CAMBRIDGE BAY - Peter Wong strolls through Vancouver International Airport's Terminal B enthralled with the many pieces of Inuit art on display for travellers to enjoy.

The 100 or so works are on loan from the Lorne Balshine collection of Inuit sculpture, which is recognized nationally as an important heritage collection.

Peter Wong, a tourist visiting Canada from Hong Kong, spent his last few moments in this country captivated by the Vancouver International Airport's collection of Northern art, more than half of which are the stone, bone and ivory works of various Nunavut carvers. - John Curran/NNSL photo

Wong is flying home to Hong Kong and these will be the final Canadian memories he takes with him from his vacation.

"I collect Chinese stone carvings, but I was amazed to see they do it here, too," he said. "The detailing is a little different from the ones I'm used to, these appear to be somewhat simpler, but they're no less beautiful."

While his favourites in Vancouver depict whales, all share a common trait he admires.

"The Inuit artists all seem to make great use of the natural colours within each piece of stone," he said. "That's something Chinese carvers do as well."

For Cambridge Bay carver Noah Etkiliktak, hearing of the effect Inuit art has on people like Wong visiting Vancouver is great.

"It makes me proud to be a Nunavut carver," he said. "But why don't we have anything like that here where carvings are made?"

Earning a living as an artist isn't always easy, he said.

"I've been asking for a carving shop here for several years," he said.

His vision not only includes a gallery where tourists could view and purchase artworks from around the Kitikmeot region, but also a studio where carvers from the community could come and work in front of the public.

As an added bonus it could serve as a central clearing point through which artists could be supplied with the materials they need to operate.

While he's a skilled artist known for his previous black stone "bow and arrow man" carvings, he has more recently been forced to make the switch to less-marketable materials like bone and antler due to the lack of stone around Cambridge Bay.

"People who visit here always expect to see soapstone and ivory," he said.