Child's Mask Dance

Bill Prokopiof (1944 - 1999) Bill Prokopiof was born in Juneau, Alaska, 1944. His family, of Aleut decent, was relocated from the Pribilof Islands to Juneau because of the war. He lived in Juneau until age 8 and at Bristol Bay at a mission school until 11. He then went to live on St. George Island. He lived there until he went off to school in Sitka, where he attended Mt. Edgecumbe, a vocational school. It was here he was given the opportunity to attend the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. While at Mt. Edgecumbe, he had been taking jewelry and holloware courses and, when he transferred to the IAIA, he studied jewelry and sculpture. He received his high school diploma in 1964. During two years of post-graduate work at the IAIA, (1964-1966) Prokopiof studied under the renowned sculpture Allen Houser, who greatly encouraged him and helped him to refine his designs. In 1966-67 Bill majored in sculpture, drawing, design, painting and the humanities at the San Francisco Art Institute. Bill came back to Santa Fe and worked at various foundries in New Mexico and Colorado. Before Bill went into art fulltime, he worked for a number of years at the IAIA doing many varied jobs, including traveling museum curator from 1975-1980. However, he was always encouraged by Mr. Houser to pursue his art. It was this juncture in his life that he decided to create his own artwork.