State of the Arts
APRIL 2008
The
monthly newsletter of Fairbanks Arts Association
Dinners in the Home
IN THIS ISSUE p2 p3 p4 p4 p5 p5 p6 p7
dinners in the homes arts down the road reading series gift shop author gift shop artist design alaska wild arts walk gallery exhibit mainstage schedule
community calendar volunteer needs poetry at the dredge volunteer thanks watercolor society corner committee meetings oldie but goldie film series volunteer spotlight
“Promoting contemporary and traditional arts in Alaska’s Interior.”
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Dinners In the Homes Mid-May through September
Host a Meal, Meet Travelers, Fund the Arts! “It’s like having a group of friends over for dinner—it doesn’t have to be a big production.” These are words of wisdom from volunteer host, Kerynn Fisher. That’s right, it is time once again for one of the most talked about and enjoyable fundraising events in town—Fairbanks Arts Association’s annual Dinners in the Homes! We appreciate previous hosts and write all to join us againthis summer. There will be over 1000 visitors eager to meet people with whom they can have an authentic Alaskan experience. Most people visiting are curious about our long, dark winters, midnight-sun summers and are curious about activities such as fishing, skiing or growing 40 pound zucchinis. Dinners are scheduled Thursday nights at 6:45pm, leaving our few and valuable summer weekends completely free!!! Dinner dates available to host: May 22nd, 29th, June 5th, 12th, 26th, July 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, 31st, August 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, September 4th and 11th.
Dinners in the Homes
are scheduled
Thursday nights at 6:45pm!
Consider hosting 4 guests or more, hosting more than once, co-hosting with friends or assisting with transportation. We always need help finding new hosts, so please tell co-workers, neighbors and friends about this special event.
As a host, you’ll pick up the visitors at Wedgewood Resort Visitor’s Center on the evening of your dinner, host a meal and return your new friends to the hotel afterwards.
Guests traveling with Collette Tours and are given this unique opportunity by Fairbanksan, Michelle Bartlett of Maiden Alaska tours. Fairbanks Arts Association receives $25 per person in this unique fundraising event. Join this summer’s volunteers to share our culture, meet travelers and support the arts. Let’s make this fundraiser a success for everyone. Call Rosalie at 456-6485 ext. 224 with questions about the program or to volunteer!
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Fairbanks Arts Association
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April 2008
The Winter Bear
The Winter Bear debuted in a stage reading at the Museum of the North last Thursday March 6, 2008. Local playwright Anne Hanley’s new play is currently in production at Effie Cochran Charter School. The students are creating the play in a theatre class for which they are receiving UAF credit. The reading was well attended by members of the class, cast and crew as well as members of the community interested in the new work.
DOWN
ART
ROAD
the
The story of The Winter Bear centers around Sidney Huntington, a 93 year old Koyukon Athabascan elder from Galena. His daughter begs him to take in a 17 year old boy named Duane facing juvenile detention. He agrees and the relationship between the young boy and the elder man becomes the focus of the play. Through time they learn to live together, to create a harmonious balance in the cabin, and face the trauma of the past. As real time progresses inside the cabin, the forest Historical Materials Wanted!
Do you have any old newspaper clippings, show programs, photos or other information from the beginnings of the Fairbanks Arts Association? We are collecting all historical documents, no matter how insignificant. So clean out your garage and bring them by! Fairbanks Arts Association Office, Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts in Pioneer Park, 2300 Airport Way Phone: 456-6485 ext 226.
April 2008
around the cabin is occupied by a mythic space inhabited by Wolf, Lynx, and Wolverine. As Duane and Sidney dream, remember, and recount their pasts, the Athabascan spirit animals take on the roles of the people in these memories. The secrets of the past are unmasked and reveal haunting truths about their current situations. Looming in the shadows is the specter of the Winter bear, a grizzly who hasn’t gone into hibernation. He is hungry, dazed, and unpredictable. The whole play, we live with the knowledge that danger, darkness, and bitter cold are right beyond the cabin door. After a climactic hunting expedition, Sidney and Duane ultimately find their places in the world, and they find peace. Hanley says of her play: “Although The Winter Bear is a fictional story, Sidney Huntington is a real person. His stories and facts about his life come from conversations with him and from his autobiography, Shadows on the Koyukuk: An Alaskan Native’s Life Along the River, by Sidney Huntington as told to Jim Reardon, Alaska Northwest Books, 1993.” This will be the first play directed by Wesley Roberts Dalton of Authentic Alaska Production Company. The production will perform 7:30 on May 21, 22, and 23 at UAF’s Salisbury Theatre. For tickets look up Alaska Productions.
