Sealaska Heritage Institute

SHI DESIGNATED ARTISTS’ SPACE.

on shi Campus

Designated Spaces

SHI operates an artist-in-residence study room at the Walter Soboleff Building named after master artist Delores Churchill to encourage the study of NWC art. Artists have access to SHI’s extensive ethnographic collection for study while they are in residence. SHI also hosts artists at its Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus and accommodates artists working on large-scale projects, such as totem poles and dugout canoes.

Related SHI Topics

Sealaska Heritage Institute

SHI Native Arts in Prison.

off shi Campus

Native Arts in Prison

A significant population of Alaska Natives is in correctional institutions. SHI collaborates with Lemon Creek Correctional Center to offer NWC art training in prison as a way to connect Native inmates with their culture and give them a means of supporting themselves through art sales upon release.

Related SHI Topics

Sealaska Heritage Institute

SHI MASTER-APPRENTICE SYSTEM.

on/off shi Campus

Master-Apprentice System

SHI sponsors master-apprenticeships to perpetuate and revitalize Northwest Coast art, especially endangered traditions, such as spruce-root weaving and dugout canoe carving. The program was fostered at SHI’s first Native Artists Gathering, which brought together nearly 30 artists in 2015 who identified the most imperiled Northwest Coast Native art traditions. This traditional method of training younger artists still provides the best instruction.

Related SHI Topics

Sealaska Heritage Institute

SHI ONLINE CLASSES.

off shi Campus

Online Classes

Online classes are a form of remote learning where students can participate in educational activities from the comfort of their own homes or workspace. These classes are designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the art forms and techniques unique to Northwest Coast cultures. Through online instruction and interactive sessions, students can develop their skills and knowledge of this rich and diverse art form and connect with a community of like-minded artists and learners. Overall, online classes provide an accessible way for individuals to pursue their artistic interests and deepen their understanding of the Northwest Coast art traditions.

Related SHI Topics

Sealaska Heritage Institute

SHI COMMUNITY CLASSES.

off shi Campus

Community Classes

SHI offers in-person workshops to people living outside of Juneau in Alaska and the Lower 48. These classes are designed to teach participants about Northwest Coast art’s traditional techniques and styles. Through hands-on instruction and guidance from experienced artists and teachers, participants can develop their artistic skills in ancient art practices such as basket weaving, beading, formline design, metal engraving, skin sewing, spruce-root and cedar-bark harvesting, tool making, and wood carving. Community workshops provide a supportive and inclusive learning environment that encourages creativity, collaboration, and cultural exchange.

Related SHI Topics

Sealaska Heritage Institute

SHI CAMPUS CLASSES.

shi Art Campus

Campus Classes

SHI offers instruction on Northwest Coast art at the Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus in Juneau. The program provides beginning, intermediate, and advanced training to individuals interested in learning about these unique and culturally rich art forms. Led by experienced instructors, these classes offer teachings in a wide variety of subjects, including basket weaving, beading, formline design, metal engraving, skin sewing, spruce-root and cedar-bark harvesting, tool making, and wood carving. The classes are part of SHI’s goal to establish a bachelor’s degree in Northwest Coast art through its partners, the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Many of the classes at the campus may be taken for college credit through UAS, which offers an Associate of Arts (AA) degree with an emphasis on Northwest Coast arts.

Related SHI Topics

Sealaska Heritage Institute

SHI EDUCATIONAL DOCUMENTS LIBRARY.

resource materials for arts, culture, language, teachers, students, researchers, etc., with doc downloads, reference links, and more!

Welcome to our online Downloadable Documents Library
(In Development)

This library is evolving, anything associated with ongoing SHI e.g., YouTube videos, educational materials (e.g., teacher resources, artist resources, etc.), training and teaching materials, learning materials (e.g., formline, carving, languages, etc.), other websites, documents, etc., will all be searchable/accessible via this library.

Sealaska Heritage Institute

SHI’s ART DEPARTMENT | HERITAGE FORWARD

From Then to Now: Northwest Coast Art and the Future Ahead

SHI’s Bent Wood Box for Artists

The shortest distance between our past and our present is a formline.

(See also Art Programs and Art Resources)

As part of our mission to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures, we are helping to preserve and promote traditional Native art. From workshops on traditional techniques to shows and auctions featuring work from contemporary masters, we are proud to be helping Juneau become the world capital for Northwest Coast Art.

The Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian centuries ago developed a unique and distinctive artistic tradition and incorporated it into all aspects of their lives. The creative art forms were depicted on everything from sacred clan objects to utilitarian items, tools and equipment and housing. While Southeast Alaska Natives valued their material culture primarily for its spiritual and social dimensions, aesthetic qualities were also greatly appreciated. Artists and crafts people, who created clan masterpieces as well utilitarian objects, held a special status within these indigenous cultures.

The arrival of Westerners to the shores of Southeast Alaska stimulated many changes. The belief system surrounding Haa At.óowu (our treasures) was challenged, and clan objects were sought by the outsiders as curios and artifacts. The creativity and workmanship of the early artists, as well as the exotic features of our artistic traditions, spurred an intense period of collecting by Westerners during the last quarter of the 1800s until the early 1900s.

Other factors contributed to changes within the traditional material culture. Native peoples became increasingly restricted in their abilities to maintain access to their traditional subsistence economies, and they entered the cash economy to sustain their livelihood. Additionally, the practice of art apprenticeships all but disappeared. Art production continued, but it was largely limited to the tourist market which seriously began in the late 1800s. With the increasing production for the export market and the decreasing number of young artists apprenticing with master artists, the quality of art production deteriorated. Fortunately, a few artists were able to continue their ancient traditions, but the great art masterpieces that brought acclaim to the Southeast Native cultures were primarily located in museums.

The mission of the Sealaska Heritage Institute is to perpetuate and enhance the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian culture. In keeping with that objective, our art programs seek to reclaim the greatness of the Northwest Coast art traditions and to support its continued evolution.

We create our programs under the guidance of our Native Artists Committee, which reviews all program content. The committee currently includes Delores Churchill, John Hudson III, Da-ka-xeen Mehner, Nick Galanin, Crystal Worl, and Lance Twitchell. 

SEALASKA HERITAGE ARTS CAMPUS

SHI’s Art Campus

Click on the below links for more details:

Operations
Envision the Future
Donate
Project Benefits
About Northwest Coast Art
Press Release
Construction Work
Art Resources
Operations

The department includes a director, one Arts Campus/program associate, one program manager, four project staff/coordinators, one Arts Campus receptionist/arts project assistant, and a part-time Arts Campus instructor, to be expanded to two part time instructors. The department works closely with the other SHI departments, especially the Archives and Collections Department in its implementation of artist residencies, arts and museum internships, performing arts programming, the Juried Art Show, and the Youth Art Exhibit; and with the Education Department in its development of educational resources, management of educational platforms, and streamlining of program protocols and processes. Partnering organizations and contractors play a major role in arts programming.

The Native Artist Committee, which is comprised of six master artists, serves as the advisory board for the overall direction of the arts programs.

Envision the Future

Envisioning Our Future Through the Reflections of Our Past

Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) is fundraising for the second phase of its vision to make Juneau the Northwest Coast arts capital of the world and to designate Northwest Coast art a national treasure.

In phase two, SHI will build its Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus in Juneau at Front and Seward Streets, an area designated as Heritage Square by the City and Borough of Juneau in 2018. The space, currently a private parking lot, is directly across the street from SHI’s Walter Soboleff Building, which was built during phase one and opened in 2015. Sealaska donated the parking lot to SHI in 2019 and, through the project, parking will move underground, opening a new cultural space for Juneau residents and visitors at a prime location in downtown. The campus will comprise SHI’s second Box of Knowledge in Juneau.

The campus, which will encompass approximately 6,000 square feet, will house indoor and outdoor  space for artists to make monumental Northwest Coast art pieces, such as totem poles and canoes; classrooms for art programming and instruction in areas such as basketry and textile weaving and print making; and space for performances, Native art markets, an art library, artists-in-residence, faculty, and public gatherings. Instruction will be offered for both non-credit and credit for students seeking art degrees through SHI partners, the University of Alaska Southeast and the Institute of American Indian Arts.  It will also have capabilities for distance learning. 

The overall design will incorporate the same traditional and contemporary themes as in the Walter Soboleff Building with art adorning the facility.  The campus will include a totem pole and five monumental bronze masks representing Alaska’s major cultural groups called “Faces of Alaska.” The street and plaza will also include artistic designs tying them to Heritage Square. 

SHI’s goals for the campus are to expand Alaska Native and Northwest Coast art programming to ensure perpetuation of these ancient art practices, which are unique in the world and include some practices that are endangered; support Native artists through art markets and classes; and to offer a space where the general public can learn about Alaska Native cultures and art forms at a preeminent space in downtown.  

Donate

Donor Levels and Benefits

Note: The deadline to have your name permanently engraved at the campus is Nov. 1, 2021; The names of donors who give $25 or more will be included. To make a donation via mail or phone, please submit this form or contact David Russell-Jensen at donations@sealaska.com. 

