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Ronald Senungetuk ( ; 1933 – January 21, 2020) (last name pronounced ''Sinuŋituk'' in Iñupiaq) was an Iñupiaq artist originally from
Senungetuk preferred not to be identified solely as a Native artist and said: "A lot of people will call you an Eskimo artist. I'd rather be an artist who happened to be Inupiat."
His work was exhibited at the
Ron Senungetuk Receives $25,000 Distinguished Artist Award
/ref>
Alaskakool interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senungetuk, Ronald 1933 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Alaska Native people 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century Inuit artists 20th-century Native American artists 21st-century Alaska Native people 21st-century American sculptors 21st-century Inuit artists 21st-century Native American artists American silversmiths Artists from Alaska Inuit sculptors Inupiat people Native American sculptors People from Homer, Alaska Rochester Institute of Technology alumni University of Alaska Fairbanks faculty American animal artists Animal sculptors Sculptors from Alaska Native Village of Wales
Wales, Alaska
Wales (, ) is a City (Alaska), city
in the Nome Census Area, Alaska, Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census the population was 145, down from 152 in 2000. It is the westernmost city on the North ...
, who worked primarily in wood and metal.
Background and education
He is a citizen of the Native Village of Wales, afederally recognized
This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes are legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United States.
Alaska Native tribe. Senungetuk was a sculptor
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
and silversmith
A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exact synonyms, as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are (or were, at least) largely the same but differed in that t ...
and was known for his abstractions of animal figures. He attended the Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...
school in Sitka, Alaska
Sitka (; ) is a municipal home rule, unified Consolidated city-county, city-borough in the southeast portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. It was under Russian America, Russian rule from 1799 to 1867. The city is situated on the west side of Ba ...
before training at the School for American Craftsmen at the Rochester Institute of Technology
The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester. It was founded in 1829. It is one of only two institute of technology, institut ...
in New York and received his B.A. in 1960. Senungetuk received a Fulbright Fellowship
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...
to study at Statens håndverks- og kunstindustriskole in Oslo, Norway
Oslo ( or ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of towns and cities in Norway, most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a Counties of Norway, county and a Municipalities of Norway, municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a populat ...
.
He and his wife, Turid, an accomplished silversmith, lived in Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
.
Education career
Senungetuk taught at theUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks
The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-, National Sea Grant College Program, sea-, and National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, space-grant research university in ...
beginning in 1961. He founded their metalsmithing program and served as director of its Native Art Center. During his teaching career, he emphasized modern styles of jewelry-making, avant-garde concepts, and respect for Native traditional imagery.
Abraham Anghik Ruben
Abraham Anghik Ruben (born 1951) is an Inuvialuk Canadian sculptor of Yup'ik descent.
Ruben was born south of the hamlet of Paulatuk in the Inuvik Region east of the Mackenzie River Delta in the Northwest Territories, Canada in 1951.Abraham Ang ...
( Inuvialuk/Yup'ik
The Yupʼik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yupʼik, Central Yupʼik, Alaskan Yupʼik ( own name ''Yupʼik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; Russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an ...
) was one of Senungetuk's students.
Art career
Senungetuk preferred not to be identified solely as a Native artist and said: "A lot of people will call you an Eskimo artist. I'd rather be an artist who happened to be Inupiat."
His work was exhibited at the Anchorage Museum
The Anchorage Museum is a large art, history, ethnography, ecology and science museum located in a modern building in the heart of Anchorage, Alaska. It is dedicated to studying and exploring the land, peoples, art and history of Alaska.
The mu ...
, the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the Native Medical Center in Anchorage, and the Pratt Museum
The Pratt Museum is a regional natural history museum located in Homer, Alaska, with exhibits exploring life around Kachemak Bay in South Central Alaska. The museum's mission is to preserve "the stories of the Kachemak Bay region", through "coll ...
in Homer.
Family
His daughter is a musician and ethnomusicology scholar Heidi Aklaseaq Senungetuk.Awards and recognition
* 1979: State of Alaska Governor's Award for the Arts * 2008: Denali National Park Artist-in-Residence * 2008: Rasmuson Foundation Distinguished Artist Award/ref>
See also
*Alaska Native art
Alaska Natives, Alaska Native cultures are rich and diverse, and their art forms are representations of their history, skills, tradition, adaptation, and nearly twenty thousand years of continuous life in some of the most remote places on earth. Th ...
* Inuit art
Inuit art, also known as Eskimo art, refers to artwork produced by Inuit, that is, the people of the Arctic previously known as Eskimos, a term that is now often considered offensive. Historically, their preferred medium was walrus ivory, but si ...
Notes
External links
Alaskakool interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senungetuk, Ronald 1933 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Alaska Native people 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century Inuit artists 20th-century Native American artists 21st-century Alaska Native people 21st-century American sculptors 21st-century Inuit artists 21st-century Native American artists American silversmiths Artists from Alaska Inuit sculptors Inupiat people Native American sculptors People from Homer, Alaska Rochester Institute of Technology alumni University of Alaska Fairbanks faculty American animal artists Animal sculptors Sculptors from Alaska Native Village of Wales