Our annual meetings feature Inuit artists from Canada, knowledgeable speakers about Inuit art and culture, and field trips to private collections, a museum, or other relevant points of interest. We there’s always ample time to meet other Inuit art enthusiasts.
Between annual meetings, we hold occasional virtual meetings.
Previous IAS Virtual Meetings
Past virtual meetings include show-and-tell presentations featuring favorite works from the collections of members of the Inuit Art Society (IAS) and the Arctic Arts and Culture Society (AACS) in Vancouver, BC, with one show-and-tell focusing on prints, carvings, and wall hangings illustrating Inuit legends.
Check the IAS Virtual Meeting page for information on previous Virtual Meetings.
Previous IAS Annual Meetings
2025 Indianapolis
The 2025 Annual Meeting of the Inuit Art Society was held on September 12-13 at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis
Opening Reception
Our meeting began with an evening reception at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in downtown Indianapolis. We had time to meet and mingle AND the “Voices from the Arctic” exhibit was open. It was a great opportunity to see it while the gallery was closed to the public.
“Voices of the Arctic” tour with Dorene Red Cloud
Not only did the IAS meeting offer plenty of time to explore this exhibit on our own, but we got to walk through it with the Eiteljorg’s Native American art curator Dorene Red Cloud. She discussed some of the artists and themes represented in the exhibit.
Red Cloud was a key collaborator behind the redesign and re-focusing of the Eiteljorg’s galleries a few years back. A change that moved the museum away from a highly geographic focus to a thematic approach based on culture and relationships. She is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and an artist as well as a curator. She holds degrees in American Indian Studies, Fine Arts in Ceramics, and Fine Arts in Museum Studies. Red Cloud worked at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian as a Repatriation Research Specialist from 1999-2003. After leaving the museum field for a number of years, she joined the Eiteljorg Museum as assistant curator of Native American art in 2016.
At our meeting, she walked through the exhibit with us, engaging IAS members in a discussion of the work on display.
A few images from the Eiteljorg exhibit.
Catching up with Niap
We were lucky to have Inuk artist Niap (Nancy Saunders) join us in Corning, New York, in 2017 as an emerging artist. Today she is an award-winning painter, carver, photographer, and textile artist based in Montreal. (She also created the IAS logo.)
Niap joined us again this year during her residency at the Eiteljorg. And she is the same funny, wildly creative, and lovely person we met back in Corning.
Niap walked us through her evolution as an artist, explaining her rather unorthodox path. That included information on what’s behind some of her images, including a gorgeous image of her mother (who also attended the meeting and is as delightful as her daughter) imagined with traditional Inuit tattoos.
While her mother was fine with the portrait, some of Niap’s family were very upset by it. An example of how complicated choosing what to claim as your identity can be.
Lately Niap has been doing more organic work than we’ve seen from her before.
Michael Massie
While Michael Massie had hoped to join us in person, this ended up being a virtual presentation. But he is a great speaker (as well as a great artist), and his presentation was a lot of fun.
Massie is a Labrador-based artist of mixed Inuit, Métis, and Scottish heritage. He began working in silver in high school, later adding wood and traditional Inuit materials to his work. While he is best known for his silver teapots and whimsical sculpture, he also draws and paints. Whatever the material, all of his work shares a refined sense of balance and gentle humor.
During the meeting, he gave us a look inside his studio, discussed recent work and exhibits, and showed us how he makes all those mosquitos that show up in his work!
Prints and parts for mosquitos in Massie’s studio.
Massie is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and a member of the Order of Canada.
Joanne Swanson
Inupiaq artist Joanne Swanson was born in a fish camp near the Bering Sea, and her paintings are inspired by her life in rural Alaska. She talked about life in Arctic Alaska and how that inspires and influences her work.
You can read more about Swanson on the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society’s website. And she occasionally posts on Facebook , where you can see a bit of her work.
John Geoghegan
John Geoghegan, an associate curator at the McMichael outside Toronto, gave an overview of their recently closed “Worlds on Paper” exhibit. He also gave an update on the digitization of the Kinngait (Cape Dorset) print archives and the website where anyone can access that archive.
Geoghegan is a curator and writer interested in uncovering lost or forgotten stories in Canadian art history. He was a senior editor at Inuit Quarterly, where he worked from 2016 to 2020. He has also contributed to publications for the McMichael, among others.
Visit to a local collector’s home after our meeting ends
As usual, we had the good fortune of visiting a local collector’s home to socialize amid some wonderful art.
2024 Traverse City, Michigan
2024 brought us back to a favorite venue, the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City, for a short meeting packed with information.
Speakers
- Richard D. Mohr is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and of the Classics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
- Patricia Feheley is the owner of Feheley Fine Arts in Toronto.
- Mark London is the owner of Galerie Elca London in Quebec.
2023 Brunswick, Maine
Our 2023 meeting included joint programming with Bowdoin College and an opportunity to visit their new Center for Arctic Studies and Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum.
Guest artists and speakers
- Susan Kaplan, Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum and Arctic Studies Center at Bowdoin College
- Dr. Nelson Graburn
- Jennie Williams, Inuk photographer, filmmaker, performer, and educator
- Brian Adams, Alaskan photographer
- Video meetings with Byran Hellwig, owner of Northern Collectables Inuit Art in Iqaluit; Inuit sculptors Pitseolak Qimirpik (Kimmirut), Toonoo Sharkey (Kinngait), and Billy Gauthier (Labrador); and a far-ranging discussion with textile artist Eva Noah, Vera Grundberg, author Norma Dunning, and anthropologist and media producer Drew Ann Wake.
2022 Vancouver, Canada
The 2022 meeting included museum and gallery visits.
Guest artists and speakers
- Abraham Anghik Ruben, renowned Inuit sculptor and Officer of the Order of Canada
- Sophia Tasseor Lebessis, Inuk scholar, artist, and the owner of Transformation Fine Art gallery in Calgary
- Susan Rowley, AACS Board President and Director, UBC Museum of Anthropology
- Dr. Norma Dunning, Inuk scholar, educator, and award-winning author
- Drew Ann Wake, anthropologist and media producer who has spent forty-five years working with Indigenous organizations
- Lindsay McIntyre, Inuk/European film artist and Assistant Professor of Film and Screen Art at Emily Carr University in Vancouver
- Jamie Cameron, Inuit art collector
- Amanda Davison, Inupiak artist from Alaska
- Melanie Zavediuk, Inuit Gallery, Vancouver
- Robert Kardosh and Charles Bateman, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver
- Michael Warren, Madrona Gallery, Victoria
2019 Ann Arbor
The 2019 Annual Meeting of the Inuit Art Society was held at the University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Guest artists and speakers
- Dr. Heather Igloliorte, Inuk scholar and independent curator
- Christine Lalonde, Associate Curator of Indigenous Art at the National Gallery of Canada
- Dr. Marion (Mame) Jackson, Professor Emerita, University of Michigan and Wayne State University (Detroit)
- Koomuatuk (Kuzy) Curley, Kinngait, NU (Film, Sculptural Carving)
- Mike Foor-Pessin (IAS President)
2018 Traverse City
The 2018 Annual Meeting of the Inuit Art Society was held at the Dennos Museum in Traverse City, Michigan, on October 19-21, 2018. With record attendance and interesting and exciting speakers, the meeting was a great success.
Guest artists and speakers
- Inuit sculptor Bill Nasogaluak
- Canadian artist Don Stewart, now one of Canada’s leading goldsmiths, started the Pangnirtung Weaving Studio.
- Stephanie Gandulla, a member of the Sedna Epic Expedition Project
- Bernadette Driscoll Engelstad, curator and independent scholar of Inuit cultural history
- Douglas George, Consul General of Canada in Detroit
2017 Corning, New York, Meeting
The 2017 Inuit Art Society Meeting looked at how traditional Inuit art has been, and continues to be, transformed as artists use new forms and techniques.
Guest artists and speakers
- Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, painter, carver, and throat singer Niap (Nancy Saunders)
- Film maker and Inuit culturist, John Houston
- Throat singer Pauyungie Nutaraaluk
- Max Erlacher, a master engraver who worked directly with Houston during his time at Steuben
- Anthropologist Nelson Graburn, Professor Emeritus of Sociocultural Anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley
- Richard Mohr, IAS member and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and of Classics at the University of Illinois at Urbana
- Rob Cassetti, a glass designer and design director with Steuben
- Steve Bender, Steuben business manager
2016 Kenosha, Wisconsin
The 2016 Annual Meeting took a closer look at Inuit ceramics with guest artist Pierre Aupilardjuk and WAG curator Darlene Coward Wight. In addition, Aaju Peter provided a fascinating look at the Inuit tattooing and the intersection of Canadian and Inuit Law.