(Donor Benefits) (Naming Opportunities) SHI is raising funds for the project, which will cost an estimated $14 million to construct. We are offering a wide range of donor levels and benefits.

$100,000 — Naakahídi / Náa / Wap Pteex (Clan House) Sponsor

• Verbal recognition at grand opening ceremony.
• Acknowledgment as a Clan House sponsor in grand opening program, SHI’s Facebook, press releases, and on SHI’s website.
• Name permanently engraved as a founding donor at the campus.
• Limited edition Eighth Generation Blanket of Knowledge (Chilkat-style woven blanket).
• Early tours of facility before public opening.
• Acknowledgment on commemorative grand opening poster and in SHI’s  annual report.

$25,000 — Gáas’ (House Post) Sponsor

• Verbal recognition at grand opening ceremony.
• Acknowledgment as a House Post sponsor in grand opening program, SHI’s Facebook, press releases, and on SHI’s website.
• Name permanently engraved as a founding donor at the campus.
• Limited edition Eighth Generation Blanket of Knowledge (Chilkat-style woven blanket).
• Early tours of facility before public opening.
• Acknowledgment on commemorative grand opening poster and in SHI’s  annual report.

$15,000 — Naksugit (House Front) Sponsor

• Verbal recognition at grand opening ceremony.
• Acknowledgment as a House Front sponsor in grand opening program, SHI’s Facebook, press releases, and on SHI’s website.
• Name permanently engraved as a founding donor at the campus.
• Limited edition Eighth Generation Blanket of Knowledge (Chilkat-style woven blanket).
• Early tours of facility before public opening.
• Acknowledgment on commemorative grand opening poster and in SHI’s  annual report.

$10,000 — X‘een (House Screen) Sponsor

• Acknowledgment as a House Screen sponsor in grand opening program, SHI’s Facebook, press releases, and on SHI’s website.
• Name permanently engraved as a founding donor at the campus.
• Limited edition Eighth Generation Blanket of Knowledge (Chilkat-style woven blanket).
• Early tours of facility before public opening.
• Acknowledgment on commemorative grand opening poster and in Sealaska Heritage Institute’s annual report.

$5,000 — Lákt  (Bentwood) Box Sponsor

• Acknowledgment as a Bentwood sponsor in grand opening program, SHI’s Facebook, press releases, and on SHI’s website.
• Name permanently engraved as a founding donor at the campus.
• Early tours of facility before public opening.
• Acknowledgment on commemorative grand opening poster and in SHI’s  annual report.

$2,500 — Tináa (Copper) Sponsor

• Acknowledgment as a Copper sponsor in grand opening program, SHI’s Facebook, press releases, and on SHI’s website.
• Name permanently engraved as a founding donor at the campus.
• Acknowledgment on commemorative grand opening poster and in SHI’s  annual report.

$1,000 — Xáay (Cedar) Sponsor

• Acknowledgment as a Cedar sponsor in grand opening program, SHI’s Facebook, press releases, and on SHI’s website.
• Name permanently engraved as a founding donor at the campus.
• Acknowledgment on commemorative grand opening poster and in SHI’s  annual report.

$500 — Shéiyi (Spruce) Sponsor

• Acknowledgment as a Spruce sponsor in grand opening program, SHI’s Facebook, press releases, and on SHI’s website.
• Name permanently engraved as a founding donor at the campus.
• Acknowledgment on commemorative grand opening poster and in SHI’s  annual report.

$250 — Yán (Hemlock) Sponsor

• Acknowledgment as a Hemlock sponsor in grand opening program, SHI’s Facebook, press releases, and on SHI’s website.
• Name permanently engraved as a founding donor at the campus.
• Acknowledgment on commemorative grand opening poster and in SHI’s  annual report.

$1-$249 — Xút’aa (Adze) Sponsor

• Acknowledgment as a Adze sponsor on SHI’s website.
• Acknowledgment in SHI’s Annual Report.
• Donate $25 or more: Name permanently engraved as a founding donor at the campus.
• Donate $50 or more: Additional acknowledgement as an Adze sponsor on SHI’s Facebook and website.
• Donate $100 or more: Additional acknowledgement as an Adze Sponsor in grand opening program

Come build with us.  

