West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative

Kinngait Co-operative, historically known as the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative, is an Inuit arts cooperative based in Kinngait, Nunavut, the community formerly known as Cape Dorset. It was established in 1959 by Canadian artist and arts organizer James Houston and Inuk artist Kananginak Pootoogook, following the early success of a local printmaking program. The cooperative was created to help residents develop artmaking into a sustainable source of income at a time when the traditional fur economy was declining. The organization operates as both a producer-oriented cooperative and a commercial art business. It purchases work from artists in and around Kinngait, establishes prices, advances payment to artists, and distributes profits among its members. Over the decades, it has acquired more than 100,000 works by local artists and has helped make Kinngait one of the most recognizable centres of modern Inuit art. Its work is associated especially with printmaking, drawing, graphic design, stonecut sculpture, and the visual traditions developed by successive generations of Kinngait artists. A central activity is the annual print program. Kinngait artists develop a new body of work each year, from which the cooperative oversees a limited edition of approximately 50 prints. These editions have included lithographs, stonecuts, etchings, stencil prints, and related forms, depending on the artist and the production method. The program gives artists access to technical support and a route to collectors, galleries, museums, and other buyers outside the community while preserving local control over the commercial process. The cooperative's studio and local operations are housed in the Kenojuak Cultural Centre and Print Shop, a facility associated with the leading Kinngait artist Kenojuak Ashevak. The centre supports print production, exhibition, cultural programming, and the administration of the cooperative's art business. The cooperative also operates Dorset Fine Arts, a Toronto-based commercial gallery and marketing arm responsible for representing and selling work produced by cooperative members to southern Canadian and international audiences. Kinngait Co-operative is part of Arctic Co-operatives Limited, a network of locally owned northern businesses. Its significance extends beyond the sale of individual artworks: the cooperative has provided an institutional framework for Inuit artists to earn income, maintain artistic practices, and reach audiences without relying exclusively on outside dealers. Its history also reflects the complicated development of Inuit art in Canada, including the involvement of federal arts agencies, southern Canadian markets, museums, and non-Inuit administrators during the sector's formative decades. The cooperative has preserved and promoted a large body of work spanning multiple generations. Partnerships with institutions such as the McMichael Canadian Art Collection have supported the digitization and preservation of historical prints and sculptures. In 2019, the organization marked its sixtieth anniversary with a touring exhibition and also undertook a commission for the Canadian Premier League's annual individual player awards. Kinngait Co-operative remains active as an artist-centered cultural and commercial institution, although detailed current information about its management, membership, and financial performance is not publicly established in the supplied sources.

