Sealaska Heritage Institute will sponsor a new youth exhibit of Northwest Coast art during the biennial Celebration in an effort to increase the number of youth making high quality pieces and to share their work with the public.
Cash awards will be made to schools of the winners for art supplies to be used by schools or organizations for future instruction in Northwest Coast art.
“We want to encourage our youth and give them an opportunity to really stretch themselves and share their work with their peers and the public,” said SHI President Rosita Worl. “We also want to help teachers supply materials so they are able to teach Northwest Coast art in school.”
SHI will award $350 for first place and $200 for second place for competitors in middle school. The institute will award $500 for first place, $350 for second place and $200 for third place for competitors in high school. The funds will go to the school or organization identified by the winners that gave them instruction in Northwest Coast art. Individuals or groups that sponsor the show will be invited to hand out prizes in the divisions they supported. All youth chosen to exhibit will receive a specially-made Juried Art Show t-shirt and winners also will receive a certificate.
The competition is open to all youth in grades 6-12. The youth exhibit will open on June 3 at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center and run in conjunction with Celebration, scheduled June 8-11. The awards ceremony will be held on June 8 at the Walter Soboleff Building in Juneau, and the exhibit will close on June 30. Applications are due April 15. The youth exhibit is an offshoot of SHI’s Juried Art Show and Competition, first held in 2002, which also will run during Celebration and exhibit at the Walter Soboleff Building through July 31.
Sealaska Heritage Institute is a private, nonprofit founded in 1980 to promote cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars. Its mission is to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska.