Project Benefits

Project Benefits

Benefits to Juneau and Beyond

(Juneau Benefits) The Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus will:

• Offer a new cultural experience and gathering space for the public and tourists adjacent to the area named Heritage Square by the City and Borough of Juneau in 2018.
• Help to revitalize downtown, which is a priority of the CBJ.
• Help to implement the Juneau Economic Development Council’s Southeast Alaska Cluster Economic Plan, which emphasizes diversification of Juneau through enhanced visitor experiences with emphasis on the arts as an economic driver.
• Grow the demand for arts, which is already a $58 million industry in Southeast Alaska.
• Offer expanded cultural experiences to residents and tourists.
• Fill a need expressed by local leaders for smaller-scale performance and gathering venues (SHI Survey).
• Contribute to creative and sustainable economies for individual artists and Alaska’s rural communities
• Provide and economic boon during construction by:
  • Providing jobs to 40 people directly and 55 people total.
  • Boosting labor income by a total of $5.5 million.
  • Generating direct expenditures of $7.3 million and $9.5 million total. 

Arts Programming

(Arts Programming) The Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus will:

• Allow Sealaska Heritage to expand Alaska Native and Northwest Coast art programming through classes and workshops to ensure perpetuation of these ancient art practices, which are unique in the world.
• Advance a plan by Sealaska Heritage, the University of Alaska Southeast and the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe to create a four-year degree in Northwest Coast art by adding new space for classes.
• Allow SHI to develop and offer e-learning courses on Native art through the campus that provide options to earn high school credits, college credits, dual credits for high school and college, and no credits.
• Offer indoor and covered outdoor spaces for artists to make monumental art, such as totem poles and canoes.
• Include a covered outdoor space for expanded Native art markets.
• Help advance SHI’s goal to establish Juneau as the Northwest Coast arts capital of the world.
• Help ensure the survival and enhancement of ancient art forms and practices and their continued evolution. 

Economic Impacts on Artists

(Economic Impacts) The Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus will:

• Contribute to creative and sustainable economies for individual artists and Alaska’s rural communities. Since it opened in 2015, the Sealaska Heritage Store has purchased art from well more than 200 artists.
• Grow the demand for arts, which is already a $58 million industry in Southeast Alaska.
• Help create more global demand for Alaska Native and Northwest Coast art by exposing Juneau’s millions of annual cruise visitors to these ancient art forms in a public and interactive space.
• Offer expanded Native art markets to artists in Juneau and beyond. 

Educational Opportunities

(Educational Opportunities) The Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus will:

• Allow Sealaska Heritage to expand Alaska Native and Northwest Coast art programming through classes and workshops to ensure perpetuation of these ancient art practices, which are unique in the world.
• Advance a plan by SHI, the University of Alaska Southeast and the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe to create a four-year degree in Northwest Coast Art by adding new space for classes.
• Allow SHI to develop and offer e-learning courses on Native art through the campus that provide options to earn high school credits, college credits, dual credits for high school and college, and no credits.
• Provide a cultural experience for the public and visitors to learn about Alaska Native and Northwest Coast art and cultures and to promote cross-cultural understanding. ​

About Northwest Coast Art

About Northwest Coast Art

The indigenous people of Southeast Alaska say they have lived here since “time immemorial.” Their oral histories tell of advancing glaciers that subsumed their land and of retreating glaciers that made way for bays. In recent years, DNA evidence has proven Native people were here at least 10,000 years ago.

The Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian were ingenius in their use of the resources around them. They built the massive clan houses that once populated the shores of Southeast Alaska using only adzes. They learned to carve and adorn the monumental totem poles that depict ancient histories. Tapping the abundant forests of the region, they carved masks, bowls, boxes, fishing gear, and headdresses and made baskets woven tight enough to hold water. They pioneered ocean-going dugout canoes, which, through a complex steaming process, could be made wider than the girth of the trees from which they came. The indigenous people of Southeast Alaska developed weaving techniques using mountain goat hair and cedar that yielded intricate Ravenstail and Chilkat robes, one of which can take years to complete.

Although historically the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian had no term for “art, ” their material culture has come to be known as Northwest Coast art. Northwest Coast art is unique in the world, distinctive for its formline design, a term that describes the shapes, such as split Us and ovoids, and complex arrangements of them that are organized into balanced compositions. One could spend a lifetime mastering the rules governing the formline designs that make the material culture of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian so unique. Historically, Native people incorporated formline design into almost everything, including clan houses, totems, ceremonial pieces, regalia, and even utilitarian items, such as spoons and dishes.  The oldest object ever found depicting formline design dates to 4,000 years ago.

Northwest Coast art was panned as sinful iconography by missionaries who came to Alaska to stamp out Native cultures. Yet, it was zealously and sometimes unscrupulously collected by people from around the world, who often appropriated objects from grave sites. As a Tlingit traditional scholar once put it, “They collected our sins.”

