Traditional Yup’ik Fish Skin Hood Grantee: Bunnell Street Arts Center, Story by Ilgavak (Peter Williams) Marlene Nielsen taught her mentee Ilgavak (Peter Williams) how to make a traditional Yup’ik fish skin hood from salmon and halibut skins harvested for food. Ilgavak harvested hemlock bark from fall and winter blown down trees. Rendering the bark into … Read more
Lingit Shame Robe Grantee: Bunnell Street Arts Center, Story by Jennifer Younger & Carol Hughey Jennifer Younger, a contemporary Lingít artist, and Carol Hughey, a classically trained apparel designer, teamed up in the Mentorship program to create a ceremonial shame robe. The robe expresses outrage over the destructive commercial sac-roe herring fishery that violates the … Read more
Parka Project by Bobbie Itta Grantee: Bunnell Street Arts Center, Story by Bobby Itta For the past 5 years, my mentee and I talked about doing a parka project. My mentee Bonnie was from Nome, and she never learned to make a parka from her family. Bonnie is a reindeer herder and needed the proper … Read more
Parka Project by Bonnie Scheele Grantee: Bunnell Street Arts Center, Story by Bonnie Scheele I am the recipient of mentorship funds to learn how to create a parka. Bobby Itta and I applied for the mentorship program through Bunnell Street Art Center. Our project was for Bobby to teach me how to make a traditional … Read more
Baby Chilkat Robe Mentor Apprenticeship Grantee: Bunnell Street Arts Center, Story and Photos by Sydney Akagi In the fall of 2021 I began weaving a baby Chilkat robe as an apprentice under weaving mentor, Lily Hope. This would be a significant and crucial next step in my journey as a weaver, as it would be … Read more
A Journey to What Matters Project Grant Museum Sovereignty Fellowship From Patricia Wenstrup, Project Fellow In the fall of 2021 I was a fellow at the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center. During my fellowship I worked with Dawn Biddison, a museum specialist. One of the most exciting aspects of our work together was learning about how … Read more
AFN Coverage 2021 Grantee: Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, Story by Tripp Crouse I’ve been a part of the KNBA and Koahnic Broadcast Corporation’s broadcast coverage of the annual Alaska Federation of Natives convention for four years – two of those have been virtually. AFN may be one of the most important events in Alaska – as … Read more
A Journey to What Matters Project Grant Wellness & Healing Through Our Culture & Connections From Rochelle Adams, Project Facilitator The Drum Making Workshop was amazing. It was a great way to bring people together over a difficult issue and to uplift one another and promote healing while practicing culture and connecting with the community. … Read more
Participating in the INDIGEFI “Native Artist” Podcast Series By Golga Oscar, INDIGEFI Featured Artist Project funded in part by A Journey to What Matters Project Grant Program My experience interviewing with Producer Alexis Sallee (TCF Recipient) for the INDIGEFI “Native Artist” podcast series was great. For my art career, I’ve been researching the means … Read more
A Journey To What Matters and ASCA Partnership ARTShops 2021 Sonta Hamilton Roach in ShagelukDeg Hit’an Carving Traditions 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. … Read more