The origins of Kinngait Co-operative lie in the economic and cultural changes that affected western Baffin Island during the middle of the twentieth century. In the late 1940s, James Archibald Houston encountered sculpture made by residents of the region and began presenting Inuit artwork to audiences in southern Canada. He later worked as a travelling crafts officer for the Canadian Handicrafts Guild, purchasing artwork in northern communities and arranging its sale farther south. In 1954, as the local fur economy weakened, the Canadian government assigned Houston to Kinngait, then generally known in English as Cape Dorset. Houston established a printmaking studio intended to create an alternative source of income for local residents. He worked closely with Kananginak Pootoogook, an Inuk artist who became an important participant in the development of the community's graphic-art tradition. In 1959, a group of prints made by Kinngait artists achieved rapid recognition. Houston and Pootoogook established the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative in the same year so that local artists could participate in a collective business structure. Pootoogook became its first president. In 1960, the cooperative's Inuit-led management hired Terry Ryan, a graduate of the Ontario College of Art, as general manager. Ryan remained with the organization until 2009 and played a major role in building its production, marketing, and distribution systems. In 1961, at the cooperative's request, the Canadian government created the Canadian Eskimo Arts Committee. The committee helped establish standards for annual print editions and promoted Inuit art in southern markets. It initially had no Inuit members; Joanasie Salomonie and Armand Tagoona joined in 1973. The committee was dissolved in 1989. The cooperative's print program became one of the defining institutions of Kinngait art. Each year, artists produced designs that could be translated into limited editions using techniques such as stonecutting, lithography, etching, and stencil printing. The cooperative bought work from its members, set prices, paid artists in advance, and shared profits. This model gave artists a more predictable commercial relationship than individual sales alone and helped establish a continuing connection between Kinngait and collectors, museums, and galleries outside the North. In 1977, after a fire destroyed the print studio and archive of the Sanavik Co-operative in Baker Lake, Kinngait Co-operative placed much of its own print collection in storage at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. The cooperative later developed a broader preservation relationship with the institution. In 2019, the two organizations agreed to digitize more than 100,000 prints and sculptures from the cooperative's collection, supporting research and long-term access to the material. The cooperative expanded its southern commercial presence in 1978 when Terry Ryan helped establish Dorset Fine Arts in Toronto. Dorset Fine Arts became the cooperative's marketing and sales arm, representing Kinngait artists and arranging exhibitions and sales for work made by members. During the 1980s and 1990s, it represented artists including Ovilu Tunnillie and organized multiple solo exhibitions of her work. In 2018, the cooperative and the municipality of Kinngait collaborated on the Kenojuak Cultural Centre and Print Shop. Named for Kenojuak Ashevak, one of the best-known figures in modern Inuit art, the facility brought the cooperative's local operations and printmaking studio together in a cultural and production centre. It supports the continuation of Kinngait's print tradition while providing a public setting connected to the community's artistic history. The organization celebrated its sixtieth anniversary in 2019 with a touring exhibition of works by its members. That year it also received a commission from the Canadian Premier League to design and sculpt annual trophies for individual player awards. Through its cooperative structure, annual editions, gallery operations, cultural facilities, and collection-preservation work, Kinngait Co-operative has remained an important institution in Inuit art. It is affiliated with Arctic Co-operatives Limited, a network of locally owned businesses serving northern Canadian communities. Publicly available information in the supplied references does not identify the current general manager, board leadership, membership size, or financial results.

• 2019

  Collection digitization agreement and sixtieth anniversary

  [1]West Baffin Eskimo Cooperativeen.wikipedia.org

  The cooperative entered a digitization agreement with the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and marked its sixtieth anniversary with a touring exhibition.

• 2018

  Kenojuak Cultural Centre and Print Shop opens

  [1]West Baffin Eskimo Cooperativeen.wikipedia.org

  The cooperative and the municipality of Kinngait collaborated on a facility housing cooperative operations and the printmaking studio.

• 1989

  Canadian Eskimo Arts Committee is dissolved

  [1]West Baffin Eskimo Cooperativeen.wikipedia.org

  The government-operated committee that had supported standards and promotion of Inuit print editions ended its operations.

• 1978

  Dorset Fine Arts is founded

  [1]West Baffin Eskimo Cooperativeen.wikipedia.org

  Terry Ryan helped establish the Toronto-based gallery and marketing arm for cooperative members' artwork.

• 1973

  First Inuit members join the Canadian Eskimo Arts Committee

  [1]West Baffin Eskimo Cooperativeen.wikipedia.org

  Joanasie Salomonie and Armand Tagoona became the committee's first Inuit members after its initial twelve years without Inuit representation.

• 1961

  Canadian Eskimo Arts Committee is established

  [1]West Baffin Eskimo Cooperativeen.wikipedia.org

  The Canadian government created the committee at the cooperative's request to help set standards and market annual print editions.

• 1960

  Terry Ryan becomes general manager

  [1]West Baffin Eskimo Cooperativeen.wikipedia.org

  The cooperative's Inuit management hired Terry Ryan to oversee its operations and development.

• 1959

  West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative is founded

  [1]West Baffin Eskimo Cooperativeen.wikipedia.org

  James Houston and Kananginak Pootoogook created the cooperative for local Inuit artists after the early success of Kinngait print editions.

• 1954

  James Houston establishes a Kinngait printmaking studio

  [1]West Baffin Eskimo Cooperativeen.wikipedia.org

  Houston began a printmaking program in Kinngait as an alternative source of income after the decline of the local fur economy.

An Inuit-owned, community-based arts cooperative that combines local artistic production, member income-sharing, cultural preservation, and professional distribution of Kinngait artwork to Canadian and international audiences.

• Limited-edition Inuit prints · 1959

  Annual Kinngait print edition

  The cooperative oversees an annual edition of approximately 50 prints by Kinngait artists. Depending on the artist and design, production may use stonecut, lithographic, etching, stencil, or related printmaking methods. The editions connect artists with collectors, galleries, museums, and other buyers while retaining a structured community production process.