There was a time when the knowledge of how to make Northwest Coast was almost lost, and even today, some ancient art practices, including  Chilkat weaving, spruce-root weaving, and canoe carving, are considered endangered. But a handful of dedicated artists and teachers have revived Northwest Coast art and today many of these ancient art practices have been passed on.

We have a dream to make Juneau the Northwest Coast art capital of the world and to designate our ancestors’ legacy as a national treasure. Sealaska Heritage is committed to maintaining the integrity of Northwest Coast art, and the Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus will be an expansion of that effort. 

Press Release

Press Releases
(Coming Soon)

 

Murdock trust pledges $400 thousand toward arts campus  (10-28-20), Gift contingent on SHI reaching fundraising goal

Sealaska Heritage begins construction of arts campus  (8-5-20),
Project part of vision to make Juneau the Northwest Coast arts capital

Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus gets largest private donation to date  (2-4-20), Campus to be public space for perpetuating, experiencing Alaska Native art

SHI launches campaign to build arts campus, receives $5.6 million grant  (9-18-19), Campus to be public space for perpetuating, experiencing Alaska Native art  

Construction Work

Construction Work

Interested in working at the Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus?

Employment opportunities vary by trade.  Dawson Construction has union agreements for some of the trades, which limits the pool of workers to the union hall. The following trades do not have union agreements. Interested workers who have commercial construction experience should contact Dawson or subcontractors to inquire about work:

• Union/Non-union Carpenters (Dawson)
• Iron Workers (Dawson)
• Laborers (Dawson)
• Electricians (Anderson Bros)

 

Other trades will be hired through the union hall, but Dawson has encouraged Native hire from the hall. Shareholders applying with the union hall should express interest in the Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus. 

You can apply online at https://dawson.com/careers/ and/or contact Patrick Shanley at 907-780-1500 for more information.  Demand for workers fluctuates depending on the work phase of the project.

Art Resources

Opportunities

• Juried Art Show and Competition (coming soon)
• Juried Youth Art Exhibit (coming soon)
• Artist-in-Residence Program (coming soon)
• Workshops (coming soon)
• Sharing Our Box of Treasurers (coming soon)
• Haa Latseen Community Project (coming soon)
• Art Markets (coming soon)
• First Fridays (coming soon)
• Northwest Coast Native Artist Database (coming soon)
• Volunteer (coming soon)
• Other:
  • Alaska State Council on the Arts
  • Rasmuson Foundation

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Northwest Coast Formline Design Art Kit

• Textbook (To order hardcopy, contact the Sealaska Heritage Store at thestore@sealaska.com or 907.586.9114)
• Flash cards
• Curriculum boards
• Support Materials:
  • Formline by Steve Brown: Day 1
  • Formline by Steve Brown: Day 2
  • Shuká Hít House Front Presentation by David A. Boxley and David R. Boxley
  • Northwest Coast Indian Art by Bill Holm
  • Other SHI Curricula (coming soon)
  • Juneau School District Art Kits

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How-To Books

• Tlingit Wood Carving: How to Carve a Tlingit Mask
• Tlingit Wood Carving: How to Carve a Tlingit Hat
• Tlingit Wood Carving: How to Carve a Tlingit Tray

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Instructional Videos

SHI videos are posted online on our YouTube channel (here) and on our Vimeo page (here).

• How to digitize formline: Ovoid construction with David R. Boxley using Adobe Illustrator.
• Spruce-root weaving: This how-to video series shows spruce root weaving in practice, from harvesting the roots to weaving and finishing the basket, as well as some time talking with Delores Churchill, a master Haida weaver. This series was created to help revive the endangered art form of spruce root weaving and features several apprentices. The video documentation was gifted to SHI by Linblad Expeditions as a way to give back to the cultures that their clients (tourists) are exposed to.
• Delores Churchill on a basket she donated to SHI
• Weavers Present: The Revival of Northwest Coast Textiles
• Horn spoon carving: These instructional videos on how to make horn spoons were created in an effort to save this endangered Northwest Coast art practice. Horn spoon instructor Steve Brown narrates the videos.
• The making of a traditional, dugout canoe in Sitka, Alaska
• 3-D scan of a dugout canoe
• Formline by Steve Brown: Day 1
• Formline by Steve Brown: Day 2
• Formline: An Evolving Art by Bill Holm
• How to draw an ovoid
• How to draw a salmon-trout head
• How to stretch a sea otter hide

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Lecture Videos

SHI videos are posted online on our YouTube channel (here) and on our Vimeo page (here).

