Museums Alaska has announced their final round of Alaska Art Fund and Collections Management Fund grantees this year, with $228,480.14 awarded to 14 museums and cultural organizations across Alaska.
“In this cycle of the Collections Management Fund, we are funding a few conservation projects, some display cases and mounts, and professional assistance with major collections projects,” said Dixie Clough, director of Museums Alaska. “And with the Alaska Art Fund, we are funding many different artworks that will tell stories that are important to the communities served by these museums and cultural centers.”
Museums Alaska, in partnership with Rasmuson Foundation, manages two grant programs for the museum sector: the Alaska Art Fund (AAF)—previously the Art Acquisition Fund—and the Collections Management Fund (CMF).
“We are so lucky that Rasmuson Foundation supports museums and cultural centers across the state with important collections projects and key art purchases that will keep exhibits modern and relevant,” continued Clough. “We’re grateful for their partnership, which gives us the ability to assist the museum field with these important initiatives.”
Through the AAF and CMF grant programs, museums and cultural centers apply for funding to purchase or commission artworks from contemporary Alaskan artists, and improve their ability to care for and share their collections.
In total, during this round of funding, 14 museums and cultural centers received grants to purchase artworks and complete seven collections projects. Further information on those projects and artworks can be found below.
Twice a year, Museums Alaska awards money to a variety of collections projects through the Collections Management Fund. In this round, they funded projects in Wasilla, Palmer, Naknek, Homer, Sitka, Cordova, and Juneau:
Collections Management Fund – Cycle 2 – $114,130.14
- $19,109.84 – The Wasilla Museum will contract a conservator to provide stabilization and care for six vulnerable and important garments in their collections, train staff in preservation techniques for various materials, and offer a community workshop on the care of family collections.
- $15,827 – The Pratt Museum will upgrade their Gull Island
Exhibit, to better protect and display natural history specimens in the permanent collection. They will purchase a new case, improve the interactive technology, and update the interpretation of the objects in the case. - $10,698 – The Juneau-Douglas City Museum will purchase new mounts, displays, and mannequins to safely display posters and clothing items in their permanent collection.
- $19,960.30 – The Sitka Historical Society will contract a conservator to thoroughly condition assess, stabilize and conserve the Chilkat robe in their collection, ensuring it can be safely displayed and used in cultural ceremonies, and provide staff and
public training in textile care and preservation. - $20,000 – The Bristol Bay Historical Society will complete the second stage of a collections project with goals of advancing a CAP Project, improving storage conditions, increasing stability, and strengthening the ability of their staff to access donor, object, and accession information.
- $8,535 – The Palmer Museum grant will pay for training and time for their collections aide to manage a backlog of un-accessioned items.
- $20,000 – The Ilanka Cultural Center will hire a Cultural Assistant to update collection documents and work on improving the stewardship of their ancestral items.
Through the Alaska Art Fund, Museums Alaska awards money for museums to acquire artworks that will improve their collections. In this round, they funded 20 artworks by 14 artists.
Alaska Art Fund – Cycle 2 – $114,350
- $16,950 – The Alutiiq Museum will purchase three oil lamps by Rolf Lee Christiansen, entitled Round Faced One, Journey, and Whistler; Contemporary Woman’s Spruce Root Hat by Arlene Skinner; a beaded mask by Cheryl Lacy, entitled How big was your fish?; two baleen bracelets by Janelle Barton; and a drawing by Stacy Studebaker entiteld Western Sandpiper at Low Tide. The pieces will allow them to share modern Alutiiq artwork and/or stories about Alutiiq history and culture.
- $20,000 – The University of Alaska Museum of the North will purchase Denali Diptych from Charles Mason to update their photography collection and tell a variety of stories around the artwork. They will also purchase The Great “Perhaps” by Craig Buchanan, a well-known local artist not represented in their permanent collection.
- $25,000 – The Haines Sheldon Museum will purchase two masks from Master Carver Wayne Price —Honey Look Northern Lights and In the Year 2020. The masks will enhance their collections with recent works by a well-known, local artist, and.allow the museum to show the continuing dynamic Tlingit art form in the 21st century.
- $35,000 – The Sitka Sound Science Center will commission a sculpture by Rico Lanáat’ Worl to celebrate the beauty of the salmon and its significance to the Sitka community. The artwork will feature a flowing formline design to represent water, symbolizing the vital role that rivers and streams play in the life cycle of salmon. Atop this will stand a sculpture of a salmon.
- $10,000 – The Alaska Native Heritage Center will purchase Jenny Irene Miller’s soap sculpture entitled My Grammy’s Dialect; Amber Webb moosehide dance belt entitled No More Troubles; and Da-ka-xeen Mehner’s drum installation entitled Saligaaw Drums and photograph entitled I Was Not Discovered. All of these pieces will allow them to tell important Alaska Native stories related to a variety of topics including boarding schools, language loss, identity, and resilience.
- $6,000 – The Alaska State Museum will purchase two pieces by Sonya Kelliher Combs that were recently exhibited in her solo show. Credible, Small Secrets is a series of work in response to the many painful accounts the artist has heard of abuse by staff of boarding schools. Legacy: Resilience is a homage to survivors of Native boarding schools inspired by the collection of traditional gut Yup’ik gut pouches and vessels housed at the Alaska State Museum.
- $1,900 – The Wrangell Museum will purchase a Red & Yellow Cedar Hat created by Catherine Young. This purchase will allow the museum to display modern Alaska Native art created by a local artist.
