Tam Irving in his studio gallery
The North West Ceramics Foundation is thrilled with the appointment of former Board Member Tam Irving to the Order of Canada on June 30, 2025, by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada. One of Canada’s highest honours, the Order of Canada recognizes people across all sectors of society who have made extraordinary and sustained contributions to our nation.
The description of the achievements of Thomas Peter Caven Irving, known to us as Tam, on the official website are quite minimal:
Tam Irving is a traditional studio potter who championed the use of local materials and created glazes by crushing rocks with his studio machines. After sculpting for three decades, he transitioned into three-dimensional still-life compositions and painting. Professor emeritus at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, he has exhibited his work internationally.
However, we all know that his achievements as an artist and outstanding human being far exceed this cursory description. Quoting for our letter of support for his nomination, we write:
Tam Irving’s outstanding achievement over a lifetime is well-documented in his numerous exhibitions, writings, and presentations dating back as far as 1966. His work has been the subject of essays and catalogues written by noted scholars in Canada and the US. His first solo exhibition was held at the New Design Gallery in Vancouver in 1966. More recent solo exhibitions include Transitions of a Still Life, at the Burnaby Art Gallery in 2007; and Stillness and New Direction in Ceramics at VisualSpace Gallery in Vancouver in 2020 and 2021. Tam Irving’s functional and sculptural ceramics have been included in group exhibitions of note in Canada from 1967 until the present including A Question of Identity: Twelve Canadians at the Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, ON, in 1998; Thrown, at the Belkin Art Gallery, UBC, in 2004; and Modern in the Making: Post-War Craft and Design in British Columbia at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 2020-2021. His work resides in significant public and private collections across Canada and abroad.
In selflessly sharing his immense knowledge through his teaching, writing, presentations, and exhibitions, Tam Irving has done much to promote the importance of ceramics in Canada, and the importance of Canadian ceramics to the world. In this, he has served the nation, proving to the world that Canada’s creative output stands alongside that of any other nation on an international scale. About his functional work, noted potter and theoretician Paul Mathieu has written, “It compares with anybody in the world making that type of work. . .. In my opinion, there are maybe 50 serious potters in the world that I know of and Tam is one of them.” Through his outstanding work, his technical and artistic innovations, his teaching, and his example, Tam Irving is fully deserving on the Order of Canada, which recognizes the best our nation has to offer to the world.
Well done Tam!! We are pleased and proud that the jury recognized what we have known all along, that you are an outstanding and essential member of the creative community of Canada.
