ARTShops

A Journey to What Matters and ASCA Partnership- Graduate ARTShops 2021 The ARTShops program is a collaboration between the Alaska State Council on the Arts, the Alaska Native Heritage Center and The CIRI Foundation’s A Journey to What Matters: Increased Alaska Native Arts and Culture grant program. Established in 2016, ARTShops support emerging Alaska Native arts leaders to develop their skills in leading community-based arts programs. Graduate ARTShops 2021 Cauyaq Making Final Report Story by: Amber Webb, ARTShop Leader My Graduate ARTShop project focused on cauyaq (drum) and included demonstrations and instruction about harvesting and splitting frame wood, bending, and frame construction, and then drum covering with Ossie Kairaiuak. It also included discussion about, traditional etiquette and the role of Yuraq and drums in our social structure.              There were several methods we discussed around bending wood, one of which involved weighing wood down in a deeper part of Lake Aleknagik to use the pressure of water instead of steaming or boiling it.  This process made us wonder if that is why the original name for Aleknagik was a variation of the Yugtun word for a place to lash, since a lot of our bent wood utensils and tools were lashed.  This renewed interest in lashing techniques.  Some of us are also working on starting other projects with bent wood like dance masks, fans, bowls, containers and even kayak frames.               We were able to have daily potlucks and Yup’ik dancing during class and in the evening as well.  It was a small group who came to dance, but it included some of our most enthusiastic community members.  It was especially meaningful for my sister and I who danced for 12 years with the Greatland dancers under William and Marie Tyson of St. Mary during our childhood.  Neither of us had danced in about 20 years and we both remembered the songs better than I had expected.               One very special moment after the class was when my husband’s 80 year-old uncle who is in the early stages of dementia and usually very quiet came to the house and saw the drum that was made at the workshop.  He became very animated and asked to hold the drum. He began drumming and then stopped, exclaiming that he hadn’t seen one of these in many years.  He then asked if he could take the drum home to practice a song that he was trying to remember so that he could come back and play it for his nephew.               After the class, we attended a Yuraq performance in Anchorage and my 4 year-old daughter, who had not seen much Yuraq before the class, was inspired on her own to go up next to one of the dancers and try dancing the song she had never heard.  Since the class, I will hear her sing some of the songs that we learned while she plays.  I believe our ARTShop will have a lasting regional impact during the coming years.               I appreciate the flexibility of the ARTShop program because it lends itself to traditional and informal ways of working.  Quyana for allowing me to participate in this program.   

A Journey to What Matters and ASCA Partnership- Graduate ARTShops 2021 The ARTShops program is a collaboration between the Alaska State Council on the Arts, the Alaska Native Heritage Center and The CIRI Foundation’s A Journey to What Matters: Increased Alaska Native Arts and Culture grant program. Established in 2016, ARTShops support emerging Alaska Native arts leaders to develop their skills in leading community-based arts programs. Graduate ARTShops 2021Hide Work in Continuous CommunityStory by: Melissa Shaginoff, ARTShop Leader For this Graduate ARTShop Project I was able to meet all my goals with slight adjustments with the delivery of the project to my community. Working in Dgheyey kaq’ (Anchorage) I was able to connect with a small group of hide workers and hide work teachers. To work on hides in a good way we first needed to establish a connection to both our human and animal relatives. This involves building trust within our community of learning and developing deep kinship relations with each other and our knowledge of the animals.For this project I networked with friends and friends of friends to collect the animal materials from roadkill. I received two hides and four front legs of one moose and one caribou. Creating a virtual group was quite difficult as the spring and summer are primarily reserved for subsistence activities. What I was able to do was have concentrated relation-building and co-learning time with several individuals separately. I plan on continuing to learn about hide work with them.Over the summer I created two hides scrapers, fleshed and brain-soaked three hides, established an online cohort of hide learners, connected with Elders, and worked alongside my family.The Graduate ARTShops Project really help me continue my journey in hide work. It is a process of learning that requires an integration into one’s life. A truly decolonial approach into learning is understanding that it is a continuum and way of being. I am truly grateful for the support in deepening my relationship to the individuals in this project. As we grow in community so does our collective knowledge and our trust of one another. It is our responsibility honor these animal relatives through processing their gift in hide work.

A Journey to What Matters and ASCA Partnership- Graduate ARTShops 2021 The ARTShops program is a collaboration between the Alaska State Council on the Arts, the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation and The CIRI Foundation’s A Journey to What Matters: Increased Alaska Native Arts and Culture grant program. Established in 2016, ARTShops support emerging Alaska Native arts leaders to develop their skills in leading community-based arts programs. Graduate ARTShops 2021Caribou Tufting and Beading MedallionsStory by: Rochelle Adams, ARTShop Leader I’m so excited about the workshop that I was able to complete for my Garduate ARTShop project. I was able to hold it during the same time as our Native Language Technical Institute in Gwichyaa Zhee/ Fort Yukon when our elders were gathered from the region to do language work.We made caribou hair medallions and other projects. First we dyed the caribou hair and then we did caribou hair tufting and beading. I learned a lot in the process and will be making language lessons to share with my pictures. I hope to someday make a book out of it.I really loved this project! I grew a lot in the language, it strengthened my connection to my culture, our cultural knowledge, my community and the participants. I’m grateful to shape my thought process of this activity within the language and to create an actual piece that was done entirely in immersion. Mahsì’ choo for the opportunity!