• Original works on paper

  Kinngait drawings and graphic works

  The cooperative purchases and markets drawings and other graphic works made by member artists. These works document the visual languages of successive Kinngait generations and can serve as source designs for print editions as well as independent works for exhibition and collection.

• Inuit sculpture

  Kinngait sculptures

  Sculpture is part of the broader body of artwork acquired and represented by the cooperative. Kinngait sculptural production is sold through the cooperative's channels and through Dorset Fine Arts, extending the cooperative's activities beyond its best-known printmaking program.

• Gallery and artist representation · 1978

  Dorset Fine Arts

  Dorset Fine Arts is the cooperative's Toronto-based commercial gallery and marketing arm. It represents cooperative members, promotes their work to southern Canadian and international audiences, and manages sales and exhibitions for artwork produced in Kinngait.

• Art commission · 2019

  Custom sculptural trophies

  In 2019, the cooperative produced commissioned sculptural trophies for Canadian Premier League individual awards. The project applied Kinngait artists' sculptural expertise to a contemporary institutional commission outside the conventional gallery and museum market.

• 2019Kinngait Co-operative 60th-anniversary touring exhibition

  Canada

  The cooperative organized a touring exhibition to mark sixty years of artwork produced by its members and to present the breadth of the Kinngait artistic tradition to audiences beyond Nunavut.

  Outcome. The exhibition served as a public commemoration of the cooperative's history and its members' contribution to Inuit art.

  Source

• 2019

  Digitize the historical print and sculpture collectionOther

  Background

  The cooperative held a large historical collection, much of which had been placed in storage at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection after earlier archival concerns in the northern cooperative sector.

  Action taken

  The cooperative agreed with the McMichael Canadian Art Collection to digitize more than 100,000 prints and sculptures.

  Aftermath

  The agreement supported preservation, research access, and wider documentation of Kinngait's artistic history.

  Source

• 2019

  Accept Canadian Premier League trophy commissionOther

  Background

  The cooperative was approached for a contemporary commission that could bring Kinngait sculptural practice into a professional sports setting.

  Action taken

  Kinngait artists designed and sculpted annual trophies for Canadian Premier League individual awards.

  Aftermath

  The commission broadened the public applications associated with the cooperative's artistic production beyond conventional art sales and exhibitions.

  Source

• 2018

  Consolidate operations in the Kenojuak Cultural Centre and Print ShopStrategy

  Background

  The cooperative sought a facility that could support its local administration, printmaking activity, and cultural role in Kinngait.

  Action taken

  The cooperative collaborated with the municipality of Kinngait to build and occupy the Kenojuak Cultural Centre and Print Shop.

  Aftermath

  The facility housed cooperative operations and the print studio while strengthening the connection between production, cultural heritage, and public programming.

  Source

• 1978

  Create a dedicated southern-market sales armStrategy

  Background

  The cooperative needed an organized way to market Kinngait artists' work to buyers, galleries, and institutions in southern Canada.

  Action taken

  Terry Ryan helped establish Dorset Fine Arts in Toronto as a commercial gallery and representation arm for cooperative members.

  Aftermath

  Dorset Fine Arts became a continuing channel for exhibitions, promotion, and sales of work produced by the cooperative's artists.

  Source

• 2019

  Kinngait Co-operative marks its sixtieth anniversary with touring exhibition[1]West Baffin Eskimo Cooperativeen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The cooperative commemorated six decades of member-produced art with a touring exhibition presenting work made by Kinngait artists.

• 2019

  Kinngait Co-operative partners with McMichael Canadian Art Collection on digitization[1]West Baffin Eskimo Cooperativeen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The cooperative entered an agreement to digitize more than 100,000 prints and sculptures held in its collection and stored with the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

• 2019

  Canadian Premier League commissions Kinngait artists to create annual awards[1]West Baffin Eskimo Cooperativeen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The Canadian Premier League commissioned the cooperative to design and sculpt trophies for individual player awards, including the Golden Boot, Golden Glove, and Player of the Year-related honors.

1. 1West Baffin Eskimo Cooperativeen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Kinngait Co-operative official websitewestbaffin.com