SHI lecture to unveil paths to prosperity for Alaska Native artists
Lily Hope to share journey, cultural importance of Northwest Coast artistry
April 4, 2025
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) will sponsor a presentation next week as part of its spring lecture series featuring Northwest Coast artists.
Lily Hope, a distinguished Tlingit artist based in Juneau, will present her talk, “Experiencing Prosperity as an Alaska Native Artist.”
Hope will share her motivations, inspirations and goals to provide insight into her choice to pursue the career pathway of a Northwest Coast artist. She will guide listeners through her journey and highlight the crucial steps she took to become a viable artist, including her extensive education and training and the support systems that have shaped her career.
Born and raised in Juneau, Alaska, Hope is of the Raven moiety, belonging to her grandmother’s clan, the T’aḵdeintaan. She was deeply influenced by her mother, the late Clarissa Rizal, and Kay Field Parker, both master weavers from Juneau. Hope apprenticed in Chilkat weaving with Rizal—who was herself one of the last living apprentices of the revered master Chilkat weaver Jennie Thlunaut—until her passing in December 2016. Hope feels a profound responsibility to instill both the technical and spiritual aspects of Ravenstail and Chilkat weaving in her students, ensuring these premier finger-twined textile traditions thrive for future generations.
The lecture is scheduled for 10:15–11:15 a.m., Tuesday, April 8, in Shuká Hít within the Walter Soboleff Building, 105 Heritage Way, in Juneau. The event will be livestreamed and posted on SHI’s YouTube channel.
Sealaska Heritage Institute is a tribal organization founded in 1980 to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. SHI also conducts scientific and public policy research that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history and education statewide. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars, a Native Artist Committee and a Southeast Regional Language Committee.
CONTACT: Therese Pokorney, SHI Communications Officer, therese.pokorney@sealaska.com