Davie Atchealak was born in 1947, in Ikirasaq, a small Baffin Island community down coast from Cape Dorset (Kinngait). Through the course of his life he also lived in Pangnirtung, Cape Dorset, Lake Harbour, and Markham Bay.

Atchealak began exhibiting his sculpture in 1976, and has become one of the most prominent Inuit sculptors of his generation. As well as exhibiting in museums and galleries across Canada, his work has been included in exhibitions in major cities in the USA, including Washington D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Atchealak's work travelled the world with the prestigious Amway collection and is represented in all of the major Inuit Art museum collections in Canada and abroad.

The identifying feature of Atchealak's sculpture is the delicate balance he achieves. Dancing bears and walruses appear to float, anchored by a single point to a small stone base, all carved out of a single piece of stone. His works are technically challenging, and are exquisitely formed modern sculpture. 

Exhibitions

• Arctic Spirit 35 Years of Canadian Inuit Art, Frye Art Museum
• Art Inuit, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Baffin Island Sculpture Exhibition, Baffin Regional School
• Beauty in Flight:Sculpture and Prints from the Arctic, Arctic Artistry
• Cape Dorset Exhibition, Franz Bader Gallery
• Cape Dorset Sculpture, Atlantic Galleries
• Collectable Sculpture 1987, Webster Galleries
• Collector's Choice: 1965-1980, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Contemporary Sculpture from the Arctic, Arctic Artistry
• Davie Atchealak, The Snow Goose
• Davie Atchealak - Sculpture, Inukshuk Galleries
• Exhibition and Sale of Musk-Oxen & Bears, Cottage Craft Gifts & Fine Arts Ltd.
• Granville Island Canadian Inuit Sculpture Exhibition (first exhibition), Vancouver Inuit Art Society
• Granville Island Canadian Inuit Sculpture Exhibition (second exhibition), Vancouver Inuit Art Society
• Henry and Davie: Master Inuit Carvers, Arctic Artistry
• Images from the Arctic, Galerie D'Art Vincent
• Images of the Far North, Studio Art Gallery, State University of New York
• Immaginario Inuit Arte e cultura degli esquimesi canadesi, Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
• Inuit Art in the 1970s, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre
• Inuit Master Artists of the 1970s, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Keeping Our Stories Alive: An Exhibition of the Art and Crafts from Dene and Inuit of Canada, Institute of American Indian Arts Museum
• Masters of the Arctic: An Exhibition of Contemporary Inuit Masterworks, Presented by the Amway Corporation at the United Nations General Assembly
• Not Just a Dancing Step..., Galerie D'Art Vincent
• Pangnirtung - Recent Sculpture, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Pangnirtung 1984: Eskimo Print Collection and Sculpture, Images of the North
• Pangnirtung Print Collection *85, (annual collection)
• Pangnirtung Print Retrospective: 1973-1986, Organized by Pangnirtung Eskimo Co-operative Limited, Pangnirtung, at Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Sanaugasi Takujaksat: A Travelling Celebration of Inuit Sculpture, Presented by Canadian Arctic Producers Ltd., with the assistance of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa
• Sculpture Inuit, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Takamit - Canadian Eskimo Art: Selections from Private Collections and the Government of Canada, Organized by La Federation des Cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec and the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University
• The Inuit Imagination, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• The Inuit Print and Sculpture 1960-1980, Westdale Gallery

Collections

• Amway Environmental Foundation Collection, Ada
• Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull
• Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City
• Inuit Cultural Institute, Rankin Inlet
• Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon
• Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
• Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife
• Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Banff

Publications

• ELIZABETH ARNGNAQQUAQ, Author: Muehlen, Maria, Publication: In North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary/ Garland (1995)