Last week, Donald Weiha Hotch was sitting in the Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage center, patiently carving the base of a pair of chopsticks, when he looked up suddenly and said, “I got a grant to visit the museum in Juneau.”
Other students who were in a spoon-carving class with him listened as Hotch described his plan to visit the Sealaska Heritage Institute and Alaska State Museum to find out more about how his ancestors made their art.
The Lingít artist said he is looking for inspiration and the chance to learn new designs for his engraving and carving work. Hotch said he specifically wants to see pieces by renowned Klukwan carvers Ed Kasko and Dan Katzeek, and Haida carver Charles Edenshaw, in addition to others that could translate well into engraved bracelet designs.
It turns out, another student in the class is also related to one of those carvers. She listened to his plan to take pictures, bring them home, and work to incorporate those in his silver engraving and asked if he’d be willing to show her some of the photos. She explained she hasn’t seen a lot of the work and Hotch agreed.
“I have no idea what’s down there,” he said. “I want to learn more about what they did.”
Hotch is among a group of 15 Alaska Native artists and groups who will split $48,000 in grants from Museums Alaska, the state’s museum association. The grant funding comes through the Cook Inlet Region Inc. and Henry Luce Foundation. According to a media release, the artists and culture bearers will receive a stipend to help cover the expenses of their visits to the museums.
The idea is to break down barriers for artists who don’t have the resources to visit the places where many of the ancestral and cultural artifacts of Alaska Native artists are housed. The program is part of a larger movement called the Alaska Native Museum Sovereignty initiative which has a goal of providing access to museum collections that benefits both the artists and the museums where staff can learn how to interpret collections and include the values of Alaska Native people and their perspectives, according to the initiative’s founder Nadia Jackinsky-Sethi.
Another Chilkat Valley resident, Skweit Jessie Morgan, who is Lingít, will also be headed to Juneau to visit the Sealaska Heritage Institute.
Skweit is looking specifically for inspiration in silversmithing including from artists like Amos Wallace and Leo Jacobs, Jr. and in studying silver work like bracelets that are utilitarian or encompassing traditional use or design.
While Hotch and Morgan are headed out of the Chilkat Valley, a third artist – Sitka-based Mary Goddard, who is Lingít and Haida – is planning a visit to the Haines Sheldon Museum to view weapons and clothing in the local museum’s collection.
It’s a grant program that another Chilkat Valley artist, James G̱ooch Éesh Hart, won last year. He used the funds to travel to the Anchorage museum in a visit focused mostly on bentwood boxes, though Hart said anything that had Northwest Coast art was of interest.
The experience has lingered with him. Hart, who is Lingít, said he – and many other artists – must rely on reference books and photographs online to study historical design work.
“To actually be in the presence and have the opportunity to put your hands on something, it just kind of takes it to another level. It’s just a little more in depth,” he said.
Hart said he picked up on details that he never would have seen otherwise. And he said it was a good opportunity to make connections with people.
That’s something he said would be valuable for this year’s grantees to keep in mind, particularly when they’re planning their trips.
“I really think making connections is really big during those times,” he said. That means being both open to connection with museum staff and also with the public.
“You never know who might come through the door and what kind of opportunity might spark,” he said.
Hart planned his trip to coincide with a First Friday event in Anchorage. “It depends on what you’re trying to do as an artist. But for me, working toward a career out of it, engaging with the public is very important,” he said.
Hart said he had a good experience in Anchorage because the staff were open and wanted to make sure he was as comfortable as possible.
“It’s an emotional kind of event and it can be emotionally draining,” he said. “So being aware of those things is pretty important. They gave me the space to do some of my cultural practices if I wanted, or if I needed to say a prayer or whatever it was that I needed to do. They were happy and willing to assist in any way.”