Stephen Qacung Blanchett is the new education director for Juneau Arts & Humanities Council.
Blanchett will lead the arts education programs offered by the council including Artists in the Schools, Partners in Education, Any Given Child, Artful Teaching, Poetry Out Loud and the after-school ArtShops program at Cedar Park and Geneva Woods.
Blanchett is originally from Bethel and Yup’ik Inuit and African-American. He comes to the council from the Alaska Native Heritage Center, First Alaskans Institute and as a statewide teaching artist and international performer. He is a founding member of and performer with Pamyua, whose album ”Caught in the Act” won record of the year in 2003 at the Native American Music Awards, and “Verses,” which was nominated for Best World Music Album in 2001.
“I have always strived to challenge myself in innovative ways to perpetuate and empower indigenous voices through creative means,” he said in a press release.
In 2015, Blanchett received a National Artist Fellowship with the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, and in 2016 and 2019 received Individual Artist Award Fellowships from the Rasmuson Foundation. Most recently, he was awarded a fellowship with Dance/USA to continue his work perpetuating indigenous Alaska Native dance.
