ARTISTRY OF THE ALASKAN FIRST PEOPLES:

Echoes of Tlingit, Eyak, and Sugpiaq Culture in Sculpted Heritage

Artistry of the Alaskan First Peoples: Echoes of Tlingit, Eyak, and Sugpiaq Culture in Sculpted Heritage will highlight the Alaska Native artist Kaax̱ Tséen (Tlingit) and include elegant models of birch bark, moose skin, and other types of yaakw (canoes). The exhibit will also include an Aleut baidarka (sea kayak) carved by Valdezan Don Kompkoff (Sugpiaq) in 2008 and now a part of the VMHA collection. Visit this exhibit to see the engineering inherent in Alaska Native vessels, and how the act of building models supports revival of several Alaska Native languages and culture.

Artistry of the Alaskan First Peoples opens June 28 and runs through September 21 at the Egan Museum site.

An opening celebration is open and free to the public on June 28 from 5-7 pm.

National Endowment for the Arts. Alaska State Council on the Arts. CVEA Community Foundation, Alyeska  Pipeline Service Company

This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information please visit or call the Valdez Museum at 907 835 2764

Image caption is: Artwork by Herb Kaax̱ Tséen Sheakley, Jr.