The Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College will continue its tradition of exhibiting the Cape Dorset Annual Graphics Collection now through December 17, with the sale of prints beginning Friday, October 19. A reception for the exhibition, hosted by the Canadian Consulate General begins at 6:00 p.m. with the sale of prints beginning at 7:00 p.m., in the Museum Center.
Sales will be conducted by a lottery, since many of the prints will be in high demand. For the first time the Dennos Museum Center has purchased two sets of pints for the sale, this will enable more collectors to buy prints. Interested buyers may receive a catalogue, price list and lottery number by calling the museum store 231-995-1586 and view the prints on line at www.dennosmuseum.org.
The United Nations has declared 2012 the International Year of the Co-operative, with the theme “Co-operative enterprises build a better world. “In Canada’s north, the craft shop” constructed in Cape Dorset in 1959 led to a pan-Artic co-operative development program that now supports thirty-one community co-operatives across Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. The 2012 Print Collection is dedicated to the Co-operatives.
In 1960, Bernard Rink, on behalf of the Osterlin Library, was fortunate to become the Michigan distributor of one of the sets of prints. From 1960-1983, Inuit prints were primarily acquired, for the college collection, by hosting an exhibition and sale of the Cape Dorset prints. Through this process, over 275 prints were acquired along with the simultaneous acquisition of an almost equal number of sculptures. Now noted as one of the most historically complete collections of Inuit art in United States, with over 1,400 works in the collection, the Dennos Museum Center has made the commitment to carry on the tradition of collecting Inuit prints by hosting the Cape Dorset Annual Graphics Collection.
In addition to the Dorset Print Sale the Dennos Museum Center is the host of the Inuit Art Society Annual Conference and Meeting Friday October 19 – Sunday, October 21. The conference will feature artist Andrew Qappik, printmaker from Pangnirtung, Nunavut and Annie Qappik an Inuit community activist; plus films, lectures and an Inuit art market. Contact the Dennos Museum Store for information.
Andrew Qappik is well-known throughout the Canadian Arctic for his design of the flag for Nunavut as well as the Territory’s coat of arms and official logo. His first prints were published in the 1978 Pangnirtung annual collection when he was only 14 and they have been included in every Pangnirtung collection since. From 1978 to the present he has mastered the printing techniques of stone-cut, stencil, etching, and lithography. Andrew’s favorite subject matter includes animal life, family, and childhood play.
Proceeds from the sale will be used to purchase new work for the Dennos Museum Inuit Collection.
The Dennos Museum Center is open daily 10 AM to 5 PM, Thursday’s until 8 PM and Sundays 1-5 PM. Admission is $6.00 adults, $4.00 for children and free to museum members. For more information on the Museum and its programs, go to www.dennosmuseum.org or call 231-995-1055. The Dennos Museum Center is located at 1410 College Dr., Traverse City, MI 49686, at the entrance to the campus of Northwestern Michigan College.
Photo captions below.