The Haines Sheldon Museum and Cultural Center recently finalized purchase of a Tlingit war helmet created by local artist Wayne Price.

The $25,000 carving is the second-most expensive artwork the museum has acquired, after a scrimshawed tusk. A grant from the Rasmuson Foundation’s Art Acquisition Fund provided funding.

The museum board officially applied to buy the helmet in May. They were loaned the piece to incorporate into the “Haines 50: Objects of our History” exhibit, and it is currently on display.

The museum was offered the helmet in 2013. When Helen Alten came to the museum in January 2014, she convinced museum board members purchase of such high-ticket items was a worthwhile investment.

High-caliber pieces attract talented artists and allow them to gain credentials in the art community. Expensive and unique pieces make the museum more professional as well as allow the organization to gather a diverse collection, Alten said.

The museum has brought $178,285 to the Haines economy since 2009, and $86,900 since 2014 by purchasing creations from local artists, she said. The museum has purchased 55 pieces in the last 10 years.

The museum board specifically wanted the war helmet to preserve it for the Haines community and celebrate the culture. Alten said it’s important to the museum to keep Native art in Alaska. “We are blessed to have this piece,” Alten said. In an interview, Price said he was offered $10,000 more than the sale price for the helmet, but he wanted it to stay in Haines.

“I prefer to have the piece left at home,” Price said. “It’s in a good, safe place. Tlingit country.”

Price created the helmet in 2010 at his studio, Silver Cloud Art Center, near Fort Seward. It was carved from an alder tree that fell onto powerlines in a storm in Juneau and temporarily caused a power outage. About 50,000 volts of electricity went through the tree and the wood still did not crack, he said.

The helmet is decorated with a warrior face, cowrie shells, copper, sea lion whiskers, human hair and leather. It won best in show in traditional art at the fifth Sealaska Juried Art Competition in Juneau.

Price said he has created only a few helmets in his career. This one, he said, has a traditional form and shape.

The biggest collection of traditional war helmets is in a museum in Russia. A few others are in museums in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Sitka, but old war helmets are pretty rare, Price said. The helmets were worn in battle by Native clans not only for protection but also to strike fear in the enemy, he said.

A condition to spending the Rasmuson Foundation grant money is it can only be applied to buy art pieces created within the last four to five years; it was even a stretch to purchase Price’s six-year-old helmet. Alten said the museum would like to set up an acquisition fund to purchase older art. She said old and new pieces in the museum together show continuity in art.

The museum can use up to $35,000 per year from the art acquisition grant, but the helmet is all they have purchased so far. Museum board members discussed art pieces they would like to purchase with the remaining $10,000 at Sunday afternoon’s meeting. A decision must be submitted to the Rasmuson Foundation by Aug.15.

The “Haines 50” show will run until the end of October, but Alten said the date may be extended due to the exhibit’s popularity. She believes the exhibit contributed to improved TripAdvisor ratings for the museum this summer.

The museum’s goal for the exhibit was to make it very information-rich so visitors would come back to see it multiple times, which Alten believes has been successful.

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