Robert James "Jim" Schoppert (May 28, 1947 – September 2, 1992) was an

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a num ...

artist and educator. His work includes woodcarving, painting, poetry, and essays. He has been described as an innovator, whose works pushed the boundaries of what was expected from

Northwest Coast art Northwest Coast art is the term commonly applied to a style of art created primarily by artists from Tlingit, Haida, Heiltsuk, Nuxalk, Tsimshian, Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth and other First Nations and Native American tribes of the Northwest ...

. Throughout his career he spoke on behalf of Alaska Native artists and visual artists in general. He taught at the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for c ...

(UAF) as a guest professor and gave presentations and lectures at elementary schools throughout the states of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Early life

Schoppert was born in

Juneau, Alaska The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the ...

to a father of German descent and a

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

( or ) mother.''Jim Schoppert: Instrument of Change: Retrospective Exhibition''. Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Anchorage, 1997.

Career

In 1973, Schoppert came to

Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring ...

for a construction job which, it turned out, was no longer available. On February 26 of that year, using the last of his money, he bought a piece of

soapstone Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the ...

and carved an owl.Julie Decker. Icebreakers: Alaska's Most Innovative Artists. Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, 1999. He put it up for sale at the urging of his sister and was able to sell it quickly, which marked the formal beginning of his career as an artist. Understanding that knowledge was important, he went on to earn a BFA from the

University of Alaska Anchorage The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is a public university in Anchorage, Alaska. UAA also administers four community campuses spread across Southcentral Alaska: Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, Matanuska–Susitna College, and Pr ...

and a MFA from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...

. But "his apprenticeship was with himself" according to Steven Brown, associate curator at the

Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, United States. It operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park on Cap ...

. Continuing to produce work while still an undergraduate, he won first place in the statewide ''Earth, Fire and Fiber'' juried show in 1976. This sculpture should have been an indication of things to come as it was a separation from his customary work which would define him as an artist and create controversy and curiosity in later years. Although he created art using the formline, he chose a different approach for a great deal of his work that did not neatly fit into either mainstream or

. He was quoted as saying "There is tremendous pressure for conformity from collectors and scholars, who want work that fits into the classic definition of Northwest Indian art. When things don't fit their expectations there's a raised eyebrow, and a sort of suggestion of 'What do we do with it now?'". This mindset is what allowed Schoppert to create his most recognizable pieces which are large carved panels made of multiple planks, painted in colors not associated with historical Tlingit carving, and the planks rearranged to create an entirely new look and a break from established methods and formline. Examples of this style are seen in his works ''Teasing Eagle'' and ''Raven Opens Box of Stars''. During his career as an artist he also served on the state arts councils of both

and

. He created the North Coast Indian flat design that is on the entrance to the west end of the

I-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, an ...

tunnel in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

. There are several of his works throughout Alaska and Washington. This includes one of the last pieces he made, a large carving for the

Port of Seattle The Port of Seattle is a government agency overseeing the Northwest Seaport Alliance, seaport and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, airport of Seattle, Washington, United States. With a portfolio of properties ranging from parks and wa ...

to be installed at the

Seattle–Tacoma International Airport Seattle–Tacoma International Airport , branded as SEA Airport and also referred to as Sea–Tac (), is the primary commercial airport serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is in the city of SeaTac, which ...

Artwork

Schoppert's artwork covered a wide range of techniques such as woodcarving, abstract paintings, drawings, mask making, and, most notably, his large, carved panel pieces. The wood panel pieces are also what created some controversy over whether his art was mainstream or Northwest Coastal. Schoppert learned that the Tlingit formline that was considered the customary method was only a relatively recent development among the Northwest Indian. It was his opinion that enforcing the practices of the 1850s or 1950s as the rule for all time amounted to artistic tyranny. He has been quoted as saying "Learn the rules, then break them". When talking about his panels, his intention was to further the art by following what he considered its natural progression. "If Art has a Master, Imagination cracks the whip".(1987) It is clear that he was true to his beliefs when examining his work. He went beyond the boundaries of established Northwest Coastal art and was a contributor to the evolution of contemporary Native art.Smithsonian National Museum on the American Indian of Change: Retrospective Exhibition 1947-1992
/ref> Modern Mask 1992

Although Schoppert is best known for his panels, he also produced several pieces that followed conventional methods and formline design. This is most evident in his mask making, an example of Jim using this style can be found in his mask ''Forehead Mask'' (1977) and ''Mussel Shell Rattle'' (1992). In addition he had several paintings and drawings that incorporate Indigenous subject matter but do not use of formline.

