Anna Kingwatsiak (1911-1971)
Cultural Background: Inuit
Kingwatsiak was born in a camp near Kimmirut in 1911, on the south shore of Baffin Island in what is now Nunavut. She was the oldest child in an artistic family.
Kingwatsiak produced drawings depicting Inuit imagery and typical scenes of Inuit life. Many of her drawings were made into prints by the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative. She also designed printed home textiles as part of an effort to develop a commercial market for the co-operative’s art in the 1950s and 1960s.