Klukwan School recently hosted artist Moses Wassilie for the annual Artist in Schools program. The Artists in Schools program is supported by the State of Alaska and the National Endowment for the Arts with additional funding from the Rasmuson Foundation. Each year, Chatham School District applies for the program through the Alaska State Council on the Arts, with an artist visiting each school district site to work with students for one week.
This year, Moses “Moe” Wassilie started his journey at Klukwan School, where students learned about Yup’ik culture while creating their own pieces to share with the community.
Students learned the “King Salmon” song, beckoning the salmon to return to the Chilkat River. With handmade fans and headdresses, students sang and performed a Yup’ik style dance on Friday when community members joined students to learn more about Wassilie’s work with the students.
Earrings and bracelets were crafted using moose antler that Wassilie and students cut, drilled and sanded to size. Elementary students made their own king salmon masks, sketched headdresses and even worked on sketching portraits.