The adjoining Museum of Inuit Art Gallery receives it works through the Inuit co-operatives and Art Marketing Groups and honours their suggested sale prices: while offering one of the largest selections of Inuit Art in Canada.  The exceptional quality of the artworks and educational focus serve to make the gallery an extension of the museum, where visitors can see the practical side of the Inuit art economy at work; with all profits going to support cultural, educational and acquisition programs at the Museum.

The collection can be viewed online at www.miagallery.ca

Inuit Co-operative and Art Marketing Groups represented at the gallery include:

LA FÉDÉRATION DES COOPERATIVES DU NOUVEAU-QUÉBEC

For several decades, Nunavik (Northern Quebec) Inuit have been marketing their art through their own co operative system. Nunavik artists, living in communities along the Hudson's Bay and Ungava Bay coasts bring works to their cooperatives where they are purchased and  sent to La Fédération des cooperatives du Nouveau-Québec and its division Art Nunavik in Montreal for marketing at the wholesale level. Galleries have come to rely on Art Nunavik for high quality art pieces and know that, by purchasing from the co-ops, they are contributing to the development of the Quebec Inuit.

The first cooperatives in Quebec appeared in the late 1950's and, over the ensuing years, they achieved some success in art marketing and in the operation of general stores in the communities. In 1967, several Quebec cooperatives federated and created La Fédération des cooperatives du Nouveau-Québec (FCNQ) which was to support them in their activities. Primary among these activities was the purchasing and marketing of Inuit Art which, at the time, was beginning to gain recognition from the public.

Efforts by FCNQ and others increased the popularity of Inuit art to the point where it became a source of prosperity for the North. The co-ops also benefited from the income derived from art production and thanks to it, are today involved in many fields of economic activity that include retailing, the hotel business, oil distribution, maritime shipping, etc. These activities have surpassed art production as far as income generation is concerned but the Nunavik Inuit still see the importance of art as a means to communicate their culture and tradition to the rest of the world.

CANADIAN ARCTIC PRODUCERS

Canadian Arctic Producers (CAP) was established in 1965 to market the arts and crafts of the aboriginal people of northern Canada. CAP was formed at the request of the Canadian government as an initiative to boost economic opportunity in the country's Arctic regions. Art production and carving in particular became popular among the Inuit because it provided a more dependable livelihood than hunting and trapping, and fit with their existing lifestyle.

A cornerstone of CAP's operation was the commitment to fair and timely compensation for the artists. In 1978, CAP made the transition from corporation to co-operative. This ensured that artist-members would direct the operations of their marketing agency.

In 1982, CAP amalgamated with the Canadian Arctic Co-operative FederationLimited to form Arctic Co operatives Limited (ACL). ACL is a co-operative service federation dedicated to providing services and business development opportunities to communities throughout Canada's arctic.

Today, CAP operates as a dedicated program which continues to purchase and distribute fine arts and crafts produced by Inuit and northern First Nations people.

 THE NORTH WEST COMPANY INUIT ART MARKETING SERVICE

The North West Company, (TNWC), and its predecessor, The Northern Stores Division of the Hudson's Bay Company, have been purchasing Inuit sculpture directly from artists in their home communities in the Canadian Arctic for over 50 years.

Beginning in the 1950s and 60s the federal government recognized the potential economic benefit to the Inuit and was assisted in part by the Hudson's Bay Company in the establishment of Inuit owned cooperatives in most Arctic communities, as well as art marketing agencies in southern Canada.

Through TNWC's chain of retail stores located in Canada's far North, Inuit Art Marketing working with and through local store staff, purchase carvings directly from the Artists in their home communities. By doing so millions of dollars in disposable income are injected into the collective economy of the North adding to the overall larger contribution of wages and benefits, with TNWC being the largest employer of indigenous peoples in Canada. The North West Company has been a primary mover in providing income in isolated Arctic communities, and in establishing Inuit sculpture as a major contemporary art form.