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Inuit Art Gallery
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In August of 2002, Julie Klaper and Mara Wasburn at the urging of the Canadian government, jointly addressed a letter to Inuit art lovers inviting them to attend a meeting at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis to consider organizing an Inuit Art Society. That meeting was held on October 19 with twenty persons in attendance. There was discussion of a mission statement, purpose and frequency of meetings, activities, types of memberships, cost publicity, timeline for growth and follow-up.
The follow-up was held on the campus of the University of Michigan in Dearborn, in March, 2003 with David Ruben Piqtoukun as guest artist. Twenty-six people participated. At that meeting discussion centered on 501(c)3 status, coordination of a fall meeting in Chicago, mailing lists, by-laws, memberships and dues, and a calendar of Inuit activities. Also discussed were the responses to a questionnaire which had been sent to some 80 people to measure interest in forming a society. 36 responses were received. Some participants also came to a display, in May, of prints by Jessie Oonark which was held at the Kresge Art Museum at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
Eliot Waldman took the lead in organizing the next meeting which was held August 15 and 16 at the Orrington Hotel in Evanston. It included a reception at the Mitchell Museum and a marketplace where several dealers sold Inuit arts. At this meeting, Nuna Parr and Mattiusi Iyaituk, the president of the Unuit Art Foundation of Canada participated with Parr giving a carving demonstration. A visit was organized to the home of Phil and Ellen Leavitt to view their collection. At the business meeting discussion centered on the mission statement, by-laws, membership and dues, creation of a web-site and the next meeting. The meeting approved a charter membership to help formalize the organization. At this meeting the society mission statement was finalized as follows, “The Inuit Art Society is dedicated to providing education about and support for the culture and art forms, and artists of the Arctic.” The Canadian government, as with previous meetings, gave support to it.
A number of individuals were identified to serve on the board of the newly created organization and it was agreed that it would meet in October at the Dennos Museum in Traverse City. By the time that meeting was held, the I.A.S. had nearly fifty dues paying members. Approximately the same number attended the Evanston meeting.
By December, 2003, the I.A.S. Board had been fully organized with Matthew Quigley as President; Phil Leavitt, Vice-president;, Ellen Leavitt, secretary; Carolyn Drake, treasurer and Jerry Catana, Claude Weil, Eliot Waldman, Ann Conway and Crichton Commer, members at large. Much of the Board’s business was carried on via conference calls.
In a conference call on January 19, 2004, Claude Weil and Carolyn Drake accepted responsibility for organizing the next meeting, tentatively in Minneapolis. Aside from the usual organizational matters, there was discussion of the I.A.F.’s “Arts Alive Festival” in Ottawa in March and the Dennos Museum’s buying trip to Toronto in April.
The Minneapolis meeting was held at the Marquette Hotel, November 12 to 14, 2004. Aside from the Marketplace in which several dealers participated, it included a comprehensive educational program. It included Darlene Coward Weight, Curator of Inuit Art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Jerry Riach former owner of the Raven Gallery who invited the group to his print making establishment; Professor Laird Christie of the Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario who talked about Inuit Shamanism; John Weil whose talk dealt with an Inuit Painter, Pierre Nauja; and Jan Sivertson of Sivertsen’s Gallery who discuss Inuit ivory carving and dolls. The featured artist was Germaine Arnaktauyok. In addition there was a visit to home of Lane Phillips and Cindy Carlson to view their collection. Fifty people participated and the local Canadian Consulate generously gave its financial support. A Board meeting was also held
In 2005, two meetings were held. In May, the meeting was held at the Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan with nearly fifty participants. As in Minneapolis, a show and tell session was scheduled so that participants could talk about their favorite pieces. A screening was held of the film, “The Snow Walker.” Dr. John and Elizabeth Kilbourne discussed Inuit Games and Culture; James Ribby sang and recited poems reflecting Inuit wisdom; and Leslie Boyd Ryan talked about the Inuit Marketplace. Matthew Nuqingaq was expected to be present but was unable to attend because of the weather. Carolyn Drake took the lead in organizing this meeting. Nearly 50 guests participated. Again a marketplace was held and a home visit made.
In September, an I.A.S. meeting was held in Skokie, Illinois in conjunction with the opening at Northwestern University of a permanent exhibit of Inuit sculpture and prints from the collection of Donald P. Jacobs , Dean Emeritus of the J.L. Kellogg School of Manage-ment. The I.A.S. annual meeting was held at the North Shore Skokie Hotel. Mattiusi Iyaituk, President of the I.A.F. was the keynote speaker. Nuna Parr gave a carving demonstration and Theodore Van Zelst, whose collection will shortly go on display at the Field Museum, discussed John Huston and the Japanese artist, Un’ichi Hiratsuka from whom Huston learned print-making techniques. At the Business Meeting, Phil Leavitt was elected President. The other officers remained the same. Eliot Waldman resigned because of his new dealer’s status but Gabe Rosenberg and Susan Beck were newly elected to the board.
As of the beginning of 2006, the Society had approximately 80 members. Contact has been made with collector's groups in Vancouver and Toronto and publicity about the I.A.S. has been sent to many dealers.
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Inuit Art
