Artist and ECU Professor Emeritus Tam Irving Appointed to the Order of Canada

Artist and Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU) Professor Emeritus Tam Irving has been appointed to the Order of Canada (OOC).

In an interview with North Shore News, Tam says he was “amazed and flattered” by the recognition.

Presented by the governor general, the OOC is the country’s highest civilian honour, recognizing outstanding achievement and dedication to the community and service to the nation.

Tam is known primarily as a ceramicist and studio potter, with the official announcement noting he has long “championed the use of local materials.”

“I had a crushing plant in my studio where I would crush rocks that I found in various parts of the province and then ground them down to fine powder and made glazes from them,” he tells North Shore News. “My pots are very much BC because they’re made from BC rocks, or at least the glazes are.”

His interest in the art form was first sparked during childhood, living in Cascais, Portugal, with his mother. Having imported an electric kiln, she would decorate vessels thrown by local potters.

Yet despite this early interest, Tam initially obtained a degree in agriculture and worked as a chemist before embracing his love for ceramics in 1964. In his later career, Tam has expanded his practice to include three-dimensional still-life compositions and painting.

While many artists have been appointed to the OOC, exceedingly few are potters, Tam notes.

“Finally, ceramic pots are being recognized as an art form,” he says, adding that young artists should to “stick to their guns.”

“Go on doing what moves you,” he says.