Fa i r b a n k s A r ts Ass o c i at i o n Fairbanks Arts Association was established in 1966 to promote and support the arts in the Fairbanks area. The Association is funded by private, corporate, and foundation memberships and donations, City of Fairbanks, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. With assistance from professional staff and charitable volunteers, the Association provides services in five areas: Visual, Literary, Performing, Community Arts and Arts Education. The Association also helps raise funds for other arts groups, provides technical assistance and support for arts programming, encourages and advises individual artists beginning organizations and sponsors workshops and educational meetings.
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Fairbanks Arts Association
Board of Directors Corlis Taylor, President Marcella Hill, Vice President Leafy McBride, Secretary Myrna Colp, Treasurer
Members: Bob Dempsey Jerrie Graham Joan Stack Shane Hurd Lorraine Peterson
Staff June Rogers, Executive Director , ex 225 Melissa Hougland, Associate Director, ex 226 Sherry Faught, Office Manager/Bookkeeper, ex 223 Tatiana Piatanova, Program Director, ex 227 Carey Seward, Special Projects, ex 224 Jessica Rehfield, Education Coordinator, ex 222
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.:: Reading Series ‘08 EGO: English Graduate Organization The graduating students from UAF’s Masters in Fine Arts Program are a diverse group, all of whom bring to the program varying life experiences. The six readers work will explore the boundaries of form in poetry, the arc of narrative in short story, and the limits of persona in literary nonfiction.
Saturday, April 5 at 7pm • Bear Gallery
Gift Shop Author of the Month: Joseph Enzweiler
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Joseph Enzweiler was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1950. He received a degree in Physics from Xavier University, and moved to Fairbanks, Alaska in 1975. He received a MS in Physics from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and in 1981 built a log house in Goldstream Valley north of town where he has lived ever since. He works as a carpenter, stone mason and photographer during the summer and fall months, and spends his winters writing. Every few years he returns to rural northern Kentucky for several months where he lives with his brother and his family, and is building a rock fence around his brother’s 3 acres of land. Enzweiler has published 3 previous books of poetry: Home Country (Fireweed Press, 1986), Stonework of the Sky (Graywolf Press, 1995) and A Curb in Eden, first version (Salmon Publishing, Ltd, 1999). A Curb in Eden, new version was published by Iris Press in 2003.and has been a guest writer at over 70 colleges and universities. Fairbanks Arts Association
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April 2008
Gift Shop Artist of the Month: Clayton and Erika Flagg
Clayton and Erika Flagg enjoy their quiet life in the interior of Alaska where they have time in the winter to be creative. Clayton collects shed antlers and makes beautiful jewelry out of it. Erika likes bright colors and what they do on silk. Every item they create is a one of a kind piece of art that people treasure for years.
3rd
Annual Design Alaska Wild Arts Walk
Friends of Creamer's Field is looking for artists, musicians, writers, and storytellers for the 3rd annual Design Alaska Wild Arts Walk which will take place Saturday June 7th from Noon to 5pm at Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge.
This event is a walking tour of artists displaying and demonstrating their work at stations located near the Farmhouse Visitor Center and on the refuge trails. Art forms with a nature theme are welcome. This event is both a fundraiser for Friends of Creamer's Field and an opportunity for area artists to create, display, and sell their work. To obtain an application and more information, please contact Friends of Creamer's Field at 452-5162 or email at creamers@ptialaska.net. Applications must be postmarked by May 2nd, space is limited.
April 2008
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Fairbanks Arts Association
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April Gallery Exhibit: Interior Artisans XXIII Juror Statement:
Annette Bellamy
My art represents ideas and an aesthetic of my lifestyle. I have commercially fished for 35 years, longlining for halibut and seining and gillnetting for salmon. These years of fishing have given me a wealth of inspiration. I work primarily in clay, making both functional vessels and sculptural work. Steel and fiber are sometimes incorporated in my sculptural work to extend possibilities. There are layers of ideas in each piece, new ideas onto repeated ideas as I continue to evolve as an artist. I look for a way of expressing these ideas with a good measure of beauty and truth and sometimes humor.
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Exhibit Dates: April 4-26 • Opening Reception: Friday, April 4, 5-8pm Fairbanks Arts Association
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April 2008
MAINSTAGE Fairbanks
concert series
sponsored by Fairbanks North Star Borough Parks and Recreation.
Thursday, April 24th, 7pm
South Sea Island Polynesian Dancers
Concerts take place at the theater in Alaska Centenial Center for Arts at 7 pm
and
Tickets available at the door for $5
Karl Monetti
For more information please call 456-6485, ext 227 or go to
South Sea Island Polynesian Dancers is a group of multicultural dancers they formed so that they could share their culture with the Fairbanks community. Choregraphy is set to varoius styles of music from Hawaii, New Zealand, Tahiti and more. South Sea Island Polynesian Dancers take pride in the detail given to both movement and costume, making this an enjoyable preformance for the whole family!
www.fairbanksarts.org
The Arts Association is funded by Private, Corporate and Foundation memberships and donations, city of Fairbanks, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Karl Monetti will play selections of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar for this preformance. He has been a regular during Gazebo NIghts and Time Out at Noon with warm and imaginative sounds from the island.
