundaries.
Moses attended a training program March 26 – 28, 2004 on Art Means Business, a 3 day career management training program for visual artists presented by Visual Arts Ontario and Algoma University College in Sault St. Marie. He has also attended numerous information sessions in Thunder Bay put on by the Ontario Arts Council regarding their strategic plan to develop their presence in the North. On September 25, 2004 he participated in the Thunder Bay Community Arts and Heritage Education Project Trade Show at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery. This show was an opportunity to bring together arts and heritage organizations and individual artists with educators, business and the community for programming in the arts. In February of 2005 Moses attended the Ontario Art Councils Arts Education Professional Development Day in Toronto, titled Legacy and Evolution; An Exploration in Creativity. In January, 2006 the Thunder Bay Art Gallery sponsored a professional development workshop geared to the North, presented by Visual Arts Ontario.  Moses was also one of 40 artists from across Ontario selected to participate in a five day pilot credit course entitled “Artists in Education for Artists Working in Ontario Schools” offered  in partnership with the Ontario Arts Council and York University, from August 28 - September 1, 2006.  He would like to be involved in 2008/2009 in a National and or International Artists in Residency program.