The Inuit Art Society is pleased to return to the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City, Michigan, for the 2024 IAS Annual Meeting.
Long-time IAS members are likely familiar with the Dennos and its outstanding collection of Inuit art. After all, the IAS held meetings at the Dennos in 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2018. But if you’ve never been to the Dennos, you’ll soon discover you are in for a treat!
A classic caribou by Osuitok Ipeelee in the Inuit gallery.
This will be a slightly shorter meeting than usual. We’ll begin on Friday, August 16, and ending in the evening on Saturday, August 17. All meetings will be held at the Dennos. (No program is planned for Sunday, but Traverse City is a wonderful place to visit in summer, so you might want to stay in the area a few more days!)
The Dennos is not your typical college art museum
Established in 1991 by Northwestern Michigan College to exhibit a growing collection of Inuit art, the Dennos has one of the largest Inuit collections in the USA.
That collection began in 1960 when the college librarian started buying sculptures and prints as a way to raise funds for a library exhibition – keeping a few each year to build the college’s own collection. The library collection grew over the years. When the Dennos Museum opened, the college’s collection became one of the first Inuit art collections open to the public in the US. And the collection has continued to grow since that time.
“String Game” by Judas Ullulaq.
While the Dennos is noted for its Inuit collection, it also holds significant collections in other areas, including 20th century art by Michigan artists and by indigenous artists from around the Great Lakes area.
“Burial Ground” by Michigan artist William Allen.
It’s not clear yet what exactly will be on display when we visit in August, but there will be plenty of great Inuit art – and more – to see.
Inuit art at the Dennos
With almost 2,000 pieces of Inuit and Inupiat art, the Dennos still has one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Inuit art in the United States. It’s a collection largely made up of prints and sculpture created by the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic, Greenland, and Alaska.
“Face,” by Inupiat artist John Koshman.
A very energetic drum dancer by Uriash Puqiqnaq.
“Mosquitoes Attacking Dog” by Pitseolak Ashoona.
And, if there isn’t enough art on exhibit in the galleries, participants in this year’s meeting will again get a chance to get a look at some of the items in storage.
A small sculpture of a woman sewing by Eli Weetaluktuk in storage at the Dennos..
It isn’t the best way to view sculpture, but it does offer a sense of discovery as you peer back into the shadows and ask museum staff for a better look at a piece and more information about it!
(We’re hoping to hold a future meeting at the Winnipeg Art Gallery that will include a tour of the Qaumajuq Visible Vault. So, you can think of this as a warm up. And there are lots of good things to see in storage at the Dennos.)
Other art at the Dennos
But Inuit art makes up only about half of the collection. The Dennos also has significant collections of works by Michigan artists, 19th and 20th century American and European graphic art, and 20th century Great Lakes Indian and Canadian Indian art.
“Yellow Rollover” by David Bar and other art on display at the Dennos in 2018.
Need a few more things for your collection?
If you’re looking to expand (or start!) your own collection, you’ll have a few opportunities to do that.
The IAS Marketplace
We’ll have an IAS Marketplace where members and Inuit art dealers will have items for sale. The Dennos has beautiful space for our marketplace and we expect a lot of members will want to participate as both buyers and sellers!
We had a lot of art you could buy (or just to admire) at the 2018 marketplace.
(If you wish to secure a display area to sell at the marketplace, please contact Chris Rinner at .)
Dennos Museum Shop
The Dennos also has a museum shop. They have a few Inuit prints, quite a few low-cost reproductions of well-known prints, and a variety of sculptures (including pieces on consignment) at a wide range of prices.
But no Dorset fall print preview
Those of you who’ve attended meetings at the Dennos before know that one of the highlights was seeing (and buying) prints from the current year’s Cape Dorset Fall Print Collection.
The 2007 Cape Dorset fall print collection on display at the Dennos.
Sorry, but we won’t be able to do that this year since we are at the Dennos in August. (Fall meeting dates didn’t work this year.)
Getting to the Dennos
If you are staying at the Best Western Plus, you will be just over ¼ mile from the Dennos. It’s no more than a 10-minute walk.
Parking at the Dennos
Free parking is available in the Museum parking lot while you are at the Dennos. This lot has a gate, which will automatically lift when you enter. However, you need a code to exit. Get the code from the front desk before you leave the museum!
There is also designated parking for people with disabilities right in front of the museum and free two-hour parking along Front Street.
Join us at the Dennos this year!
The program is coming together and more details will be posted soon, along with registration information.
We’d love to have you join us in August!
The Dennos is located on the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary Lands of the Anishinaabeg – the Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples, who are today represented by the nations of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.