HAMILTON, ON.- A collection of Inuit art that recalls Hamilton’s storied role in fighting tuberculosis (TB) is being moved to the Art Gallery of Hamilton from the Chedoke site of Hamilton Health Sciences.

The 132-piece collection of sculptures and prints includes work made by Inuit patients from the eastern Arctic, who were treated for TB in the 1950s and early 1960s at the Hamilton Mountain Sanatorium, as the hospital was then called.

“The gift of this significant collection to the AGH ensures a broader and more profound recognition of Inuit art,” says Shelley Falconer, President and CEO of the Art Gallery of Hamilton. “The Chedoke Collection’s important ethnohistory, from Canada’s largest and principal Inuit hospital treating tuberculosis in the 1950s and 60s, reflects a range of creative ideas and experiences. The AGH is deeply grateful to all the Inuit artists who embraced and created this distinctly characteristic expression. The acquisition is an important first step in our commitment to broadening the Canadian mandate and integrating Indigenous voices into our permanent collection and program.”

Falconer says the collection will constitute a major public exhibition at the AGH in 2017. “We want to tell the story of the Inuit in Hamilton and the role that the local community played in eradicating the epidemic of TB in northern Canada.”

Hamilton Health Sciences President and CEO Rob MacIsaac says the collection has been kept on display at the former Chedoke Hospital site, but a new home was needed since Hamilton Health Sciences will exit the site later this year. “We’re very proud of the hospital’s history and the story behind this collection, but looking forward we felt that the city and the AGH are the most appropriate custodians of the art so that the public will have better access to it,” he said.

MacIsaac says a donor who wishes to remain anonymous purchased the collection from Hamilton Health Sciences at its appraised value and then donated it to the Art Gallery of Hamilton.

“The funds from this sale will be dedicated entirely to enhancing our care for indigenous patients and their families, with an emphasis on creating welcoming environments,” he said. “One of the first projects is a family room to be created at McMaster Children’s Hospital.”

In total, close to 1,300 Inuit patients were treated at the Sanatorium between the mid-1950s and early 1960s. Retired Chedoke Hospital nurse Hilda Ferrier, 93, worked at the Sanatorium, and then Chedoke Hospital, from 1952 to 1984 and recalls seeing the patients sitting up in bed carving soapstone.

“It was a godsend, it gave them a purpose. And it was a way to tell the world about what their life was like in the north.” She’s enthusiastic about the collection’s move to the Art Gallery: “I feel very good about that. It needs a home where everyone can appreciate it.”

Well-known Inuit artists included in the collection are Kenojuak Ashevak, Guy Mamatiaq, Moses Meeko, Noona, Alivaktak Petaloosie, Simon POV, Mikisiti Saila, and Kanayuk Tukalak.