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The Arctic Circle records

National Museum of the American Indian

Object Details

Creator
The Arctic Circle (Gallery: Los Angeles, Calif.)
Names
Arluk, George, 1949-
Ashevak, Karoo, 1940-
Pitseolak, Peter, 1902-1973
Pudlo, 1916-1992
Former owner
Witt, Bert
Witt, Ellen, 1917-2007
Place
Arctic Region -- photographs
Cape Dorset (Nunavut)
Baker Lake (Nunavut)
Topic
Inuit art -- 20th century -- Exhibitions
Art galleries, Commercial -- California -- Los Angeles
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.
Creator
The Arctic Circle (Gallery: Los Angeles, Calif.)
Culture
Inuit
See more items in
The Arctic Circle records
Summary
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.
Biographical / Historical
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.
Extent
634 Slides (photographs)
152 Photographs
1.6 Linear feet
Date
1967-1987
bulk 1971-1986
Archival Repository
National Museum of the American Indian
Identifier
NMAI.AC.004
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Slides (photographs)
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.
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 Subseries 2B: Reference Library, 1967-1987, undated Series 3: Photographs, 1971-1987 Subseries 3A: Gallery Objects, 1979-1987 Subseries 3B: Witt Family Arctic Trip, 1973 Subseries 3C: Other Photos, 1971, 1975
Processing Information
Processed by Rachel Menyuk, Archives Technician in 2012.
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.
Genre/Form
Photographs
Articles
Slides
Brochures
Clippings
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.
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).
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1503511665690-1503511665697-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv416c81a30-83ee-4c6a-a6b1-556c349176e5

In the Collection

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  • Taloyoak (Spence Bay)

  • Witt Family Arctic Trip

  • Papers

  • Bert Witt and Karoo Ashevak

  • Map of Canada, Alaska and Greenland

  • Photographs

  • Karoo Ashevak and family

  • Reference Library

  • Art: Inuit, II

  • Cultural Events

  • Art: Sculpture Techniques

  • Photography

  • Tupilak

  • Pelly Bay

  • Eskimos: Land

  • Sugluk

  • Spence Bay

  • Art: Inuit, I

  • Canadian Arctic Producers

  • Baker Lake

  • Belcher Islands

  • "Diary: The Canadian Arctic," Anthony Witt

  • Broughton Islands

  • Inuit: Life As it Was

  • The Land: Glaciers of Baffin Island

  • Pangnirtung

  • Health, Medical, Nutrition

  • "Inuit Print Retrosepctive," Bert Witt

  • Development of the North: Business

  • Arctic Bay

  • Rankin Inlet

  • Baker Lake

  • Legends and Stories

  • Animals Hunted and Trapped: Muskoxen

  • Communities: Cape Dorset

  • Art: Sculpture, Carvings

  • Brochures and Pamphlets

  • Cape Dorset I

  • Art: Printmaking Technique

  • Animals Hunted and Trapped: Arctic Birds

  • Art: Prints, Conservation

  • Accompanying Photographic Material

  • Art: Commercialization

  • Communities: Igloolik

  • "Man and the Arctic," Bert Witt

  • Conferences and Seminars

  • Development of the North: Oil and Mining

  • Eskimos: Canada

  • Art: Copyright

  • Eskimos

  • George River

  • General Information

  • Development of the North: Whaling

  • Bibliographies

  • Churchill, Manitoba (Before the Trip)

  • Communities: Broughton Island

  • Shamanism and Spirits

  • Development of the North: Government

  • Communities: Coral Harbour

  • Art: Sculpture, Whalebone

  • Frobisher Bay

  • Repulse Bay

  • Communities: Povungnituk

  • Inukjuak (Port Harrison)

  • The Arctic

  • Communities: Copper Mine

  • The Land: Ice Formations

  • Communities: Repulse Bay

  • General

  • Communities: Belcher Lake

  • Annual Print Collections: Holman and Pangnirtung

  • Communities: Eskimo Point

  • Development of the North: White Man's Infiltration

  • Reference Materials

  • Payne Bay

  • Igloolik

  • Communities: Arctic Bay

  • Povungnituk

  • Communities: Great Whale

  • Communities: Gjoa Haven

  • Cape Dorset II

  • Northwest Territories

  • Eskimo Point

  • Communities: Grise Fiord

  • The Land: Tundra

  • Communities: Pond Inlet

  • Oversize

  • Other Photos

  • Lake Harbour

  • Northwest Territories

  • Term Paper, Anthony Witt

  • Arviat

  • Great Whale River

  • Pudlo Pudlat

  • "The Graphic Art of the Baker Lake Eskimos"

  • Sculptures and Textiles: Slides

  • Eskimos: Greenland

  • Eskimo Point

  • Communities: Lake Harbour

  • Communities: Spence Bay

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Map of Canada, Alaska and Greenland
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There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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