• Documenting Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian jewelers, 1850-present
• Indigenous Issues in Native Handicrafts and Intellectual Property (part 1)
• The Fertile Environment for Legal Protections of Native Alaskan Handicraft Heritage (part 2)
• Discovering Haida Art: A Personal Journey by Robert Davidson
• Northwest Coast Art Into the Future, a panel discussion
• Art of our Ancestors: Kodiak Island by Perry Eaton
• The Antiquity and Evolution of Northwest Coast Art by Steve Brown
• The Revival of Tsimshian Art by David A. Boxley
  Formline: An Evolving Art by Bill Holm
• Three Hundred Years of Tlingit Art by Aldona Jonaitis
• Basketry and Alaska Native Art Revival by Delores Churchill
• On the Origins and Diversity of Northern Northwest Coast Headgear by Steve Henrikson
• Tlingit Carver Amos Wallace
• Hoonah Weaving Program
• Southeast Alaska Totem Parks by Emily Moore
• Being Successful is no Accident: The Business of Art by Robert Davidson
• Tlingit Wood Carving Book Series

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Art Supplies

• Artificial sinew
• ​Beaver fur, drum making kits, and more
• ​Copper, silver, and jewelry products
• Moose and deer leather
• Real sinew
• Red cedar bark
• Regalia kits
• Robe weaving kits
• Robe weaving materials
• Wood carving tools

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Research

• SHI Vitality of Northwest Coast Arts Survey
• SHI Survey on Alaska Native Art and Artists
• Q & A with Rosita Worl: When is it okay to use Northwest Coast formline designs and crests? (coming soon)

 

Legal Information

• Migratory Bird Policy: How it Affects American Indians and Alaska Natives (PDF)
• A Customs Guide to Alaska Native Arts: What International Travelers, Shop Owners and Artisans Need to Know
• Silver Hand Program and Permit Application
• Certified Tribal Artist Certification Application (Brochure)
• News story on federal and state ivory bans

SHI’s ART DEPT. & PROGRAMS

Click on the below links for more details:

Goals
Vision
Degree Program
Workshops
Our Box of Treasures
Naakahidi Academeny
First Friday
Virtual Residence
Demostrating Artists
Juried Art Shows
Juried Youth Art Exhibit
Northwest Coast Art Markets
Youth Program
Community Project
Apprenticeships
Scholarships
Arts/Teacher Recruitment
Northwest Coast Native Database
Volunteer
Goals

• To promote the survival of NWC art forms that are endangered
• To support the development and expansion of performing arts
• To encourage the use and understanding of NWC art forms in public places
• To advocate for the arts and expand arts learning and income opportunities throughout the region, including underserved populations

• To expand the Native artist database and inform artists of opportunities

Vision

Vision: Juneau as Northwest Coast Art Capital of the World

(Brochure) Northwest Coast art occupies an important position in America’s artistic traditions and cultural history. Most importantly, it plays a significant role in maintaining the cultural diversity of the nation and the cultural survival of the region’s indigenous populations. Like jazz music, which was designated a national treasure by Congress in 1987, NWC art should be designated a national treasure of the United States.

SHI’s quest to establish the Northwest Coast Arts Capital began with the construction of the Walter Soboleff Building that is in itself a work of art, and is adorned with monumental art pieces by three master indigenous artists of international acclaim. The creation of the NWC Arts Capital ensures the survival of NWC arts, providing untold sustainable social and economic benefits to the region and state. SHI’s NWC Arts Capital plan includes the following programs and initiatives:

• Training new NWC artists
• Teaching NWC art in schools
• Ensuring excellence of NWC art formline
• Educating the public about NWC art
• Expanding the NWC art market
• Integrating NWC art in public places
• Designating NWC art as a national treasure
• Protecting clan crest ownership 

Degree Program

Northwest Coast Arts Degree Program

(Apply) SHI has partnered with the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) to develop and offer an Associate of Arts (AA) degree with an emphasis on Northwest Coast arts. The undergraduate program includes a wide spectrum of classes—from tool making to design, basketry and weaving among others. The program, which will be offered this fall at the university’s Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka campuses, is part of a larger effort to establish a four-year degree track through UAS and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Thanks to an MOA between SHI, UAS, and IAIA, students who earn an AA degree with a NWC Arts emphasis have the option to transfer credits and pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from IAIA. Students can also work toward a bachelor’s degree in arts and sciences or education at UAS or the broader University of Alaska system.

In addition to art classes, the program requires students to complete courses in Alaska Native studies, Indigenous performing arts and a language class on beginning Tlingit, Haida or Tsimshian, as well as Northwest Coast design, art history and culture, art theory and practice, and career development for artists.

