The Arctic Circle records include materials gathered by Bert and Ellen Witt for their private gallery of Inuit art The Arctic Circle. These materials include native artists information which is organized by community, reference material organized topically, slides from the gallery's annual print collections as well as photographs of scupltures and textiles displayed in the gallery. Much of the reference material used by the gallery pertains to native communities in the Nunavet Territory of Canada such as Cape Dorset and Baker Lake as well as other small communities throughout the Northwest Territiories. Additionally photographs taken by Bert and Ellen Witt's son Tony during a trip to Canada in 1973 are included in this collection.
Scope and Contents:
The Arctic Circle records include materials gathered by Bert and Ellen Witt for their private gallery of Inuit art The Arctic Circle. These materials include native artists information which is organized by community, reference material organized topically, slides from the gallery's annual print collections as well as photographs of scupltures and textiles displayed in the gallery. Much of the reference material used by the gallery pertains to native communities in the Nunavet Territory of Canada such as Cape Dorset and Baker Lake as well as other small communities throughout the Northwest Territiories. Additionally photographs taken by Bert and Ellen Witt's son Tony during a trip to Canada in 1973 are included in this collection.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into three series:
Series 1: Papers, 1971-1980,
Series 2: Reference Materials, 1967-1987,
Subseries 2.1: Artists Listed by Community, 1971-1984, undated,
Subseries 2.2: Reference Library, 1967-1987, undated,
Series 3: Photographs, 1971-1987,
Subseries 3.1: Gallery Objects, 1979-1987,
Subseries 3.2: Witt Family Arctic Trip, 1973,
Subseries 3.3: Other Photos, 1971, 1975
Series 1: Papers, 1971-1980
Series 2: Reference Materials, 1967-1987
Subseries 2A: Artists Listed by Community, 1971-1984, undated
The Arctic Circle was founded in Los Angeles in 1970 as a private art gallery devoted entirely to the exhibition and sale of scupltures and graphics by Inuit artists of the Canadian arctic. Between 1970 and the late 1980's approximately six to eight exhibitions were mounted on themes illustrative of native life in the Canadian arctic. The gallery was created and founded by Bert and Ellen Witt and run out of their home on North La Jolla Avenue in Los Angeles, California. Bert Witt, sometimes accompanied by his wife Ellen and son Tony, traveled extensively in the Canadian arctic visiting many Inuit communities and forming personal aquaintances with native artists. Through the Artic Circle, Witt supported the Arctic co-operative movement by purchasing art through co-ops in each settlement he visited or through the co-op distribution points for the Northwest Territories and Arctic Quebec.
Provenance:
The archival material in this collection accompanied a donation to NMAI by Bert and Ellen Witt in 2001 that included sculptures, drawings, prints and textiles. An additional three photographs were donated by Bert Witt in 2004.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadbast materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Topic:
Inuit art -- 20th century -- Exhibitions Search this
Art galleries, Commercial -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Articles
Slides
Brochures
Clippings
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Collection Title, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection consists of two color woodblock prints and eight crayon/pencil drawings made by Inuit residents of Cape Dorset in Nunavut territory, Canada, circa 1966. The prints and drawings depict traditional Inuit subjects, including birds, bears, fish and hunting scenes.
Biographical / Historical:
Cape Dorset is an Inuit community located on Dorset Island in the Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut, Canada. Since the 1950s, Cape Dorset, often called the "Capital of Inuit Art," has been a center for Inuit artists, especially in the areas of drawing, printmaking, and carving.
