Caleb Beyers: Artist with big reach dies at 42

You may not have known him but you likely were exposed to his work.

His creativity in branding and design can be seen in numerous Victoria businesses from Big Wheel Burger and Tall Tree Health to Discovery Coffee and Hoyne Brewing.

Caleb Beyers, a husband, father, and artist touched the lives of many people who are still coming to terms with his sudden death on April 28 by heart attack. He was 42.

“My heart aches for his kids,” said close friend Alex Conconi. “I don't know what is worse: The fact that he won't get to see them grow older, or that they won't have him as a dad. He was such an amazing guy.”

Beyers leaves behind his wife Hanahlie and their two sons, Elia, 2, and Asher, 4.

“He was the most welcoming, big-hug, you know, very curious, very accepting, very, very nurturing person,” said Conconi, who for the family has set up a GoFundMe page that as of Friday afternoon had amassed $210K.

Conconi was a student at Shawnigan Lake (boarding) School when he met the slightly older Beyers, who was teaching art and rowing. Beyers had just completed his studies at Harvard, where he was on scholarship.

“He just was like this really self-motivated, positive, curious person ever since he was young,” Conconi said.

Motivated to make Harvard’s rowing team—and if you know anything about Facebook, the Winklevoss twins were teammates—and to work on the Harvard Lampoon, the undergraduate humour magazine that dates back to 1876. After Harvard, Beyers returned to Victoria and installed himself in the arts and small business communities.

“He was a very, very talented illustrator and many business people in Victoria gravitated toward him and tried to get him to work on their projects," Conconi said.

‍ Well-respected in Victoria's arts and business communities

The list of Victoria businesses Beyers worked with is long and includes Big Wheel Burger, Tall Tree Health, Discovery Coffee, Entheo, Habit Coffee, Hoyne Brewing, Hinterland, Standard Pizza, Sprout Healthcare, Twin Island Cider, Vessel, and Victory Barbers.

In a spring 2020 cover story, Douglas magazine described the work Beyers and wife Hanahlie were doing: “From consulting on branding and storytelling to designing interiors—some projects even involved designing furniture and lighting—their clients included Habit, Hoyne Brewing, and Victory Barber & Brand.”

“He would do not just the branding, but the interior design work for some of these businesses, he would do just everything, really,” Conconi said.

“There's a lot of spaces around town that have his design,” said longtime friend Adam Olsen. “So, for as long as they remain, we'll be able to go around town and see little artistic touches and flair that he left this community.”

Calen McNeil, founder of Big Wheel Burger, said Beyers was ahead of his time and demonstrated a sense of branding that was unmatched.

“Every time I walk into one of our stores I will think of Caleb, and there is no doubt that he is designing another iconic brand in the afterlife.”

Beyers contributed greatly and left legacies

He helped founder Bradley Jawl create the brand for Tall Tree Health—the first of six projects on which they collaborated.

When asked about his legacy, Jawl tells Capital Daily Beyers left two.

“The first is the effect he’s had on his hometown. He created countless stellar brands for businesses that make Victoria a bit more wonderful.”

The second, he said, are the people that knew him. “It’s hard to convey this part but... he lived, he was alive, he felt the world. His art was in real conversation with the world. He thought independently. This inspired everyone who got to know him.”

Olsen, the MLA for Saanich North and the Islands, knew Beyers since Caleb was a young boy, having shared a home with him and his brothers when the family fell on tough times.

“He was a big personality,” Olsen said. “He was a very loving man: Loved his kids, loved his family, his partner, loved his farm.”

In 2018, Beyers and Hanahlie moved into that farm on Pender Island—a modest place from all accounts. Ever selfless, he often slept on the floor to allow the rest of the family to take the bed. They raised animals, including alpaca, which produce a soft and silky fleece-like wool, something that interested Beyers, always looking for new material.

Was looking forward to London

“On the Saturday, literally, before he died, he was working with one of my colleagues specifically designing garments that we were going to use at a major fashion summit in London,” said his boss, Noel Hall, executive chair of Bast Fibre Technologies, a sustainable fibre company developing materials for a variety of different applications, including in the apparel sector.

Beyers started at Bast as a consultant and worked his way to head of brand and design, developing sustainable materials for fashion brands, and was excited about the fashion show slated for next month.

Hall said it will be difficult to go to London without Beyers but he plans to take a small bit of solace in knowing his friend’s work will live on.

“We get to see Caleb's work every day in action, because anybody that comes to experience our website or Instagram feed or anything like that, they're going to see Caleb's touch everywhere.”

Olsen said he received a text message from his friend on Friday in which Beyers excitedly told of “some rad things brewing” that he couldn’t wait to talk about.

He called him back on Sunday, “The phone just rang and rang and rang. Of course, he had already passed away.”

A lasting memory

A lasting memory Olsen said he holds is of Beyers constantly taking out his phone, and constantly being creative.

“Anything he touched, he could create with. It just flowed out of him,” Olsen said. “If he gets like the worst iPhone camera in his hand, he'll make the most beautiful pictures out of it. If he gets a pencil in his hand, he can create the coolest cartoon that you've ever seen. It just was what he did.”

Jawl said Beyers was true to his word and true to himself.

“He turned down projects that he didn’t believe in,” he said. “He always wanted to work on “make my hometown better” projects or “make the world better projects”.”

Conconi said nobody knew Beyers had coronary artery disease and he was still able “to keep a mean pace” on his bike.

“He had never complained of chest pain. The only clue is that he had a pain in his back, which had worsened in the days before he died.”

Conconi asked to remind readers to have their cardiovascular health checked.

“If Caleb had been made aware of the state of his heart sooner, perhaps he could still be here for his kids today.”

‍ A celebration of life will be held at Brentwood College School where Caleb Beyers was an alumnus, on Sunday, July 7th, at 1pm.