In this cycle, we awarded $159,597.94 to nine organizations. Thank you to all of our volunteer panelists! We couldn’t do this without you.
And, of course, thank you to our longtime funder and partner in these grant programs, Rasmuson Foundation. The impact they have had on the arts, history, and culture fields in Alaska is immeasurable!
The Fall cycle will open on September 9, 2024.
If you have a time-sensitive request for AAF, the rolling deadline is now open!
Alaska Art Fund – Cycle 1 – $18,500
$15,000 – Sealaska Heritage Institute will commission a carved White Raven sculpture by Robert Mills, a local artist who was taught by well-known Native carvers such as Nathan Jackson and Ben Davidson. The piece will allow the organization to convey important Alaska Native tales about Raven.
$3,500 – The Museum of the Aleutians will commission a Unangax̂ Chagudax̂ (long visor) made by Okalena Patricia “Patty” Lekanoff-Gregory. This will be their first visor by Lekanoff-Gregory, who is a master bentwood hat and visor artist.
Collections Management Fund – Cycle 1 – $141,097.94
$19,990.73 – The Alutiiq Museum will move its collections into a newly constructed storage vault in its basement. This project supports the safe transfer of the majority of their holdings during building renovations and provides collections care training for interns.
$13,747.91 – The Kodiak History Museum will establish an off-site, oversized collections storage unit to make room for essential research and collections care activities in their main facility. This will prepare them for an impending larger collections move outlined in their strategic plan.
$19,915 – Sealaska Heritage Institute will contract with a conservator to assess and preserve a naaxein. Haida weaver, Evelyn Vanderhoop, estimated it to be at least 150 years old. The design appeared on the first robe traded from the Tsimshian to the Chilkat Tlingits.
$20,000 – The Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association will contract a conservation professional to provide treatments for eight culturally significant baskets selected for an exhibition on Unangax̂ weaving techniques. The conservator will also provide training on advanced care of baskets to staff.
$19,994 – Aunt Claudia’s Dolls, A Museum will contract with a conservation professional to complete treatments on the Northern Indigenous collection and evaluate the museum in routine care & exhibit displays. The conservation professional will also train on further conservation options, and safe storage/packaging.
$18,900 – The Anchorage Museum Association will create better access to Alaska Native cultural belongings stewarded by the Anchorage Museum by integrating information from analog accession files into their CMS and revising outdated and inappropriate language in the database.
$2,250 – The American Bald Eagle Foundation will purchase a lifetime RavenExhibit license from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The organization has a limited license that has allowed them to introduce bioacoustics conservation to their exhibits and it became one of the most popular attractions in their museum. This grant will allow them to purchase the software for permanent display and add new bioacoustics to the program.
$14,500 – The Museum of the Aleutians will unbox, accession, and rehouse artifacts from the Asx̂aanax̂ Cave collection that have recently been received by the museum from The Aleut Corporation, who requested the museum assist in safeguarding their heritage.
$12,000 – The Alaska Children’s Museum will expand their pop-up museum public offerings with exhibits that provide more movement-related and construction play opportunities.
