Museums and galleries are a great way to see great Inuit art and learn more about it. And, even for serious collectors, museums are great because (as much as some of us would like to) we can’t own everything we love!
Here are some museums where you are guaranteed to see some great Inuit art whenever you visit.
US museums with significant Inuit collections
Good museum collections of Inuit art are a lot harder to find in the USA than in Canada. But a few museums have significant collections and always have a reasonable Inuit art on exhibit.
Dennos Museum Center (Traverse City, Michigan)
The Dennos Museum Center boasts one of the USA’s largest and most historically complete public collections of contemporary sculpture, prints and drawings by the Inuit artists of the Canadian Arctic. This major collection is permanently showcased in the Power Family Inuit Gallery, where the works are presented in new exhibitions annually.
Learn more about visiting the Dennos and our meetings there.
Bowdoin College’s Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum in Brunswick, Maine
Bowdoin College has deep ties to Arctic exploration through alumni Robert E. Peary and Donald B. MacMillan. But the college’s interest didn’t stop with the tales of white explorers. Along with it’s collection of items related to Peary and MacMillan, the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum also has a vast amount of both historic and contemporary Inuit art and cultural items. Recently re-interpreted and re-installed in a completely new facility, the museum offers a multi-faceted look at Arctic exploration, the Inuit, and the Arctic itself.
Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art
The Eiteljorg’s Native American art and artifacts come from all regions of North America, from the Southeast to the Arctic.
Canadian museums with substantial Inuit collections
Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver has a lot of galleries that sell Inuit art, but most museums focus on the work of local Indigenous people. Still, the UBC Museum of Anthropology is pretty incredible. And, if you are flying in or out of Vancouver International Airport (YVR), look for the Lorne Balshine Collection displayed just beyond domestic security area B. (Not flying? You can see what’s in the exhibit in this PDF.)
University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology
The UBC Museum of Anthropology has a new website that doesn’t really mention Inuit art. However, as IAS members who attended the 2022 meeting in Vancouver know, it has a permanent exhibit that includes Inuit pieces both historic and contemporary.
Winnipeg
The Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq
The largest and finest collection of Inuit art you’ll find on display anywhere is at the WAG-Qaumajuq in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The new Qaumajuq building’s galleries are devoted exclusively to northern Indigenous art and the glass vault allows visitors to see items not currently displayed in a gallery. Gallery space in Qaumajuq building finally allows the WAG to display many more pieces from their vast collection of Inuit art as well as some of the 7,400 pieces on loan from Nunavut’s fine art collection.
Small exhibits change regularly. Large shows, like the massive solo show of Abraham Anghik Ruben’s work on exhibit through May 2026 tend to remain for at least a year.
If you are willing to travel to see Inuit art, the WAG-Qaumajuq should be at the top of your list.
Toronto area museums
While it usually doesn’t quite compare to seeing a major exhibit at the WAG-Qaumajuq in Winnipeg, the Toronto area does have a lot of Inuit art on display.
TD Gallery of Indigenous Art
The TD Gallery (formerly the Toronto Dominion Bank Inuit Art Gallery) has expanded beyond Inuit art, but their Inuit collection remains the core of what is exhibited in this free gallery and includes some outstanding older sculptures. Exhibits in the “heritage” Inuit collection seldom (never?) change, so there will always be some old friends awaiting you every time you stop in.
Find out more about what to expect at the TD Gallery of Indigenous Art.
Art Gallery of Ontario
The AGO’s Indigenous Collection includes more than 5,000 Inuit pieces, most of which were produced after 1948 and over half of which are sculptures.
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
The McMichael, located north of Toronto, has a substantial Inuit art collection of its own. It also holds over 100,000 drawings, prints, and sculptures from the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative in Cape Dorset. Their 2025 exhibit Worlds on Paper: Drawings From Kinngait is a magnificent exhibit that includes 200 pieces by 48 artists working between the late 1950s and the 1990s.
Quebec City
National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec
The Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec (National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec) exhibits a broad range of art. Among that collection are around 3,000 pieces of Inuit art. That Inuit collection consists largely of sculpture, although the museum does have a few prints and other items. The permanent Inuit exhibit is largely arranged thematically, with pieces from a variety of artists, communities, and time periods contributing to each story. It’s a beautiful gallery with some really wonderful pieces.
Montreal
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
The Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts) recently completely overhauled their Inuit gallery, and it’s a beauty. The collection includes classic pieces (like a particularly fine boat by Joe Talirunili) and very contemporary pieces (like Mattiusi’s mermaid sidecar).
