In Memory of Sam Ash

Last week, the Indigenous arts community lost an incredible Ojibway artist, named Samuel Ash (1951 - 2021). 

Ash became Deaf at a young age and was raised by foster parents in Umfreville, Ontario. He learned how to read and write at the "Ontario School for the Deaf in Belleville (now The Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf)." He was "a self-taught painter of the Woodland School" since 1974, and began painting at the Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre. His works as a Woodland School artist "has amassed a body of work worthy of recognition among Canada's most notable Indigenous artists."

In 1978, Ash won an award at the Red Cloud Art Show, which is based on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

From the early 1990s to 2005, Ash took a break from painting "due to personal difficulties." His first painting he exhibited in 2005 is called "Rising from the Ashes," and it can be seen at the Mackenzie Hall Cultural Centre in Windsor, Ontario. At this same launch, he sold almost 60 pieces of his work.

In 2018, Ash donated a piece of his work and emphasized that it should be displayed "in a public library space where it can be viewed by the public for free." The painting is on display in the Toronto Reference Library on the second floor. Please visit our COVID-19 Impacts on Toronto Public Library webpage for up-to-date information about visiting the library. Due to Provincial restrictions, it is not possible to visit Toronto Reference Library at this time.

Besides the Toronto Public Library, Ash also has paintings at the Royal Ontario Museum, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, the Government of Ontario Art Collection, the Mackenzie Hall Cultural Centre, The Thunder Bay Art Gallery and The Canadian Museum of History in Canada. In the United States, his works hang in The Heritage Center at Red Cloud School and The Dennos Museum Center.

Sam Ash is buried at Mishkeegogamang Ojibway First Nation Reserve.

On June 8, The Globe and Mail published an article about Sam Ash’s life, “Samuel Ash’s paintings reflect the difficulties and the joys in his life”.

On behalf of the Toronto Public Library, we pass along our sincerest condolences to Sam Ash's loved ones, friends and community.

Below is the contents of an earlier blog post by TPL from October 23, 2018, entitled "‘Where it can be viewed for free’: celebrating Sam Ash’s donation to TPL". (It is reproduced here for posterity.)

On October 5th, 2018, a celebration was held at the Toronto Reference Library to honour Sam Ash's donation. The artist and his family and friends were on hand to unveil the painting at the future home of this extraordinary work.

As part of the Woodland School of artists, Sam Ash has amassed a body of work worthy of recognition among Canada’s most notable indigenous artists. His paintings are in the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the permanent collection of the National Museum of Man, and have been exhibited at the Canada House Gallery in London, England. 

TPL has chosen to hang this painting on the second floor of the Toronto Reference Library. Every year, over one million people walk through the doors of the Reference Library, every one of them for free and every one of them welcome. Now, thanks to Sam Ash’s generosity, the painting will soon be installed to be seen and enjoyed by the many, many people who come into this space in the months and years ahead.

 

After the celebration, the painting was delivered to the Toronto Public Library’s conservators, who are taking steps to preserve the work before it is hung for all to enjoy. A further announcement will be made when the painting is permanently installed.

Updates: on April 21, 2021, picture has been updated; April 22, 2021, information about Sam's early life and identity have been updated through conversation with his friends and family; June 10, 2021: added link to the Globe and Mail article, “Samuel Ash’s paintings reflect the difficulties and the joys in his life” on June 8, 2021; March 2, 2026: old TPL blog post about acquisition combined with this one.