The past few weeks have seen some exciting and noteworthy news in the world of Alaskan arts.
To start with, an Alaskan has been named to serve on the National Council on the Arts, which is the board that oversees the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The NEA, of course, is the federal agency that was created in the 1960s to help ensure that Americans have access and ample opportunities to participate in and enjoy the arts. The NEA provides grants to arts organizations across the land; here in Juneau Perseverance Theatre has been a recipient of several of these so-called “direct grants.” Elsewhere in Southeast, the Sitka Summer Music Festival and the Sitka Fine Arts Camp have also been honored with the award of grant funds from the NEA.
The way in which most Alaskans have benefited from the NEA is through its partnership with the Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA). ASCA is Alaska’s state arts agency (on which I serve as chairman) and our partnership agreement with the NEA requires us to match every federal dollar we receive with state funds, which in turn allows us to receive and expend funds from private foundations. ASCA has many programs, including making grants to artists and arts organizations across the Last Frontier.
Annette Evans Smith of the Alaska Native Heritage Center (ANHC) in Anchorage is the Alaskan who was selected by the White House to serve on the National Council on the Arts. The Council is a small, high-level group that oversees all of the NEA’s programs, and it is an incredible honor to be chosen to serve there. She has been the president of ANHC since 2011, having started her service there back in 2003. With a long history of service to Alaska Native cultural institutions and causes, including chairing the Alaska Native Language Preservation & Advisory Council, Annette Evans Smith is eminently qualified, and will perform this duty with distinction. Appointments to the National Council on the Arts require vetting by the federal government and the White House, and then confirmation by the United States Senate. Having an Alaskan on the National Council on the Arts presents a unique opportunity for the unique perspectives of Alaskans to inform arts and cultural policy nationally.
As the State Legislature approached the 90-day statutory session deadline, a bill that will help the arts in Alaska was passed in a surprising but welcome manner. Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins of Sitka introduced House Bill 217 to set up a program for specialty license plates to celebrate the arts in Alaska. What made this plan for special license plates different from the other varieties (for the Alaska Children’s Trust, University of Alaska alumni, and other causes) is that instead of a design by DMV simply available for purchase by Alaskan motorists, there will be a juried process allowing Alaskan artists to create proposed designs from which the most exciting and alluring will be selected for a four-year period. Alaskans who wish publicly to display their support for the arts will then be able to buy these plates, and the additional funds generated will support ASCA’s work and programs. Earned income is something that many State agencies are likely to rely on increasingly in future years, so this would be a positive development.
Unfortunately, as the 90-day mark approached, it didn’t look likely that HB 217 was going to make it through the legislative process. Rep. Kreiss-Tomkins and his perspicacious staff came up with an idea, one that might not have worked without a meticulously careful approach. He approached Sen. Bill Stoltze of Chugiak who also had a license plate bill, one allowing Alaskans to buy special plates to support the Blood Bank of Alaska. This legislation, Senate Bill 154, had made it all the way through the Senate and to its last committee of referral in the House. The representative approached the senator, and diplomatically sought permission to add the arts license plate provisions to the blood bank bill. We are most grateful that Sen. Stoltze graciously agreed to the change, and this allowed something very good for the arts that otherwise would not have happened. News about the design contest will be forthcoming once SB 154 is signed into law.
Alas, there has also been some less than happy news for Alaskans who are passionate about the arts. Shannon Daut has served as ASCA’s Executive Director for the past four and half years, and she has been offered an employment opportunity Outside that she simply couldn’t let go. Alaskans have benefited greatly from Shannon’s leadership, and she is leaving ASCA in a position of strength yet ready for further transition and improvement. As we wish Shannon the best, Alaskans can remain confident that ASCA will continue to strive to ensure that our lives are enriched by the arts, our economy made stronger, and our young people immersed in the arts in their educational experiences so they are as likely as possible to succeed throughout their lives.
• Ben Brown is an attorney who lives in Juneau and is president of the Alaska State Council on the Arts.
