Klengenberg, Elsiehttp://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Holman/english/artists/index.php3#c10b. 1946Elsie Klengenberg was one of the first artists to learn and develop the stencilling technique that is used to great effect in Holman today.1 She is a member of a family that is well known in the western Arctic, for historical as well as artistic reasons. Her father, Victor Ekootak (1916-1965), was one of the pioneer artists in the early 1960s. Her husband, Patrick Akovak Klengenberg (1944-1976), is the son of J¿rgen Klengenberg, and the grandson of Christian (Charlie) Klengenberg, a whaler turned trapper.2 Two of Elsie's children, Helen and Stanley Klengenberg (1964-1999), are also artists.Elsie grew up in the Read Island area but moved to Holman via Kugluktuk when the Read Island HBC post relocated in 1962.3 A number of other families relocated to Holman from Read Island; still others moved to Kugluktuk.The artmaking activities of her father and husband interested Elsie, and she was encouraged by Father Tardy to make drawings. He purchased them for 50 cents or one dollar. If he didn't buy one, she went home, erased all the pencil lines, and made another drawing for sale. In 1980, she started working in the printshop and was given help by Mary K. Okheena to learn the stencil technique. Mabel Nigiyok began the following year and the three women worked creatively and cooperatively in developing the sophisticated stencil method of mylar overlays to create layers of colour and tonality in their work.In 1995, Klengenberg moved to Inuvik for a year to take a fine arts course at Aurora College. In October/November 1997, she participated in a two-week, pan-Arctic Women's Workshop at the Ottawa School of Art and was one of three Inuit women artists featured on "Adrienne Clarkson Presents."4 From 1998 to 2000, she attended Arctic College courses in jewelry making with her partner, Joseph Haluksit, at the Cambridge Bay campus. Klengenberg has given workshops in the stencilling technique. In 1999 she demonstrated her skills at The Winnipeg Art Gallery, in conjunction with an exhibition, Elsie Klengenberg: Legend of Uvajuq. Elsie continues to create her delicate tonal prints, which captivate visitors to the community.From an interview with Elsie Klengenberg by Darlene Coward Wight, Holman, May 9, 20001 The practice of taking a father or husband's name as a surname was not adopted by the Inuit of Holman until the mid-1960s. Elsie used her personal name, Anaginak, on her early graphics.2 Charlie Klengenberg's exploits are immortalized in a colourful autobiography, Klengenberg of the Arctic.3 Elsie went to Kugluktuk to await the arrival of her first child, Robert, and then she followed the others to Holman.4 "Women's Work," Adrienne Clarkson Presents. CBC, 1997: 60 minutes, telecast nationally on November 12, 1997.----------------www.sacredhooptrading.comDrawings, Prints, PrintmakingElsie was born on Victoria Island and has been drawing since the early 1960s. Her father, Victor Ekootak, was an artist and gifted storyteller, serving to inspire her from an early age. Elsie's son, Stanley (Elongnak) Klengenberg is a graphic artist and sculptor in Holman. She holds a degree in fine arts from Arora College and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Inuit Art Foundation, Ottawa. 

Exhibitions

• Holman Prints *70, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints *85, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints *86, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints *87, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints *88, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints *89, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints *90, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints *91, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints *92, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints *93, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints *94, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints *95, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints (printmaker) *82, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints (printmaker) *83, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints (printmaker) *84, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints (printmaker) *85, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints (printmaker) *86, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints (printmaker) *87, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints (printmaker) *88, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints (printmaker) *92, (annual collection)
• Holman Prints (printmaker) *93, (annual collection)
• Keeping Our Stories Alive: An Exhibition of the Art and Crafts from Dene and Inuit of Canada, Institute of American Indian Arts Museum
• The Prints Never Seen: Holman, 1977-1987, Albers Gallery of Inuit Art

Collections

• Amway Environmental Foundation Collection, Ada
• Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull
• Glenbow Museum, Calgary
• Inuit Cultural Institute, Rankin Inlet
• National Arts Centre, Ottawa
• Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg