Known by old timers as Sundi, Laura Sundi Allison came to the Territory of Alaska in 1944 and applied for and proved up on a homestead on Sundi Lake just outside of Anchorage in 1951. For thirty years she lived in Ketchikan, Anchorage (when there was only four blocks of paved street in town), Bethel, Moose Pass, Point Barrow, Umiat and Galena. While in Alaska, she made sketching trips by train, boat, bush plane and dog sled to many native villages.

She owned gold mining claims on the Kenai, worked for Statehood and was on the Alaska Centennial Kenai Committee, saw Mt. Spur erupt and was in Anchorage during the "Big Quake."

Sundi received a B.A. in art and a M.A. in art history from California State University, Los Angeles, and completed a year of graduate work in art at Ching Chir University, Taibei, Taiwan, Republic of China.

Dr. Karl Reinhard wrote in a letter to her:

"You are the first artist who has shown, in the faces of the Eskimos you paint, their sensitive nature, deep-seated good humor, tender emotions and light heartedness. Personally I consider you the finest portrayer of the Eskimo people."

Sundi moved to Eatonville, Washington, later in her life.