Reindeer_I (1)

Reindeer I, 1993, carved and painted sculpture on maple panel, University of Alaska Museum of the North

–Elizabeth Hutchinson

Ron Senungetuk, an Iñupiaq artist from Kingigan, is a highly-successful sculptor,  who received training at, among other places, the Rochester Institute of Technology and .  Statens Handverks og Kunstindustri Skole, Oslo, Norway.  He is equally well-known as the founding director of  the Native Art Program at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, where he taught for over twenty years.   This program combines academic and cultural art education by offering both studio art courses and workshops with indigenous elders and visiting Alaska Native artists.

Senungetuk has made a study of old Bering Strait art and has used his creative work to recognize local leaders in his community.  For example, he created a memorial to Wales native (and student of the Lopps Arthur Nagozruk) that depicts the education and Alaska Native Services officer as a Umialik.

Despite his deep appreciation of cultural tradition, Senungetuk is a tireless advocate of artistic innovation and worked to inspire artists from all backgrounds to develop new art forms.  In a 1992 interview, he stated,

“When I was teaching. . .I really wanted to see artists becoming full-fledged artists, regardless of race.  And especially, to try to provide some sense that you don’t have to be demeaning to anybody.  You could be independent, and then be equal to anyone. . .  I want to tell people not to limit themselves.  Use plastic if you want to–not just ivory!  Provide a statement, don’t limit it on account of you have to use sinew or ivory.” (Fair 2006, 157)

 

sources for this page:

Susan W. Fair, Alaska Native Art:  Tradition, Innovation, Continuity.   Fairbanks 2006.