Local Japanese-American artist Fumi Matusmoto will speak at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum for one of its upcoming “Coffee and Collections” talks.
Matsumoto was born in Japan in 1948. She moved to America in 1952, when she was just four years old. It’s for this reason, she said, that she has “always been influenced by Japanese culture and history.”
Much of her art “reflects the Japanese aesthetic and often the Japanese-American experience.” Her art was featured in the City Museum’s 2014 summer exhibit, The Empty Chair: The Forced Removal & Resettlement of Juneau’s Japanese Community, 1941-1951. The Rasmuson Foundation Art Acquisition Fund has enabled the museum to add three mixed media art pieces by Matsumoto to its permanent collection. Those three works will be on display in the museum’s entryway case starting in mid-January. They will remain on display through the end of June 2017.
The talk is Saturday, Jan. 21 from 10:30 a.m. – noon at the city museum. It is free.
Matsumoto will begin her presentation by showing the film “Honor & Sacrifice: The Roy Matsumoto Story,” which relates her father’s experiences in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. After the film, she will discuss her artwork and how it has been influenced by his experiences.
Skin sewing workshop
Louise Kadinger will teach a skin-sewing workshop at the end of January. It will incorporate the use of sea otter hide, which is open, in accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act, only to Alaska Natives with at least 1/4 Native blood quantum and with a copy of their Certificate of Indian Blood issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or Tribal I.D. card issued by a federally recognized Alaska Native Tribe. Those who do not meet the requirement will be required to bring alternate material. For those that do, the Sealaska Heritage Institute will provide a sea otter hide at a $350 value. SHI will also provide patterns, basic supplies, and 1/2 sheets of plywood to stretch the hide.
The application deadline is Jan. 19 at 4 p.m.
The class will be taught at Gajaa Hit, 250 Village Street, from Friday, Jan. 27 – Sunday, Jan. 29. Call Davina at 586-9230 with questions.
Preference will go to Sealaska Shareholders/descendants and persons who have not participated in past SHI skin sewing classes. Space is limited to 15 spots. To confirm your spot, you must complete the application and pay the $100 fee.
No shrimping near Tenakee, Juneau
TENAKEE—The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced at the end of December that in 2017 the sport and personal use shrimp fisheries in Tenakee Inlet will remain closed until further notice. The Juneau area will also remain closed. The closed areas consist of all marine waters of Tenakee Inlet west of a line extending across the entrance of Tenakee Inlet from South Passage Point to East Point, and, in Juneau, Stephens Passage and Gastineau Channel from Little Island Light to Point Arden.
Data collected during the 2016 annual shrimp survey indicates that Tenakee Inlet shrimp abundance is showing improvements but levels still remain low. The Tenakee Inlet commercial pot shrimp fishery was closed in 2011 based on the lowest catch per unit effort in the department’s shrimp surveys since 2000. The personal use and sport fisheries remained open in 2011; however, because CPUE in the survey declined even further in 2012, the personal use and sport fisheries were closed effective Oct. 1, 2012. Based on poor 2013, 2014, 2015 and slightly improved survey results in 2016, continued conservation measures are necessary to rebuild this resource. The commercial fishery, personal use, and sport fishery will remain closed in 2017.
The intention of these closures is to allow shrimp abundance to rebound from the current low level. The department will continue annual surveys to monitor the Tenakee Inlet and Juneau area shrimp resource. The shrimp fisheries will remain closed until survey data indicates abundance can sustain future harvests.
