Hello everyone, This week we will be breaking into groups for the Alaska Native Art Living history page. This project is born out of my own desire to capture the history that is happening right now in in the Alaska Native Art word. There have been great volumes of work done on the history of Alaska Native Arts, but very little published on the contemporary climate of the arts today. This project was also inspired by the Contemporary North American Indigenous Artists Blog (https://contemporarynativeartists.tumblr.com/) by […]
Dakaxeen Mehner
34 posts
Hello everyone, This week we will start looking at the Artwork from Western Alaska, including the art of the Yup’ik Cup’ik and Siberian Yupik. Please read the Crossroads of Continents pp 46-48, Inua pp 39-46, and Native Art of Alaska pp 49-72. Watch the lectures and then post on the Western Alaska Channel in Slack and take the quiz.
Hello everyone, This week we will start looking at the artwork of the Alutiiq/Sugpiaq and Unangan people. Please read Native Art of Alaska pp 73-87 and Crossroads of Continent pp 52-57. Watch lecture the lecture on pre-colonial artwork, the movie Alute Story and the lecture on the post-colonial artwork on Blackboard. Post your thought on the discussion board and then take the short quiz.
Hello everyone, This week we will start looking at the artwork of Southeast Alaska, or of the Northwest Coast depending on your perspective. Please read Crossroads of Continents pp 58-63, and From the Land of Totem Poles pp 17-26 that you can find in in Blackboard under Module 3 and pp 107-125 in our Native Art of Alaska book. Please watch the video lectures on Blackboard, and take the short quiz. Sealaska Heritage Institute has been publishing some great videos on Formline design […]
Hello everyone, This week we will be framing the class with a discussion on tradition, a term that often is applied to Alaska Native art. Please read Native Art of Alaska the Introduction(pp xxi-xxxi) chapter, 1 “The Nature of Tradition’ pp 1-21 and chapter 4 “Genres, Boundaries and Ways of Making’ pp 127-164. Watch the short lecture on Tradition in our Blackboard site. Post your response in the Tradition Channel of Slack. If you were not able to get the book yet I’ve uploaded the […]
My Name is Da-ka-xeen Mehner and I am Director of the Native Art Center and Chair of the UAF Art Department. I am an artist, educator, father, and husband. We will be looking at the diverse works of Alaska Native art through time. This week is our introduction week. I would like everyone to take a look around both the Blackboard site and WordPress site, go over the syllabus, and then sign into #slack and post an introduction to the class in the #introduction channel […]
Glen Simpson Interview Transcription Glen: “There are a few concepts that are basic to native cultures. One is animism. Everything has a spirit. A rock has a spirit. A stream has a spirit. A tree has a spirit. I pick up a rock and I put it back down where I got it, I don’t even think about it. I think, “I don’t want to disturb this world’. Take what you need, but to take something that you don’t need means that you’re not treating […]
Danielle: Could you guys tell me about the project a little bit more? Rick: Sure. Well, we’re both in this Alaska Native Arts course with a number of other students who are all over the place. Some in state. Some out of state. And, we’ve learned about the different regions of Alaska Native art from various cultures, from southeast, to north, to the Aleut regions, and then we took quizzes, we discussed things online. Then our major project is to find an artist, an […]
Interview with Elizabeth Mendes 10/25/2018: Interviewer: Charlotte Nicolet Transcriber: Josephine Bean Editor: Jennifer Watts Elizabeth Mendes Interview Charlotte: Hi Elizabeth, can you tell me where you’re from and a little bit about yourself? Elizabeth: Yes, my name is Elizabeth Mendes, originally from Napakiak which twenty miles out of Bethel. And I do a lot of sewing and I’d like to show you throughout this interview what they are. C: Wonderful, can we see? E: Okay. All my stuff that I make… My crafts are mainly […]
My name is Charlotte Nicolet, I’m here to represent my class, Native Arts of Alaska. And out group. Can you tell me about yourself I am a 38 year old *in audible* textiles that I make. I also teach both styles pretty consistently and also teach in Canada. My mother was Clarissa who was one of Jenny’s last students and apprentices and she taught me how to do these weavings in the traditional way. So she actually didn’t want me to participate in whatever […]
Interview with Willie Goodwin. Interviewers: Katie, Jami, Bertha Katie: [00:00:02] So, do you guys want to ask questions, do you want me to ask questions? Jami: [00:00:11] Do you have, Katie, do you have your computer up too, to ask the question to willie. Katie: [00:00:16] I don’t but I have my phone here and it has the list on it. Jami: [00:00:22] Ok. I Have the list in front of me if we wanted to take turns or if we all just want to […]
1. Where do you get your inspiration from today? There’s nobody in my family in the younger generation that carves today. My uncles that carved have died off. When I was young they inspired me to be a carver. Continuing their tradition is what gives me inspiration. I don’t want carving as an art to die. 2. Where did you get your inspiration from when you started making your art? I got my inspiration from my Dad and my uncles. I started carving when I […]
>> Jennifer: Where are you from? >> David: I’m from Metlakatla, AK that’s Southeast Alaska, just south of Ketchikan, a Tsimshian Village. >> Jennifer: How long have you been an artist? >> David: Been quite a while. Been a professional artist for the last 40 years. But I’ve been drawing for longer than that. >> Jennifer: What types of art do you create? >> David: Well, I guess you could call it Northern, Northwest Coast kind of art, Tsimshian art. Tsiamshian is my tribe, but […]
There is an incredibly vibrant Alaska Native Art seen going on right now, but it can be hard to find information about artists. This site was developed as a way to capture some of the histories that are being made in Alaska now. The culmination of the course is to publish the living histories of Alaska Native Artist as it is happening by our team of student researchers. Every semester more will be added to the project, so check back to see what has been […]