A passionate and dedicated arts advocate, Alysa Procida has worked closely with Inuit artists for the past eight years. In 2015, Alysa joined the Inuit Art Foundation as Executive Director and Publisher of the award-winning Inuit Art Quarterly (IAQ), bringing a wealth of experience with Inuit art and non-profit leadership. Prior to her role with the IAF, Alysa was the Executive Director and Curator of the Museum of Inuit Art in Toronto, ON.
Under her leadership, the IAF successfully launched several signature programs including the Igloo Tag Trademark, which protects artists from cultural appropriation and theft; the Inuit Artist Database, an unprecedented biographical resource for artists to receive support in creating online CVs, and the inaugural Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award—which supports an established Inuit artist in pursuing an artistic residency. As Publisher of the IAQ, Alysa oversaw a full redesign of the magazine in conjunction with the IAF’s thirtieth anniversary in 2017 and the magazine’s first National Magazine Award in 2018.
Over her career Alysa has written and presented internationally about using both traditional and new media channels to champion Inuit art to new and existing audiences. Her curatorial projects include The Matchbox Gallery: A Retrospective (2014); The Art of Play (2013), showcasing new media including Arctic video games: and Remembering Ovilu Tunnillie (2014).