April 2008
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Fairbanks Arts Association
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Fairbanks Watercolor Society April: 16, 7:00pm Pioneer Park Civic Center, Blue Room Social hour at 6:30pm followed by general membership meeting, new members welcome. Information: 479-0804 or 389-2114 “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” by Tom Stoppard Directed by Anatoly Antohin April 18, 19, 25, and 26th at 8:15 April 27th at 2pm Theater UAF Tickets are available at the UAF Wood Center or at the Theatre UAF Box Office, 474-7751. 7th Annual Midnight Sun Intertribal Powwow GENERAL MEETING April 6, 3pm on Sunday, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 1030 2nd Volunteers and New Members always welcome! Call 456-2245 or visit our web-site at www. midnightsunpwwow.net for additional information. Fairbanks Symphony & Opera Fairbanks present a Concert performance of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly April 4, 7pm This concert has no reserved seating; general seating only. www.FairbanksSymphony.org 907- 474-5733 Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare April 3-20
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Empress Theatre
www.fstalaska.org Call 457-7638 for more information Fairbanks Symphony presents the 14th annual Beat Beethoven 5K Race April 12, 10am Registration information: www.FairbanksSymphony.org Fairbanks Symphony Pops Concert, Music from the Movies! April 26, 2008 at 8pm For more info: www.FairbanksSymphony.org 907- 474-5733 Fairbanks Drama Association presents: A THOUSAND CLOWNS March 21 - April 6 Fridays and Saturdays at 8:15pm Sundays at 2:00pm. The Riverfront Theatre For Advance Ticket reservations call 456-pLAY. Barnes and Noble Bookstore is looking for local artists to participate in a special project. For more information call Kara, the Music Manager at 452-6400
April
Volunteers needed!
• Gallery Docents (Gift Shop Sales, Gallery Attendants) 12-3pm or 3-6pm, Monday-Saturday
•First Friday Crew (Greeters and Food Preparation) Fri, April 4, from 4-9 PM • FAA Bear Gallery •Reading Crew! (Setup and Breakdown Crew) Saturday, April 5 from 6-8:30 PM
To Volunteer Contact: 456-6485 ex: 226
the 7th Annual 8 x 10 Alaskan Playwrights Festival Co-Produced by Looking Glass Group Theatre and Fairbanks Drama Association April 18 & 19 at 8:15pm The Riverfront Theatre Featuring a staged reading of the eight winning scripts from a statewide field of entries. For advance tickets ($ 15 each) call 456-PLAY.
Acheivment in the Arts
Local musicians Taylor Frey (Violin), Johanna Soderlund (Violin), and Avalon Lee (String Bass) have been selected to perform with the National High School Honors Orchestra in Albuquerque, New Mexico later this month. All three are students at Lathrop H.S. and all three perform with the Fairbanks Youth Symphony. http://www.astaweb.com/ Content/NavigationMenu/Competitions/ NationalHighSchoolHonorsOrchestra/ default.htm
Many thanks to all our wonderful vendors and volunteers that helped make Art EXPO 2008 a success!
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Community Calendar! Community Calendar! Fairbanks Arts Association
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April 2008
Poetry at the Dredge
April 26, 2008 • 2 - 5 PM • Chatanika Gold Dredge • 29 mile Steese Highway.
11th Annual Poetry at the Dredge Once a year, FAA celebrates National Poetry Month with Poetry at the Dredge. Everyone is invited to the antique gold dredge in Chatanika to hear poetry read aloud. This is great opportunity for trying out new poems, sharing an favorite by
April 2008
another writer during the open mic, or simply coming out to celebrate poetry. This year several noted local poets will be in attendance including Jean Anderson, Joyce Clark, Joe Enzweiler, Susheila Khera and many others. The all outdoor event is sponsored by the Literary Arts Committee of the Fairbanks Arts Association and the Chatanika •
Fairbanks Arts Association
Dredge Company. As always, this event would not be possible without the generosity of Jane Haigh who annually donates the use of her property for the event. April in Chatanika is chilly, so be sure to pack warm clothes and a blanket to sit on. Take it from us: a picnic is a good idea, especially with a thermos of something warm. Don't miss it!
