Kidd Squid Brew Co in Sag Harbor will release Ma’s House, a 6.4% ABV India Pale Ale, on Saturday, September 19, coinciding with the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce’s annual HarborFest weekend at Kidd Squid and throughout the Village. The beer is part of an ongoing artist collaboration series between Kidd Squid and Ma’s House & BIPOC Art Studio, the Indigenous-led communal art space on the Shinnecock Indian Nation territory in Southampton.
Cass Gardiner, an Anishinaabe Omàmiwinini filmmaker, curator, and writer from Kebaowek First Nation in present-day Quebec, created the artwork for the small-batch release can. Working across mediums, her practice explores Indigenous identity, storytelling, culture, and the construction of history.
Launched in May 2026, the Kidd Squid × Ma’s House collaboration series pairs small-batch releases from the brewery with original label artwork by BIPOC artists selected by Ma’s House. A portion of proceeds from every release supports Ma’s House & BIPOC Art Studio. Ma’s House is led by Shinnecock artist Jeremy Dennis, a contemporary fine art photographer whose work centers Indigenous identity, culture, and assimilation.
“It’s really exciting to reconnect with Cass after her residency at Ma’s House and find another way to work together. One of the best parts of the residency is seeing those relationships continue beyond the time an artist spends with us, and this collaboration with Kidd Squid is a fun way to share Cass’s work with a much wider audience,” said Dennis.
“This collaboration exists to put resources and visibility behind BIPOC artists working on the East End, and to make sure that work travels — across bars, bottle shops, and kitchen counters from Sag Harbor to Brooklyn. Cass’s piece is stunning, and we’re proud to have it on our cans this month,” said Rory McEvoy, co-founder of Kidd Squid Brew Co.
The label draws on traditional Anishinaabe woodland floral beadwork — florals, oak leaves, strawberries, butterflies, and hop cones — reinterpreted through the visual language of pixelated 1990s computer games, a signature of Gardiner’s work with Bird x Bird. The type on the can is drawn to look hand-sewn rather than perfect, reflecting an Anishinaabe teaching that nothing in nature is perfect and that human art should carry that same truth.
“It is a pleasure to bring my work to Weg-wag-onuch (Sag Harbor), the traditional lands of the Shinnecock and Montaukett peoples. As a former artist-in-residence at Ma’s House I loved my time getting to know the communities and land here and to return for this collaboration with Kidd Squid is a full circle moment. Anishinaabe travel and trade across rivers and lakes, and I love that through this collaboration our floral designs will now travel the East End and reach the Atlantic ocean,” said Cass Gardiner.