John Kunikis, Director and Owner of First Peoples Gallery.
John Kunikis, a professional educator, has held positions in the field of education both as an instructor and as an administrator. After a period of collecting native art, he opened his own gallery in 1994. His goal was to promote and to foster a greater appreciation of the art of indigenous people, and thus a greater understanding of who we are as members of the human family.

All work in the gallery is selected and acquired personally by Mr. Kunikis. He seeks pieces of superior artistic quality, value and social significance as relates to the particular culture. The art is not bought, nor is it sold, as "an investment". His belief is that one should appreciate a work of art in terms of how it "speaks" to you, what you can learn from it, and what you can discover about yourself, not in terms of how it may appreciate monetarily in value over time.