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APRIL Committee Meetings:
Literary Arts Committee April 7 at 5:30pm Community Writers Group April 13 from 1-4pm Cinema Arts Committee April 15 at 5:30pm Visual Arts Committee April 16 at 5:30pm
u o y k n a Th nte e rs: to o u r Vo
y Galler ts Docen
s Willie Blis een Deb McQu in an Fle Margret V ry Jane Grego Pat Mack ns Cheryl Joe n Vi Robinso
lu
po Art ex son raine Peter
Lor enbuel Peggy Birk er aeff Ginny Sch een Deb McQu oper Miriam Co h Doreen Fis h Jamie Smit
Long Prose Writers Group April 17 at 6:00pm
Community Arts Meeting April 30 at Noon
FACE Committee April 28 at 4:30pm
All meetings in the Bear Gallery, 3rd Floor of the Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts, Pioneer Park, 2300 Airport Way. For more information call 456-6485 ext. 227.
Watercolor Society Corner Helen Atkinson
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Tried oil colors n 1941; I painted intermittently due to having two small children and also working. In 1950 I lived in Sitka and did a few oil portraits; moved back north to Minchumina and worked as a surveyor and cook; in 1951 I returned to Fairbanks and worked most of the time. In the 1960’s I got back into oil painting. I took a charcoal portrait class from Fred Machetanz- a wonderful teacher. In 1982 I discovered
watercolors. I was fascinated and painter almost every day for the first year or two. Then I learned about watercolor workshops and attended whenever I could- traveling to foreign countries with other artists. Each teacher was different and it was awhile before I developed my own set of colors and style. Panting makes the dark days if winter fly by if you have good light. Sometimes it is hard to stop and I often stay up late at night or in the spring and summer paint until
Fairbanks Arts Association
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far into the night. I feel that anyone can learn to paint if they have a strong desire to learn and spend time trying. It helps to have an enthusiastic capable teacher (which I found in Sitka in 1951 and in Fred Machetanz).
During the month of April the Watercolor Society Corner in the Bear Gallery will also feature Colleen Hickman.
April 2008
OLDIE
but
GOLDIE
film series
sponsored by Fairbanks North Star Borough Parks and Recreation.
Film Showings take place at the theater in Alaska Centenial Center for Arts Tickets available at the door for $5 For more information please call 456-6485, ext 227 or go to
THURSDAY, April 10 7pm
Que Viva Mexico!
Having revolutionized film editing through such masterworks of montage as Potemkin and Strike, Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein emigrated west in hopes of testing the capabilities of the www.fairbanksarts.org American film industry. Quickly ostracized from Hollywood, Eisenstein, Grigory Alexandrov and photographer Eduard Tisse (at the urging of author Upton Sinclair) wandered south of the border where they began filming a highly stylized documentary on the people and volatile social climate of Mexico. Unfortunately, a lack of funds prohibited the film’s completion and the famed director was unable to edit the film. In 1979, by referring The Arts Association is to Eisenstein’s extensive notes and sketches, Alexandrov assembled the most definitive version of funded by Private, Cor- the film; as close to Eisenstein’s vision as one is ever likely to see. porate and Foundation memberships and dona- A blend of the ethnographic, the political, the scenic and the surreal, Qué Viva México! is nothing tions, city of Fairbanks, short of brilliant and remains superior to the legion of films it strongly influenced: Orson Welles’ It’s Fairbanks North Star All True, Allejandro Jodorowsky’s El Topo and the works of Sergio Leone. With sequences devoted Borough, Alaska State to the Eden-like land of Tehuantepec, the savage majesty of the bullfight, the struggles of the noble Council on the Arts, and peasant and the hypnotic imagery of the Day of the Dead, Qué Viva México! is a vivid tapestry of the National Endow- Mexican life which, thanks to Alexandrov’s careful restoration, takes its rightful place alongside ment for the Arts. Eisenstein’s other legendary works.
April 2008
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Fairbanks Arts Association
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State of the Arts
The
P.O. Box 72786 Fairbanks, Alaska 99707
monthly newsletter of Fairbanks Arts Association
APRIL 2008
Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Fairbanks, Alaska Permit No. 17
Thank you!
Art is a way of life for our family and we can’t image life without it. Forrest went to his first art event when he was six days old and Quinn the same. Having a father as an artist is so wonderful for them and has really opened their eyes to life and the beauty it holds. I am artistic in different areas which make our family fairly well-rounded artistically speaking. The boys are exploring art their way too with dance at North Star Ballet, moviemaking and all that entails, gymnastics, puppetry, and their own drawing and painting. We feel strongly about art and how it affects our world. That is why we teach our children the significance of being involved in the arts. We are all blessed with so many incredible talents, some of which are explored and others not, and to be able to experience them first hand is an awesome thing. It helps to expand our outlook on other cultures, lands, and the imagination of others. We are grateful and blessed to have such an organization like the Fairbanks Arts Association and volunteering is an honor and we encourage other families to join us. -Lisa Freer “The arts are like vitamins for our society they’re vital for its function.” Fred Freer “The world without art would be empty.” Quinn Freer “It’s what my family does.” Forrest Freer
Volunteer Spotlight -
The Freer Family