Dear Friends and Fellow Members: 

As the recently elected President of the Inuit Art Society, I want to first wish each of you a very belated Happy New Year and hope that 2008 will bring each of you much good health and success in whatever endeavors you may be involved with. 

As President, my agenda during 2008 for the Inuit Art Society is many-fold. These are the things that I, along with my fellow board members, hope to accomplish: 

• To re-establish two IAS meetings this and every year (one each in the spring and fall/early winter).
• To aggressively reach out to individuals who have expressed an interest in our organization or who were prior society members and return them to active membership.
• To grow the attendance of members and non-members at society events.
• To continue to expand and improve the usefulness of our website through the newly established Communication Committee.
• To expand and better define our "Swap Meet" (a.k.a. Marketplace) that is held at formal meetings.
• To continue to expand the educational aspect of our formal meetings.
• To improve communication by increased mailings from the board, and specifically the President, to the membership at large along with the development of a “welcome” letter to new members.

In terms of some things to look forward to, we are presently investigating several meeting sites in or near the Chicago area for our Spring- Early Summer meeting. More about this shortly. 

Please put the following dates on your calendar NOW - November 14th, 15th and 16th, 2008. The IAS will be hosting a preview party and the weekend for the 3-month opening exhibition of: “Our Land: Contemporary Art from the Artic” at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art here in Indianapolis, IN. This exhibit is a collaborative project of the Peabody Essex Museum, the Government of Canada and the Government of Nunavut. Please watch the website for more information on this developing event. 

Sincerely, 

Gabriel J. Rosenberg, M.D.

President