A Journey to What Matters and ASCA Partnership- Graduate ARTShops 2020 Parka Ruff and Trim Class The ARTShops program is a collaboration between the Alaska State Council on the Arts, the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation and The CIRI Foundation’s A Journey to What Matters: Increased Alaska Native Arts and Culture grant program. Established in 2016, ARTShops support emerging Alaska Native arts leaders to develop their skills in leading community-based arts programs. Bobby teaching via Zoom Graduate ARTShops 2020Parka Ruff and Trim Class: VirtuallyStory by: Bobby Itta, ARTShop Leader For my Graduate ARTShop project, I taught a two-day parka ruff and trim class using Zoom. Five students participated from Anchorage, Seldovia, and Utqiagvik. On the first day, students learned how to stretch an animal hide of their choice. On day two, I went over how to draw, cut, and sew a ruff. It was a little difficult to teach on-line, as I usually teach in a classroom and can share more details in person, but overall the class was great and I had awesome students! Being able to make clothing is an important skill for people to learn, so that they can learn to keep themselves warm and pass down their skills to their children or family. I learned from my mom, who learned from my grandmother. I am happy to be able to share what I know with others. Follow Bobby Itta's Work Here Participant Danyel Harvey with her completed ruff

A Journey To What Matters and ASCA Partnership- ARTShops 2020 Tlingit Jewelry Making: Virtually The ARTShops program is a collaboration between the Alaska State Council on the Arts, the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation and The CIRI Foundation’s A Journey to What Matters: Increased Alaska Native Arts and Culture grant program. Established in 2016, ARTShops support emerging Alaska Native arts leaders to develop their skills in leading community-based arts programs. ARTShops 2020Tlingit Jewelry Making: VirtuallyStory by: Mary Goddard If 2020 taught us anything, it was to use the tools that we have to continue on, to adapt and overcome. My first initial thoughts for teaching jewelry virtually was to avoid it, wait until COVID-19 passes, then get back to hands-on teaching. However, if I did that I would have missed the opportunity to teach jewelry making to two ready individuals. Sometimes, timing is everything.I want to start off by thanking The CIRI Foundation, the Alaska Native Heritage Center, and the Alaska State Council on the Arts for creating this opportunity for me to teach. This ARTShop has really become a jumping-off point for both of the students to receive guidance and valuable tools and materials (to keep) to begin their craft. The LessonsWith the jewelry making starter kits and lessons that I put together for Josh and Jason, they were able to learn how to create copper and spruce root earrings, copper and abalone earrings, hammered pendants, and a keychain with leather and trade beads. Each of these projects had to be made from hand, start to finish by the students. They both had dentalium, extra spruce root, copper, and trade beads to experiment with. For both the students, this was their first time working with traditional materials. The chance to have hands-on experience with these traditional materials really gave them an opportunity to connect with Indigenous knowledge and begin to learn what makes the traditional materials so special and meaningful in our Tlingit culture. This was an opportunity for me to share stories about how spruce root is traditionally prepared, what dentalium was valued for, and reminding them to get to know and understand their materials and supplies when creating with them. “I loved the class, it was very easy going and fun, but at the same time I learned a lot. I think it was a perfect kick start to spark a flame to bigger and better things to come.” Josh ARTShop Participant VirtualThe virtual part of the learning was not as challenging as I originally thought it would be. Due to schedule differences, I chose to offer 5 lessons with a total of 13 short videos, with corresponding lesson plans, and with follow-up weekly zoom meetings. The videos were made available and both Jason and Josh online, at their convenience. In order to finish the lesson, they each had to text or email a picture of their finished lesson project. “First, wanted to say thank you for this amazing opportunity! This class has provided a lot of opportunities and has been a definite stepping stone toward an awesome hobby and eventually a career. I’ve really enjoyed using Indigenous materials; such as copper, spruce root, abalone, etc. Gotta start somewhere and this has been the perfect opportunity to learn the basics of working with metal and its effects. The course has provided everything we need to create finished, wearable jewelry. Which is pretty neat! Mary has been a great teacher and has been there if I ever have questions. I look forward to learning as much as possible in metal art. If there is an opportunity to learn more in an advanced course, I would be super interested. Again thanks a lot for the course and doing all the legwork.” Jason ARTShop Participant Social MediaTo share with others about the ARTShop project, I created 8 posts and 6 stories that I shared on both my Instagram and my Facebook page over the span of a week and a half. It was a lot of fun, as the jewelry that I created for each lesson was given away in contests.The response from my followers about classes was super positive, with at least ten others wanting to take classes virtually and learn this style of jewelry. It was really encouraging and I was really pleased with the feedback.ARTShop was really successful. Both students received a foundation in working with essentials tools and traditional materials to create jewelry from start to finish. I am confident that through the lessons and the tools that I provided through ARTShop 2020 both Jason and Josh can take their newly learned skills and have their own culturally-based business, or at the very least, hobby. Facebook Follow Mary Goddard on Facebook for more of her work.