Longtime Inuit arts patron Terry Ryan dies after battle with Parkinson's Disease

Terry Ryan, whoplayed an instrumental role in building Cape Dorset's famed print studio and a community of artists,has died.

The founding manager of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative (now called the Kinngait Studios)in Nunavut died on Aug. 31 in Toronto. He was83.

According to an online obituary fromTurner & Porter Yorke chapel, which is handling the funeral, Ryan died peacefully in his sleep after many years living with Parkinson's Disease.

Ryan was born on Dec.18, 1933 in Toronto's Beaches area, where hisfamily owned a hardware store, Ryan's Hardware.

Hegraduated from the Ontario College of Art in 1954 and made his first trip to Canada's far north in 1956,according to a biography by theUniversity of Manitoba Archives, which holds a large collection of Ryan's work.

Ryan settled in CapeDorsetin 1960 and began working for the fledglingWest Baffin Eskimo Co-operative(WBEC) and became general manager shortly thereafter.

Some people in Cape Dorsethad trouble pronouncing Ryan's name, so he was given an Inuk name, Titiqtugaqti,which translated as"man who sketches on paper," saidJimmy Manning, a longtime arts advisor in CapeDorsetwho first met Ryan in 1968.

To others, he was known as Tiuli, an Inuk way of saying Terry.

Through the WBEC, Ryanis credited with playing a prominent rolein introducing Inuit art and artists to an international audience.

In themid-1960s, when the international market for furs and seal skins softened and hunters were struggling for income, Ryan encouraged them to draw and carve, Manning said.

"Over the years, this became a very important thing for the community," he said, adding that Ryan used his connections to galleries, museums and other collectors in North America and Europe to link the art with buyers.

Collecting art by dogsled

In 1964, Ryan undertook a four-month dogsled journey toClydeRiver, Arctic Bay, Pond Inlet andIgloolik, according to the U of M biography.

During that excursion, hecollected1,863 pencil and pen drawings by 159 Inuit. Those drawings are now in the collection of the Canadian Museum of History inOttawa.

As general manager of the co-op, Ryansourcedstone for carvings, initiated visiting artists and fine craft programs, and managed the production of CapeDorset'sannual print catalogue.

Manning said Ryan also served as counsellor on the Cape Dorset settlement counsel and asthe community's justice of the peace.

"So Terry had a lot of roles in our small community," he said.

Ryanserved asgeneral manager of the WBEC until 2000 when heopenedDorsetFine Arts in Toronto. Heretired in 2008.

He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1983, was made anHonorary Fellow of the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1995, and was awarded the Governor General's Award for Visual Arts in 2010.

Ryan's funeral will be held on Sept. 16 with a reception to follow at a Toronto art gallery.