The Global Centre for Climate Action at OCAD U presents: Material Value

How might we realize the full value of our materials? This is a question that artists Nicole Collins (OCAD U) and Anong Migwans Beam (Beam Paints) have been exploring in their prolific visual practices. By creating and using natural paints and pigments, they engage in a creative process that embodies ecological repair and a deep connection with plants and land, redefining waste as valuable and reconnecting with ancestral ways of making.

Join us for this intimate conversation, as they collaboratively discuss the intentions, creative and technical processes, and challenges of expanding material value in artistic practice and its alignment with committing to renewed climate futures.

This event also marks the official launch of the Sustainable Colour Lab —a new space at OCAD U co-led by Nicole Collins, Professor Julia Rose Sutherland (Faculty of Design and Indigenous Visual Culture, OCAD U), and Professor Lauchlan Reid (Faculty of Design and Chair of Illustration, OCAD U) dedicated to sustainable colour material research for artists and designers.

October 21, 2024 @ 4pm (Virtual): Natalie Waldburger (OCAD U) in conversation with Yasmine Osendorf-Rodriguez (Future Materials Bank, Green Art Lab Alliance) on facilitating mycelial collaborations, and using mushrooms in artistic practice.

October 29, 2024 @ 4pm (In-Person @ OCAD): Lecture by Amanda Boetzkes (University of Guelph) and conversation with Ala Roushan (OCAD U) on the visual theory of waste.

November 14, 2024 @ TBD (In-Person @ TBD): Workshop with Kirsty Roberston (University of Western) and Charlene Lau (Evergreen) on sustainable curation and exhibition design.

November 21, 2024 @ 5PM (In-Person @ OCAD): Lecture by Christine Shaw (Blackwood Gallery) on large-scale, interdisciplinary art collaborations for social change.

is a painter from Mchigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island and is inspired by the physical history of place, the natural landscape, and the relationship between water and memory. Beam's oil paintings incorporate a multitude of image-making approaches, including photo transfer, printmaking and collage which have been inspired by the physical history of her home, its surrounding landscapes, and the relationship between water and memory. Anong has not only used her homeland as an inspiration for her work but also for creating her oil paints, which are sourced from local pigments and minerals.

In addition to her artistic work, Beam has been actively involved in her local community and is well known for her curatorial work. In 2007 Beam was one of the founders of Gimaa Radio Communications, an English and Ojibwe language radio station in M'Chigeeng First Nation. The station is focused on Ojibwe language preservation and local Indigenous musical performances. From 2016-2017 Beam served as the Art Director of the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation and in 2017 she transitioned to become the Executive Director. Later that same year, Beam also launched her line of watercolour and oil paints known as BEAM Paints. Beam has also been an outspoken advocate for the preservation of Indigenous archaeology and Indigenous ceramics within local communities.

is an Artist and Associate Professor of Material and Visual Culture in the Drawing & Painting program. Since the early 1990’s she has exhibited extensively including solo exhibitions at The Koffler Gallery (2018), The Art Gallery of Ontario (2013), The University of Waterloo Art Gallery (2013), and The Embassy of Canada in Tokyo (2001). Starting from a foundation in painting, her 30-year, multi-disciplinary practice includes drawing, performance, video, sound and installation. Collins received the BFA Honours from the University of Guelph (1988), Master of Visual Studies from the University of Toronto (2009), the OCADU Award for Teaching Excellence (2011), the Inspired Teaching Award (2014) and is a Massey College Visiting Scholar at the University of Toronto. Professor Collins is the Co-Director of the OCADU Sustainable Colour Lab.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

MCC 525, 113 McCaul Street, Toronto, Canada