"Eskimo Dolls," a traveling exhibit of Alaska Native-made dolls, is touring New England this summer. The exhibit is sponsored by the Alaska Native Arts Foundation (ANAF) and the Alaska State Council for the Arts (ASCA), in concert with local museums and historical societies, and will be accompanied by high-quality Alaska Native artwork for sale in museum shops.

By bringing these dolls far from their homes, ANAF hopes visitors to the museums learn something about these cultures and people, and about the shared history between two very distant areas of the country - Alaska and New England. These dolls have been in storage and are eager to get out and be ambassadors for Alaska's Native peoples. They may not speak very loudly, but have a lot to say. The "Eskimo Dolls" are artistic expressions of individuals, yet are full of information about the places, peoples, animals, and ways of life that make up their makers' cultures.

This collection is comprised of eighteen dolls specially commissioned for "Eskimo Dolls" and represent traditional materials, activities, and clothing of several Alaska Native groups, brought together under the umbrella term "Eskimo." These include the Inupiaq, Yup'ik, Cup'ik, and Siberian Yupik peoples living in the homelands they've occupied for many thousands of years along Western and Northern Alaska.

The genesis of this exhibit lies in a 1981 recommendation from the Traditional Arts Panel to the Alaska State Council for the Arts - to create an exhibit of Alaska Native art which could travel to Alaskan villages. These communities are distributed across 570,374 miles of vastly varied terrain, many accessible only by air, and most rarely (if ever!) visited by traveling art exhibits.

The "Eskimo Dolls" exhibit was specifically designed for transport via a very small airplane to bring and share the skill and artistry of these dollmakers to many of the rural communities in Alaska. Though traveling to New England by jet, the exhibit retains its Alaskan character and original intent to be enjoyed and to educate about Alaska Native cultures and traditions. Exhibit developers traveled the state to meet dollmakers at their homes as they were working on their pieces for the exhibit; there they conversed about dolls and dollmaking and artists were photographed as they worked. Documentary material from this process is maintained at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Rasmuson Library. Some of that information is summarized in an exhibit catalog called "Eskimo Dolls" that will be available for purchase in the museum shops.

Artists whose work appears in the exhibit are: Mary Black (Yup'ik, Kongiganak), Rosalie Paniyak (Cup'ik, Chevak), Mary Nash (Cup'ik, Chevak), Susie Brown and Lou C. Brown (Yup'ik, Eek), Helen Smith (Yup'ik, Hooper Bay), Martina Oscar (Yup'ik, Bethel, originally Nelson Island - Newtok, Tununak), Josephine Ungott (St. Lawrence Island Siberian Yup'ik, Gambell), Floyd and Amelia Kingeekuk (St. Lawrence Island Siberian Yup'ik, Savoonga), Annie Alowa (St. Lawrence Island Siberian Yup'ik, Savoonga), Vincent and Molly Tocktoo (Inupiat, Shishmaref), Elliot Olanna (Inupiat, Shishmaref), Maggie Komonaseak (Inupiat, Wales), Margaret Ahlalook (Inupiat, Wainwright), Susie Paneak (Inupiat, Anaktuvuk Pass), Caroline Penayah (St. Lawrence Island Siberian Yup'ik, originally Savoonga), Eva Heffle (Inupiat, Fairbanks - originally Kotzebue), Dolly Spencer (Inupiat, Homer - originally Kotzebue).

Dates and Locations of the "Eskimo Dolls" touring exhibition:
The Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum 396 County Street New Bedford, MA 02740 June 30 - July 28

The Nantucket Whaling Museum 15 Broad Street Nantucket, MA 02554 July 29 - August 18

Mystic Seaport 75 Greenmanville Avenue, Rte. 27 Mystic, CT 06355 August 19 - September 12

ANAF is a nonprofit foundation created in 2002 to promote and celebrate Alaska Native art and cultural heritage by marketing and selling Alaska Native art in new locations and through a Web site. These aims combined with artist development and education, and encouraging cultural and economic sustainability form the framework of the Foundation's activities. Revenue generated through the sale of a carefully selected inventory of Native art goes back into supporting artists, cultural activities, and educational initiatives.

ANAF's goals of introducing Alaska Native art to a wider, appreciative audience and informing that audience about Alaska Native people, cultures, and artwork will be accomplished through partnerships with museums, libraries, arts organizations, and others.

ASCA was formed in 1966 to promote arts programs that reflect and sustain the cultural identities of the people of Alaska, to demonstrate that the arts are central to the vitality of our communities and citizens, to provide informational and educational services, and to facilitate the development of Alaska's cultural resources. More about their organization can be found at: http://www.eed.state.ak.us/aksca/home.html

The Eskimo Doll Tour is jointly sponsored by the Alaska Native Arts Foundation and the Alaska State Council on the Arts.

For more information about the Alaska Native Arts Foundation, please visit our Web site: www.alaskanativearts.org

Questions about ANAF may be directed to either contact listed at the top of this release or to Priscilla Hensley at Priscilla@alaskanativearts.org & 202.262.7742