TLINGIT ARTIST JAMES “JIM” SCHOPPERT BORN
Schoppert, born in Juneau, Alaska, earned a Master’s in Fine Arts degree from the University of Washington (WA), Seattle, in 1981. He felt that Native artists should go beyond stereotypes. A member of the WA State Arts Commission, Alaska (AK) State Council on the Arts, and Institute of AK Native Arts, Jim also taught visual arts at the University of AK, Fairbanks. Exhibitions included Anchorage Museum of History and Art; AK Native Arts and Crafts Gallery; and Marilyn Butler Fine Art Gallery. His works are in the AK State and Heard Museums. Honors include: Festival of AK Native Arts, first prize, ivory and juror’s choice awards (1976 and 1980); and outstanding Native American poet, Native American Center for the Living Arts (1985). In 1987, Schoppert created the Northwest design on the Interstate 90 tunnel. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian hosted Instrument of Change: Jim Schoppert Exhibition, 1947-1992, (1999-2000). He died on September 2, 1992, in Ojai, California.
Source: Deloris Tarzan Ament, "Robert James Schoppert, 45, Used Tlingit Heritage in his Artwork," The Seattle Times, 9/19/1992. Retrieved 7/12/2019, http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19920919&slug=1513875 Photo: Dludwig117, 8/19/2016. “Modern Mask” at SeaTac. Permissive Use.
Indigenous America Calendar 