Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services

NNSL (Apr 19/99) - Good news for aboriginal artists across Canada -- a hip new magazine devoted entirely to the art of Canadian First Peoples is set to be launched in June.

"This magazine was always kicking around in the back of our heads for the last three or for years," says publisher Dennis Hillman.

Hillman, and partner Denise Gagnon, have long been distributing Inuit art, first with Arctic Co-operative Limited and most recent with the Northwest Company.

Last year, Hillman was executive director of Spirits in the Sun, in Scottsdale, Ariz.

"That was where we brought all the galleries from across Canada, and all the different art forms from across Canada, down to the arts festival there," Hillman explains.

"Everyone was trying to do things individually. Hopefully by getting together, and marketing it, you get a bigger force and you can put on a bigger show."

The magazine's concept, says Hillman, is the same. There is no magazine that focuses on the First Peoples art of Canada.

"There's Inuit Art Quarterly, of course, that covers Inuit art," Hillman notes.

The premiere issue exemplifies the wide range of art and region the publisher intends to delve into.

One story, written by Don Worrell of Yellowknife, focuses on Dene art -- painting, sculpture, birch-bark baskets and moose-hide tufting -- as well as the Dene Cultural Institute's work showcasing and nurturing the talents of these "relatively undiscovered artists of the North."

"That's the thing, there's all those artists up there with all their wonderful work and no one down south knows about it," Hillman says.

Such is the case with many aboriginal art forms all over Canada.

The promotional material also notes that the importance of 1999 for Inuit art -- it is the 50th anniversary -- will be marked by coverage of special exhibitions, events and festivities across Canada.

June's issue will honour the memories of brother master carvers Charles Ugyuk and Judas Ullulaq. (At the time the article was written, elder brother Nelson Takkiruq was still alive.)

Northwest Coast weaver Cheryl Samuel, and her work, will be featured, including her collaborative work with master Nuu-chah-nulth artist Art Thompson.

Yet another piece will feature Mike Massie, an Inuit artist in Newfoundland, who works with silver, antler, horn and exotic woods.

"We're trying to tell the stories about all the West Coast art, the woodlands, the prairies, the Dene, the Mi'kmaq, and right across the country. Coast to coast to coast," states Hillman.

Hillman and Gagnon researched across the country prior to going ahead with the new publication.

"To see if there was an interest in advertisers supporting it, and of course, everyone agreed that there is a need for it. Then it was identifying the writers for the first issue. From then on in we will be soliciting articles from people."

The magazine will be distributed through Arctic Co-operatives in Winnipeg to local co-op stores throughout Nunavut and the NWT. Northern Images in Inuvik and Yellowknife will carry the magazine, as well as other advertising galleries in the North.

genous will enjoy distribution nationally and internationally. The initial distribution list, which includes public and private galleries, museums, Canadian consulates and embassies and corporations with a demonstrated interest in native art, is estimated at over 15,000.

And this doesn't include basic distribution to select newsstands.

"We're sending out the first editions free of charge, of course, you have to build up your subscribers that way."