Exhibitions

* 1984: "The New Native American Aesthetic", Marilyn Butler Gallery, Santa Fe * 1984:

C.N. Gorman Museum C.N. Gorman Museum is a museum focused on Native American and Indigenous artists, founded in 1973 at University of California, Davis (UC Davis) in Davis, California. History The C.N. Gorman Museum was founded in 1973 by the Department of Nativ ...

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...

* 1985: "New Ideas from Old Traditions", Yellowstone Arts Center * 1985: North Central Washington Museum, Wenatchee, WA * 1985: "Visage Transcended: Contemporary Native American Masks", American Indian Contemporary Arts Gallery, San Francisco * 1985: Second Biennial Invitational, Heard Museum, Phoenix * 1986: "What is Native American Art?'" * 1989: "Native American Expressions of Surrealism", Sacred Circle Gallery,

* 1990: "Northern Lights", SunRunner,

Ojai Ojai ( ; Chumash: ''’Awhaỳ'') is a city in Ventura County, California. Located in the Ojai Valley, it is northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara. The valley is part of the east–west trending Western Transverse Ranges and is ...

, CA * 1990: "Eleven Stories", Sacred Circle Gallery, Seattle * 1991: "Eleventh Anniversary Show",

Stonington Gallery Stonington may refer to: Places ;Antarctica *Stonington Island, Marguerite Bay ;United States * Stonington, Connecticut (town) **Stonington (borough), Connecticut Stonington is a borough and the town center of Stonington, Connecticut, referred t ...

, Seattle * 1991: "Raw Materials", Sacred Circle Gallery, Seattle * 1991: "A Northern Perspectives", The Legacy Ltd., Seattle * 1992: "Salmon:Ritual and Resource," Stonington Gallery, Seattle * 1992: "Visions of Alaska", Denise Wallace Gallery, Santa Fe * 1992: "Instrument of Change: Retrospective Exhibition", Smithsonian

National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center The National Museum of the American Indian–New York, the George Gustav Heye Center, is a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in Manhattan, New York City. The museum is part of the Sm ...

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Posthumous

Schoppert's final exhibition was hosted by the

Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center The Anchorage Museum is a large art, history, ethnography, ecology and science museum located in a modern building in the heart of Anchorage, Alaska. It is dedicated to studying and exploring the land, peoples, art and history of Alaska. The mu ...

seven years after he died, putting together a traveling exhibit that contained 50 pieces of art, and selected essays and poems as a tribute to a great Alaska Native artist and recognized him as transformational "whose unique artistic expression contributed to the evolution of contemporary native art". Sponsored by the

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

, this exhibit was displayed in the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...

from October 3, 1999, to February 6, 2000, at the museum's

George Gustav Heye Center The National Museum of the American Indian–New York, the George Gustav Heye Center, is a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in Manhattan, New York City. The museum is part of the Sm ...

References

External links

Seattle PI Archives
"Memorial Service for Tlingit Artist Robert James Schoppert"
Seattle International Airport Permanent Art List

Alaska Art
James Schoppert biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Schoppert, James 1947 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists 20th-century American painters 20th-century Native American artists 20th-century indigenous painters of the Americas American male sculptors Alaska Native people American people of German descent Artists from Anchorage, Alaska Artists from Seattle Native American painters Native American sculptors Native American woodcarvers Native American writers Northwest Coast art People from Juneau, Alaska Tlingit people University of Alaska Anchorage alumni University of Alaska Fairbanks faculty University of Washington alumni Sculptors from Washington (state) Native American male artists