As part of the program, SHI offers scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in arts and museum studies. The application period for scholarships for the Spring 2024 is currently open.

Workshops

SHI sponsors art workshops for students of Northwest Coast art practices, such as skin sewing, weaving, carving and formline designs. Some of our workshops can be viewed online on our YouTube channel (here) and on our Vimeo page (here).​ Check out our calendar for upcoming workshops and classes (calendar coming soon)

Our Box of Treasures

Our Box of Treasures

Through Our Box of Treasures: Deepening the Connections, Sealaska Heritage, the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) and partner communities—Klawock, Sitka and Juneau—will teach Northwest Coast (NWC) art, the world-renowned legacy of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian. The program is part of SHI’s effort to make Juneau the NWC arts capital of the world, to galvanize the region’s economy, and to designate NWC art as a national treasure.  

Through the program, partners will strengthen the alignment between the AA NWC Arts degree and the UAS interdisciplinary baccalaureate degrees; further develop NWC Arts Career Pathways in six high schools in partner communities by offering more dual credit NWC arts classes; provide specialized, culturally responsive professional training to six secondary teachers and Alaska Native artist teams; build an online library at the Arts Campus comprised of high quality, readily accessible lessons for NWC Arts and vetted ethno-mathematics activities.

The program builds upon the framework and lessons learned from its predecessor, Sharing Our Box of Treasures, focused on building NWC Arts upper secondary and tertiary educational pathways. NWC Arts will be taught in six high schools, UAS and Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus through carefully implemented, sequential multi-year education, career pathways, and professional development..  

(Related – coming soon: SHI, UAS, school districts, sign agreements to advance Northwest Coast art, math training)

Naakahidi Academeny

Naakahidi Academy

Northwest Coast art historically included a rich performing arts tradition. In modern times, SHI has sought to integrate Native cultures into productions such as operas and plays. To that end, SHI sponsors Naakahidi (Clan House) Academy, aadé sh kadulneek yé (the way stories are told), which seeks to foster acting, Native language, and singing skills into adults for such performances.

The application period is open for SHI’s September, 2023, academy. The workshop, scheduled Sept. 9-10 in Juneau, will be led by Ed Littlefield, Lyle James, Kolene James, and Lance Twitchell. Open to high school aged participants and above. (Flyer) 

First Friday

First Friday

(Register) Sealaska Heritage and the Sealaska Heritage Store participate in Juneau’s First Friday, a monthly celebration of the arts. SHI is seeking artists to demonstrate and sell their work. Registration is free! 

Virtual Residence

Virtual Artist in Residence

(Application) SHI operates an artist-in-residence program at the Walter Soboleff Building in Juneau. Beginning last April, the program moved to virtual format. For details, contact Jay Zeller at jay.zeller@sealaska.com.

Demostrating Artists

Demonstrating Artists (currently on hold)

Sealaska Heritage is seeking demonstrating artists to work on their art and educate visitors about their art at the Walter Soboleff Building in Juneau, Alaska. A significant portion of the work will take place during hours of high visitation and will include interaction with the public, such as daily 30-minute presentations to visitors, participation in community outreach activities, and events such as Juneau’s monthly First Friday. Artists may bring artwork to sell during their residency.   

Juried Art Shows

Juried Art Show and Competition

Sealaska Heritage Institute’s Juried Art Show is a biennial show and competition for Native art held in conjunction with Celebration, a major dance-and-culture festival. The goals of the Juried Art Show are:

• To encourage and enhance the creation and production of Southeast Alaska Native objects of artistic value which have fallen into disuse and are becoming rare
• To stimulate and enhance the quality of artistic work among our Native artisans
• To encourage the development of new forms of art of purely Southeast Alaska Native form and design  

Juried Youth Art Exhibit

Juried Youth Art Exhibit

SHI’s biennial Celebration includes a Juried Youth Art Exhibit of Northwest Coast art in an effort to increase the number of young artists making high quality pieces and to share their work with the public. Cash awards are made to schools of the winners for art supplies to be used by schools or organizations for future instruction in Northwest Coast art. All youth chosen to exhibit receive a specially-made Juried Art Show t-shirt and winners also receive a certificate. The competition is open to all youth in grades 6-12. The exhibit is held in June every even year. 

Northwest Coast Art Markets

Northwest Coast Art Markets

Sealaska Heritage Institute sponsors a major Northwest Coast Art Market during Celebration, a major dance-and-culture festival. SHI also sponsors art markets in conjunction with various programs.  And, SHI recruits artists to participate in First Friday every month and Gallery Walk in December (register for First Friday and Gallery Walk). SHI also operates the Sealaska Heritage Store and frequently seeks quality Native art to sell. If you are interested in selling arts-and-craft products at wholesale prices or consigning art to SHI, please email a photo, description and wholesale or consignment price to thestore@sealaska.com.    

