As summer continues to unfold, there is more exciting news about Alaskan art, in particular an Alaskan artist who is being honored with the nation’s highest honor in the field of folk and traditional arts. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) bestows NEA National Heritage Fellowships on a very small number of men and women who excel in their fields and make uniquely valuable contributions to the artistic and cultural life of the nation. This year, Clarissa Rizal, an Alaskan master artist, joins this elite group of artistic geniuses.
The NEA has many programs that encourage the enjoyment and incorporation of the arts into the daily lives of Americans, and its matching grants to state arts agencies make it possible for each state and jurisdiction to have its own engine of artistic activity. I serve as the Chairman of the Alaska State Council on the Arts, and we couldn’t do our work expanding Alaskans’ artistic horizons without the NEA. This NEA fellowship helps promote artistic activity in two ways, by publicly honoring people who are the very best at their respective art forms and by giving them a significant cash prize of $25,000 to help them continue their work.
The 2016 Fellows are from an impressive range of places, from Maine to California, and Louisiana to South Dakota. Their fields of artistic endeavor include playing the Irish button accordion, building ships and weaving baskets from a variety of natural materials. Rizal is a Juneau-based artist who is renowned for weaving Tlingit ceremonial regalia, including world-famous robes.
Rizal is a member of the Raven T’ak Dein Taan (black-legged kittiwake) Clan of Hoonah and Glacier Bay. She is renowned for her contributions to the important work of renewing interest in and the actual capacity to undertake the weaving of Chilkat blankets. This art form has been at risk because those who practice it are becoming increasingly scarce, and having a leader like Rizal acknowledged for her expertise is a fine way to promote interest among those who might seek to learn the craft.
Chilkat blankets are made from wool and cedar bark, which are often harvested by the artist. Chilkat blankets depict the crests of clans and tell the story of the ancestry of those who wear them. Rizal is especially known for her outstanding contributions to what is known as the Ravenstail method of weaving, which features a predominance of geometric forms in confluence with the formline shapes that are the hallmark of Tlingit art.
Rizal has received an impressive array of awards and recognitions in the lead-up to her crowning achievement of as an NEA fellow. Her woven pieces have garnered accolades in the Anchorage Museum of History & Art’s All-Alaska Juried Arts Show, Sealaska Heritage Institute’s Invitational Exhibition and the world-renowned Santa Fe Artists Market. She has inspired other artists during fellowship visits to Oklahoma, South Dakota and Washington State. She has been honored by the Rasmuson Foundation and the First People’s Fund. In addition to her tremendous accomplishments as a weaver, Rizal works in an array of other media, including drawing, painting and collages.
The virtuous cycle of master and apprentice is part of Rizal’s story, as she trained in Chilkat blanket-weaving by Jennie Thlunaut, who was honored in 1986 as an NEA fellow. At that time the art was imperiled, but since learning it, Rizal has worked with many students to spread the magic and beauty of creating robes which are a living part of so many events such as the biennial Celebration in Alaska’s Capital City.
Rizal is the eleventh Alaskan to receive this NEA fellowship. The first was Paul Tiulana, an Eskimo mask-maker, dancer and singer from Anchorage in 1984. He was followed by Thlunaut of Haines in 1986. The most recent recipient in 2009 was Teri Rofkar of Sitka, who weaves Ravenstail robes, blankets and baskets, and is a very active artist and arts educator across Alaska and the nation. When NEA Chairman Jane Chu came to Alaska last year, we were delighted to have her visit with Rofkar in Sitka, and she was profoundly impressed.
Rizal will be formally given her NEA National Heritage Fellow Award at the end of September at the Library of Congress. While only a few Alaskans will be able to join her in person, all Alaskans will be with her in spirit at this auspicious ceremony. The fellowship program is run on an annual basis, and nominations for the next group of fellows are being accepted until the July 25. If you think you know of some one who deserves this honor, you can learn more about submitting nominations at https://www.arts.gov/lifetime-honors/nea-national-heritage-fellowships/make-nomination.
• Ben Brown is an attorney who lives in Juneau and is president of the Alaska State Council on the Arts.
