It was a visual dream and a heartwarming experience to finally visit the Dorset Fine Arts Studio. Cape Dorset is home to some of Canada’s most acclaimed Inuit artists, and the Co-op and its Toronto marketing office, Dorset Fine Arts, have been representing them for the past fifty years.
The Hudson’s Bay Company established a trading post in Cape Dorset in 1913, followe by the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative. The Co-op is the oldest arts organization in the Canadian Arctic, and the Kinngait Studios are the oldest professional printmaking studios in Canada.
A big thank you to John Western, Showroom manager, for his lovely hospitatlity and informative visit! I could have spent several days in the studio looking at every single art work from past to present.
Photo Dorset Fine Art Studio in Toronto ; Left: Melanie Girard of Girard Galleries, Center: John Western of Dorset Fine Arts, Right: Raymond Espaniel Hatfield, former Director of Indigenous Affairs Canada