Youth Program

Jinéit Art Academy Youth Program

SHI began piloting the Jinéit Art Academy Youth Program in 2016, building partnerships in four Southeast Alaska communities with the common goal of exposing Alaska youth to high-quality Northwest Coast art programming and increasing the number of Alaska youth exposed to and familiar with Northwest Coast art forms. Read our blog (coming soon) to see photos of recent program activities in Craig, Juneau, Sitka, and Angoon.  

Community Project

Haa Latseen Community Project

(Register) Sealaska Heritage is offering Saturday carving practice sessions with Tlingit artist Donald Gregory from 1-6 pm at the Gajaa Hít building in Juneau’s Indian Village. Participants must be 18 years or older. Maximum of 12 participants at a time. First come, first served. Some carving tools and wood will be available, but participants are encouraged to bring their own tools and projects if they have any.  (News Story) 

Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships

SHI sponsors mentor-apprentice workshops to perpetuate and revitalize Northwest Coast endangered art traditions, such as spruce-root weaving and dugout canoe carving. The program was fostered at SHI’s first Native Artists Gathering, which brought together nearly 30 artists in 2015 who identified the most imperiled Northwest Coast Native art traditions. Check back soon for upcoming apprenticeships. 

Scholarships

Scholarships

Sealaska Heritage offers scholarships through the Sealaska scholarship program and a partnership with the University of Alaska Southeast and the Institute for American Indian Arts. Click here to see all scholarships – coming soon.  

Arts/Teacher Recruitment

Artist/Teacher Recruitment

(Apply) Sealaska Heritage Institute and the Juneau School District have entered into a partnership to offer Northwest Coast Art opportunities to middle and high school students. We are looking for interested artists to add to a teaching artist roster, which will be used by teachers looking for specialists to join visit their classrooms. These opportunities are flexible and could be one visit class, a series of visits during one semester or whatever fits best for the teacher and artist. For more information contact Kari Groven at kari.goven@sealaska.com.

Northwest Coast Native Database

Northwest Coast Native Artist Database

(Register) Sealaska Heritage encourages Native artists to register to be advised of opportunities such as artist markets; teaching/learning classes including Master/Apprentice teams; 1% for art/Public art notices; grants and funding opportunities and more. 

Volunteer

Volunteer

(Volunteer) SHI could not succeed without the help of its volunteers! If you are interested in supporting SHI as a volunteer, please fill out our application.

SHI’s Art Training

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  Art Campus Calendar
  
  
  

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  Art Classes
  
  
  

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  Campus Classes
  
  
  

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  Community Classes
  
  
  

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  Online Classes
  
  
  

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  Master-Apprentice System
  
  
  

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  Native Arts in Prison
  
  
  

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  Designated Artist Spaces
  
  
  

Sealaska Heritage Institute

SHI FOR YOU | HERITAGE FORWARD

SHI’s Bent Wood Box of Learning

SHI LEARNING RESOURCES
SHI LEARNING RESOURCES

Welcome to Our Learning Area’s Quick Access Page

Welcome to our online Learn site where you can find a variety of educational opportunities on our history, language, art, and more.

With a dedicated team of experts, we strive to create an inclusive and engaging learning environment for all. From interactive workshops to insightful lectures and immersive experiences, our programs are designed to foster a deeper connection with the heritage and traditions of the Northwest Coast. Embrace the opportunity to learn from respected community members, scholars, and cultural ambassadors who are passionate about sharing their knowledge. Expand your understanding of the rich traditions and diverse cultures that make up the fabric of the Northwest Coast. Our Learning Center provides a platform for personal growth, community engagement, and a deeper appreciation of the values and traditions cherished by Sealaska Heritage Institute. Whether you’re a community member, student, or lifelong learner, we invite you to join us on this journey of discovery and exploration.

Contact us today to learn more about the diverse range of educational programs and opportunities at the Sealaska Heritage Institute. Together, let’s celebrate and honor the legacy of the Northwest Coast.

quickly access all our online resources

EVERYTHING IN 1 PLACE

Click on the below links for more details:

Questions for SHI?

Contact Sealaska Heritage’s team: heritage@sealaska.com

SHI Spearheaded UAS Programs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx3zBLxLq7whttps://youtu.be/vhO5Tniz1d0https://youtu.be/J02v1X-CKEkhttps://youtu.be/a1jbPUT1Nzs