The President’s Award for Lifetime Achievement, went to June Simeonoff Pardue, an Alutiiq and Inupiaq Master artist born in Old Harbor. She has worked with museums across the state and country, and her Alutiiq basketry, grass woven socks and beadwork can be viewed at the Alutiiq Museum, the Alaska Native Heritage Center, the Palmer Museum of History and Art, the Alaska State Museum, the Autry National Center in Burbank, CA, the Arctic Studies Center in Main, and various other museums around the world.
“I personally had the pleasure of working with June while I was the Executive Director at the Palmer Museum of History and Art,” said Selena Ortega-Chiolero, Board President of Museums Alaska. “ She was the first Alaska Native artist I ever had the pleasure of working with. Not only was she kind and generous with the sharing of her cultural knowledge but she was eager and had an open heart to those who wanted to learn more about Alaska Native culture and heritage. It was my honor to present the President’s Award for Lifetime Achievement to June.”