Guest artists and speakers
- Aaju Peter, Inuit lawyer, activist, and sealskin clothes designer
- Pierre Aupilardjuk, Inuit ceramics artist
- Darlene Coward Wight, Curator of Inuit Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery
2015 Minneapolis, Minnesota
With the theme “Off The Island: The art of the Kivalliq region and of Greenlandic artist Jonas Faber,” the meeting focused on the art of the communities along the western edge of Hudson’s Bay and the work of Faber.
Speakers
- Jamshed Merchant, Canadian Consul General in Minneapolis
- Norman Zepp, IAS member and noted arts curator
- Michael Foor-Pessin, IAS board member
- Ole Gjerstad, anthropologist and filmmaker
- Jan Sivertson, owner of Sivertson Gallery, Grand Marais, MN
- Bob O’Hara, IAS member, Arctic canoe trip leader
Guest Artist
- Jonas Faber, Greenlandic Inuit artist
2014 Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN
Eiteljorg Museum Of American Indians and Western Art, October 10-12
The world of Inuit art is changing. The elders are largely gone. Now what? Younger carvers seem to be focusing on “what sells” to mass audiences, yet beautiful, original, quality pieces are still being produced. This year’s annual conference takes a hard look at what this means to you, the collector.
Speakers
- Douglas George, Consul General of Canada
- Tom Webster, owner/operator of the Iqaluit Fine Arts Studio in Iqaluit
- Ingo Hessel, Director of Inuit Art, Walker’s Auctions, Ottawa, CA
- Eliot Waldman, owner/operator of Native Art Traders, Skokie, IL
Guest Artist
- Pootoogook Qiatsuk, a widely exhibited, multi-dimensional artist who creates prints, sculpture, and jewelry
2013 Skokie, IL
Speakers
- Leslie Boyd, Keynote speaker
- Charles W. Shabica, Guest Speaker
- Norman Zepp,Guest Speaker
Guest Artist
- Tony Weyiouanna, Sr.
2012 Dennos Museum, Traverse City, Michigan
2011 Hamilton, Ontario
Held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, October 27-30, 2011.
Speakers
- Tom Smart, Author
- Judith Varney Burch, Inuit Culturalist
- Alysa Procida, Museum of Inuit Art Presenter
- Emily S. Cowall, Inuit Ethno-historian and Visual Anthropologist
Guest Artists
- Billy Gauthier, Guest Artist
- Tim Pitsiulak, Guest Artist
- Mathew Nuqingaq, Guest Artist
2010 Cranebrook Institute, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Held at the Cranbrook Institute of Science, October 8-10, 2010.
Speakers
- John Houston
- Philip Power
Guest Artists
- Jimmy Manning
- Kananginak Pootoogook
2009: Traverse City, MI
Speakers
- Sheila Romalis: Keynote speaker
- Bob O’Hara: Guest speaker
- Lorne Balshine: Guest speaker
- Dennos Special Event: 50th anniversary of Dorset print collection
2008: Indianapolis, IN
Guest artist and speakers
- Lorne Balshine: Keynote speaker
- Peter Irniq: Guest Inuit artist
- Kendra Tagoona and Charlotte Qamaniq: Guest Inuit throat singers
- New Inuit Art Exhibit: At Eiteljorg Museum
- John Huston: Featured speaker
- “Kiviuq – The Secret Bible of the Inuit” A movie by John Houston
2007: Dennos Museum, Traverse City, Michigan
Agenda and meeting story
Guest artist and speakers
- Anita Issaluk: Guest artist who gave carving demonstrations
- Dorset Fine Arts Studios: Graphics exhibition and sale
- Panel Discussion: Arctic travelers and how Inuit art is acquired
- Boskydel Vineyard Visit: Meet owner, Bernie Rink, Inuit art collector
2006 Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, Indiana
2005 Skokie, Illinois
The second meeting in 2005 was held in September in Skokie, Illinois, in conjunction with the opening of a permanent exhibit of Inuit sculpture and prints.
2005 Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan
Two meetings were held in 2005. The first was held in May at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. Nearly 50 participants attended.
2004 Minneapolis, Minnesota
2003 Evanston, Illinois
The initial meeting of the Inuit Art Society was held in Evanston.
