Two of the North's most celebrated sculptors — Kiawak Ashoona of Cape Dorset and Paul Malliki of Repulse Bay — will split the Nunavut Commissioner's Art Award.

The $10,000 award is given to an artist who has made a significant contribution to the arts in Nunavut.

Ashoona is the fourth son of graphic artist Pitseolak Ashoona and Inuit leader Ashoona, who first settled in Cape Dorset. One of the last survivors of the first generation of Inuit artists, he has been carving since the 1950s.

His depictions of fantastic creatures have been shown throughout the world. Among his works are Sedna, which was reproduced on a 1980 postage stamp, Hunter Spirit of my Grandfather, which premiered at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 1989 and Bird Creature, part of the National Gallery of Canada's Inuit art collection.

He is a member of the Order of Canada and has won the Molson Award as well as other art awards for his work.

Malliki is the most established and widely exhibited of the Repulse Bay artists and one of few local sculptors to make his living entirely from his art.

He teaches other sculptors through Arctic College and is known for bringing his traditional skills as a hunter to the detail in his animal sculptures.

It's the third year for the art prize, handed out by commissioner Ann Hanson.