Room 225 at the University of Alaska Southeast’s Egan Library felt starkly different Friday evening compared to the room’s typical classroom aesthetic.
Instead of desks and backpacks, the room and its walls were covered and filled with art. The rows of dozens of pieces ranged in mediums from paintings to carvings to forging. Each piece was unique and individualized by each of the artists who created it, however, all were connected by the same thread: the pieces showcased were made over the past semester by students of the university”s Northwest Coast art program.
Tlingit master carver Wayne Price and professor for the Northwest Coast Art program, said the show was put on to give the students the tools to pursue art business and understand what it takes to showcase their art. During the four hours the show was open to the public, he said dozens of people stopped by to see the work.
“This is where they get a feel of what it is to do an art show,” he said Friday evening. “The show was put on for a short time, but it has all the flavor of an art gallery.”
Price said he’s proud of all the students and the hours upon hours of work that each student put into their piece or pieces.
“All of this was made together, they were created all here together,” he said. “This is all the work that was done, we’ve been busy the whole semester.”
Megan Guná Jensen, another professor for the Northwest Coast Art program agreed, and said as a professor it’s been a joy to work with the students.
“This art is so vital, and it’s been amazing to teach this semester,” she said. “These students have been so committed, engaged, and they all worked really hard.”
• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651)-528-1807.
See photos from the event below.
This mask titled “Hla dm baanu di baal’ack” was carved, without a planned sketch, by Tsimshian artist Huk Yuunsk David Lang. The piece was one of the many featured in a recent art gallery hosted Friday evening at the University of Alaska Southeast that showcased students’ work from the UAS Northwest Coast Art program. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Alaska artist Nathaniel LaCroix explains the design of the piece “Pacific Northwest Coast Form-line Swimming Spirit” to gallery viewers Friday evening. The piece was one of the many featured in a recent art gallery hosted Friday evening at the University of Alaska Southeast that showcased students’ work from the UAS Northwest Coast Art program. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Two paddles, titled “Invited the Bear” (left) and “Ocean Mother” (right) made by University of Alaska Southeast alumni Diane Stambaugh, of Sweden, were two of the many works featured in a recent art gallery hosted Friday evening at UAS that showcased students’ work from the UAS Northwest Coast Art program. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Tlingit artist Gáanax Sháa Gloria Eyon holds a Raven Rattle made from mountain ash that she began carving during a Sealaska Heritage Institute beginning carving class and continued at University of Alaska Southeast’s intermediate carving class. The piece was one of the many featured in a recent art gallery hosted Friday evening at the University of Alaska Southeast that showcased students’ work from the UAS Northwest Coast Art program. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
This is a picture of a piece by K̲aachgóon Rochelle Smallwood titled “Saani,” which was one of the many works featured in a recent art gallery hosted Friday evening at the University of Alaska Southeast that showcased students’ work from the UAS Northwest Coast Art program. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
This piece titled “Bear & Company” was carved by Tlingit master carver Wayne Price and was one of the many pieces featured in a recent art gallery hosted Friday evening at the University of Alaska Southeast that showcased students’ work from the UAS Northwest Coast Art program, of which Price teaches. The carving is of an old-style comb used in shaman ceremonies. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
A Northwest Coast formline design by Juneau artist Alexis Pringle was one of the many featured in a recent art gallery hosted Friday evening at the University of Alaska Southeast that showcased students’ work from the UAS Northwest Coast Art program. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Kevin Jones, of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, touches his turtle mask “Luksi Sia” that he carved. His piece was one of the many featured in a recent art gallery hosted Friday evening at the University of Alaska Southeast that showcased students’ work from the UAS Northwest Coast Art program. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
