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Boston Globe
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Rob Stull, comic book creator and MFA artist-in-residence, dies at 58
'I didn't aspire like other young kids to be an actor, or an athlete,' he said in Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Advertisement 'We're incredibly saddened by the passing of visionary Boston artist Rob Stull,' The museum praised his original drawings that were displayed in the museum's galleries, saying that 'as artist-in-residence at the MFA, Rob created a visual response to our 2020–2021 exhibition Advertisement At the MFA, Mr. Stull also cocreated with When the giant banners of Mr. Stull's work were unveiled at the museum entrance, according to the MFA, Mr. Stull said that 'artists work their entire life to get this level of acknowledgment and respect. I'm over the moon.' In the School of the Museum of Fine Arts interview, posted online in 2021, he said there was a generational context to pursuing his calling. 'Art was like a family business,' he said. 'My father is a retired architect and was the founder of the oldest Black-owned firm in this part of the country.' One uncle was a ceramicist, and another taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, he said, 'so there was always art hanging on the walls of our home when I was a child.' He said he was welcomed into a community of artists 'at an age where I didn't fully understand how important it was to have access to artists like them. I was always drawing as a result of that.' Beginning three decades ago, he created and curated 'Sequential Art: The Next Step, 'a first-of-its-kind traveling exhibit spotlighting the contributions of African-Americans to mainstream comic book art and popular culture,' he said on his website. Advertisement 'The exhibit's mission was to increase the understanding, appreciation and awareness of sequential art,' Mr. Stull wrote. 'The secondary aspect was to empower people of all ages and races by bringing attention to the fact that talented artists of color not only work on characters like Batman, Spider-Man, JLA, and the X-Men, but we also create, write, illustrate, produce, and publish our own properties as well.' 'Sequential Art' was showcased at the 'In many ways, I'm amazed that I'm a Black comic book artist, but if you move in my circles, you start to realize that we have always been here, pursuing work in comics,' Born on Feb. 2, 1967, Robert B. Stull grew up in Brookline and Boston. His mother, Patricia Ryder Stull, held administrative and secretarial positions and was devoted to dance, from modern to tap, throughout her life, according to Mr. Stull's older sister, Cydney Garrido of Melbourne, Fla. Their father, Donald L. Stull, was a pioneering Black architect who founded groundbreaking firms and was a designer of Boston landmarks. Cydney said her brother 'was always introspective and thoughtful.' And because his talent flowered early, she said, it 'was kind of a given' that he would pursue art. In the 2018 Globe interview, Mr. Stull spoke about using the family home as his canvas while growing up in Brookline. 'I have a vivid memory of having a pack of jumbo crayons when I was maybe 3 or 4,' he said. 'I went straight to the bathroom — all those white walls — and completely covered the surface with drawings. My parents were so angry, but I remember my father said, 'Wait a minute, maybe there's something to this.' ' Advertisement Mr. Stull's art teachers at Brookline High School encouraged him to get a solid grounding in graphic design and illustration at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Those studies led to a varied career that included comics, advertising, and teaching at places such as the Sometimes his sister Gia, who now also lives in Melbourne, Fla., would watch over his shoulder as he created images. 'He didn't draw in the traditional way,' said Gia, who also studied art. 'He could start with somebody's foot at the bottom of the page and draw up into that page in near perfect realism perspective. It's like he did the sketching in his head.' She added that her brother 'was such a brilliant example of figuring out how to do what you love, and not giving up — making it work for you, and not settling anyone else's definition of what your life should be about. Everything he did was to serve his passion.' While studying at the museum school, Mr. Stull helped launch AWOL, Artists Without Limits. After graduating, he lived in New York City for a time and started Armada Design Group 'to provide authentic comic book inspired artwork in other areas of media and entertainment — specifically music and hip-hop,' he said in the 2021 interview. Advertisement Mr. Stull also founded the Ink on Paper production studio, was a partner in True Elements Publishing, and formerly served among the He told the Globe he always knew it was inevitable that art would be his passion. 'With all the artists in my life, it's like I was in the Mafia — I was born into this thing,' he said. 'I had no choice.' Mr. Stull's sisters, Cydney and Gia, are his only immediate survivors. They said a celebration of his life will be announced. 'It's never been easy to make it as an artist, but the opportunities to be expressive and visible are better now than ever before. But you can't just do one thing — you need to do a bunch of different projects,' Mr. Stull said in the 2018 Globe interview. 'I'm both a fan and a creator,' he said, 'and I always feel fortunate to be doing what I'm doing.' Bryan Marquard can be reached at
CBC
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Painting with Clay exhibition celebrates Indigenous family's artistic legacy
Artwork from three generations of the same family is on display at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo. The exhibit, called Painting with Clay, showcases the ceramic works of the Beam family. Carl Beam was an Indigenous artist from Manitoulin Island credited with helping to bring Indigenous art to a mainstream audience. His daughter, Anong Migwans Beam, is carrying on his legacy and passing it down to her children. "It's really joyful," Beam told CBC K-W's The Morning Edition host Craig Norris. "It's really fun to see things that you've taught your kids coming back. But then they they create their own, they really take it and make it their own. It's really exciting," she said. Carl Beam was known as a pioneer in giving Indigenous peoples a voice through art. His wife, Ann Beam, was also a well-known artist in her own right. Anong Migwans Beam says her parents were able to support the family solely through their art. She added that growing up with such prolific artists as her parents gave her valuable insight into creating art. "It was definitely a real education. There were a lot of lean times, but they were really passionate about their work," she said. The next generation Beam was always set on following in her parent's footsteps. She studied at various art schools, including the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Her two sons have continued the Beam family's interest in art, featuring some of their work in the exhibition. "It's a really incredible feeling because I think I have a glimpse of what it was like for my mom and dad to work with me," she said. Anong says that with this exhibition, she has seen the artistic methods she taught her two sons put into action. The meaning behind the exhibition Beam hopes the exhibition will draw attention to traditional Anishinaabe ceramic practices. "There really haven't been any exhibits of traditional Anishinaabe ceramics," she said. There's been a lot for South American communities and even Mohawk ceramics, but as far as Anishinaabe territories, our ceramic tradition hasn't been widely discussed," she added. She says the exhibition exemplifies how knowledge and skills can be passed down through tradition. "Out of all of us, we don't really have a lot of university or school training on ceramics. It's mainly a kind of cultural training," she said. She says traditional teaching is often overlooked, and she hopes the exhibit will remind people of other ways of learning. The exhibition will be on display until May 28. Beam says she is proud to showcase how her family traditions have been passed on through multiple generations. "I'm really proud to show knowledge transmission through generations," she said.
