For the past 50 years, first Northwestern Michigan College and then Dennos Museum Center, both in Traverse City, have held an annual sale of Canadian Inuit Art. The sale, begun by former NMC librarian Bernie Rink, was an annual event held in the library on the NMC campus since 1960. Each year Rink would receive Inuit carvings and prints from the Baffin Island region of the Canadian Arctic. He sold most of the pieces and used the proceeds to build a collection for the college. In 1991 the Dennos Museum Center opened and became the home for the collection, which had grown to over 1,000 works. The Dennos Museum Store now continues that tradition and presents the 2010 Summer Sale of Inuit Art.
Included in this year’s sale are 150 newly purchased carvings from the Baffin Island and eastern Arctic region in price ranges from $50 to $3,000. A selection of prints from throughout the Arctic is available and the 2011 Cape Dorset calendar has just arrived. The store also features a fine selection of Inuit related books, jewelry, note cards, and t-shirts. There is no admission charge for those coming only to view the annual sale. Inuit Art can be viewed and purchased at www.dennosmuseum.org.
The Dennos Museum Center is open daily 10 AM to 5 PM, Thursday til 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 1701 East Front Street, Traverse City, MI 49686, at the entrance to the campus of Northwestern Michigan College.