News
In May 2016, Shuvinai Ashoona was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts for drawing. Although Ashoona was unable to attend the ceremony in Vancouver, she was presented with her diploma and sash in a community gathering in her hometown of Kinngait in early February 2017. Other Inuit artists who share the RCA distinction include Helen Kalvak (1901-1984; awarded 1974), Jessie Oonark (awarded 1975) and Kananginak Pootoogook (awarded 1979). The artist is also the subject of a recent, digital publication by the Art Canada Institute, written by Dr. Nancy Campbell. Ashoona is the second Inuit artist to be profiled in an ACI Online Art Book; the first was Pitseolak Ashoona, RCA, who was the subject of a 2015 book written by Christine Lalonde. Both can be accessed online at www.aci-iac.ca.