Thank for you the feedback - given the many positive reports on this forum regarding the Museum of Inuit Art we are sorry that your experience was not similar. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine from your review exactly what transpired because it seems that there was some misunderstanding regarding our organization. The museum does not in fact have an owner; rather, we are a registered non-profit organization and were founded to fulfill a forty year need for a museum dedicated to Inuit art and culture - and we are committed to ensuring that the museum's 75,000 yearly visitors have access to timely and accurate information about the museum and its mandate. As an award-winning institution we are committed to achieving our mandate - which includes operating the MIA Gallery in order to represent living Inuit artists and their work. acquired exclusively through the Inuit cooperatives and art marketing organizations - and for which we had been acknowledged as one of the top representatives in Canada and a leader in publications and research. The relationship of the gallery to the museum is articulated throughout the gallery signage, but essentially the gallery supports both living artists and the museum's operational costs. The MIA Gallery has exclusive deals with Inuit owned and operated cooperatives and art marketing systems, meaning that they set the gallery's prices and we do not raise them. In fact, we have been routinely told that our gallery's prices are significantly lower than most other galleries. To answer your original question, artists are paid up front when they sell their work to the cooperative or art marketing organization. They are offered a price and are able to accept it or decide to sell the work elsewhere. It's an entirely equitable system, controlled by Inuit, and when someone purchases artwork here the proceeds go back into the communities and into supporting our museum. Our museum is the only museum in the country devoted exclusively to art made by Inuit and I can assure you it is not a gimmick to persuade people into purchasing works at the gallery. The gallery exists in order to offer interested people an opportunity to purchase a work and to allow those proceeds to support vital museum operations, but the vast majority of our 75,000 annual visitors do not shop in the gallery. Neither do any of the thousands of school children who take advantage of our complimentary school visits program. We are committed to fulfilling our mandate, which is to showcase the history, variety, breadth and depth of this art form for the public and in creating meaningful experiences for our visitors. We would like to invite you for a guided tour of the museum in order to demonstrate how we work towards our mandate and address any concerns you may still have. Please contact us at info@miamuseum.ca if you would like to continue the discussion or come in for a tour.

We are sorry to hear that you felt your experience at the museum was less than positive. MIA is committed to showing the breadth and depth of art made by Inuit and currently has the largest permanent display of the art form in the country. We make a special effort to include a variety of media as well as art from different time periods and regions within Canada. If you'd like to offer any suggestions about what else you would like to see us showcase, please send us an email at info@miamuseum.ca.