Volume 21, Issue 2 fairbanksarts.org
Hello Fairbanks Arts Supporters,

I hope you are staying healthy and well out there. Back on March 10 when I said "see you Monday" to colleagues and volunteers before departing on a business trip, I didn't envision shutting our doors and carrying on Zoom-only communication upon my return. I am eager to get back to sharing stories and laughs with visitors and volunteers in the gallery... but we aren't quite there yet. For today, some updates:

Fairbanks Arts' office and gallery will remain closed to the public through the month of May. Our June exhibition, Resilience, is open to statewide artists working in all disciplines and will take place online. While the show will be online , we will provide updates as soon as we are able regarding whether or not the gift shop will be open in June.

We have made adjustments to programs that were ongoing or upcoming at the time of our closure and I appreciate our supporters' patience as we have done so. Read on (and click 'view entire message') to learn about our current and upcoming exhibitions, this year's Statewide Poetry Contest winners, and a bundle of resources for artists, families, and arts enthusiasts.

Finally, every spring we reach out to our supporters with requests for contribution in order to sustain Fairbanks Arts' operations. Annually, this spring appeal is an important fundraising time for our organization. I will be honest and share that I could not bring myself to send that letter as I witnessed so many lives thrown into upheaval. In my time as director, our team has gone through:
  • A near displacement from our facility, which we prepared for, and then didn't happen....
  • The defunding of our state arts council...
  • A zero-days-notice displacement from our facility...
But.... this is our first pandemic. Navigating leadership of an arts nonprofit feels especially delicate at the moment given there are so many new levels of need the world is facing.

For over 50 years Fairbanks Arts has formed and reformed itself; evolving based on what the need of our community has been. As I consider what a post COVID-19 world looks like, I have a feeling that our organization will once again be called upon to consider a different kind of community need. My passion for the arts comes from their role as ongoing dialogue across humanity and as powerful translator – and boy, do we have some things to talk about. While COVID-19 has temporarily reduced our staff capacity and introduced unexpected financial strain, my commitment to you is that your community arts organization will be here and ready for those conversations.

Friends, if you have the ability to donate, become a new or renewing member, or make a contribution to Fairbanks Arts through your PFD via PIck.Click.Give, we would truly be grateful for your support. Fairbanks Arts has always relied on the support of community members; during these trying times, we thank you for helping in whatever ways you are able.
All the best,

JP

Jess Peña
Executive Director
Please note changes below. We appreciate your patience and flexibility as we make adjustments to our programs and schedule.

May's Literary Reading with members of Alaska Writers Guild and Community Writers Group: Postponed (new date TBA)

Up With Art ENCORE!
Online through May 31

The Annual Fairbanks North Star Borough School District Student Exhibition is online!

This show originally opened in the Wandering Bear Gallery on Friday, March 6, and saw an early closure 10 days later due to COVID-19 concerns. That wasn’t how we wanted UP With Art to go down, so Fairbanks Arts moved the exhibition online for you to explore! Visit upwithart.org to enjoy PreK-12 artwork by our school district's talented and creative young artists.

Pictured: Billie on the Half-Shell by Zaniyah Chestnut
During the Up With Art show, we had a wall with the above question with an invitation for folks to share their thoughts on the importance of arts education. Now we want to hear from YOU!

Click the picture above to share why YOU think arts education is important!

Fertile Darkness
 
by Melanie Lombard

Opens online: Friday, May 1 at 6pm
Anchorage artist Melanie Lombard is continuously inspired by her time spent outside. Her work explores relationships between the natural world and internal experience. This particular body of work came directly from the long, dark winter.


Pictured: Cosmos 2 by Melanie Lombard
F/4: Four Female Fotographers from Fairbanks
A group exhibition featuring:
Judy Sanchez, Alyssa Enriquez, Charlotte Peterson, & Jerzy Ellanna

Opens online: Friday, May 1 at 6pm
Group f/4 (Four Female Fotographers from Fairbanks) loosely follows a photographic tradition started in 1932, with the first museum exhibition of Group f/64. The group is comprised of artists who have found inspiration in one another; each photographer presents a different approach, style, and techniques, and all of them share a deep respect for the medium. This is f/4's first exhibition together.


Pictured: Photograph s by Judy Sanchez, Charlotte Peterson, Alyssa Enriquez and Jerzy Ellanna (left to right)
- OPPORTUNITY -
Resilience
Online exhibition open to statewide artists working in all disciplines

NOTE : Due to changes in Fairbanks Arts' exhibition schedule, the deadline for the Resilience exhibition has been extended and will now be our June exhibition.

ENTRY PERIOD IS NOW OPEN

DEADLINE: Sunday, May 31 at 6pm

Opens online : Friday, June 5 at 7pm
CALL FOR ART: This online exhibition will feature work that exists at the intersection of art + resilience and we want YOU to participate! We are open to visual art, writing, music, film, and more– If your art form can exist online, you can enter it! Exhibition guidelines and entry available at  fairbanksarts.org/resilience .

The concept ‘Resilience’ was chosen by a public vote held in 2019 among Fairbanks Arts members. Resilience was originally intended to be a juried exhibition of visual art open to Interior Alaskan artists and held in the Wandering Bear Gallery. However, given the concept and the current context, we want to make space for a larger dialogue around the arts and resilience . Therefore, we invite statewide artists working in various disciplines to submit work responding to the concept in this online exhibition!
 

FEES: 
Current Fairbanks Arts members: $3 per entry (3 maximum)

Non-Fairbanks Arts members: $5 per entry (3 maximum)

 Not sure if it is time to renew? Email info@fairbanksarts.org


UAF 3rd-year MFA student reading
Friday, April 24 at 7pm on Facebook Live

David Aubuchon, Adrianne Blackwood, Ryan Shek (pictured below, respectively) are fiction-writing MFA students at UAF who are getting ready to graduate! Tune in to Facebook Live tomorrow at 7pm to enjoy a special reading with these writers.
FAIRBANKS ARTS IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNERS OF OUR 25th STATEWIDE POETRY CONTEST:


ADULT DIVISION

1st Place: Solstice Through Aperture by Summer Koester ( Juneau)

2nd Place: Wainwright by Susan Dyer ( Dillingham)

3rd Place: When To Write a Poem by Margo Waring ( Juneau)

Honorable Mention: We Are, Celebration  by Richard Stokes ( Juneau)



HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION

1st Place: Memorial by Darcy Misel ( Fairbanks)

2nd Place: Sublimed by Dakota Rummer ( North Pole)

3rd Place: Transformation by Isabel Dye ( Homer)



MIDDLE SCHOOL DIVISION

1st Place: Ode To Music by Matthew Lawhorne ( Delta)


2nd Place: Where I’m From by Matthew Lawhorne ( Delta)


3rd Place: Listen To The Trees  by Teagan Palmer (Talkeetna)


ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DIVISION

1st Place: Sea Life by Luke (Fairbanks)

2nd Place: Cancer by Brielle (Fairbanks)

3rd Place: The White Dog by Zinia ( Fairbanks)

Honorable Mention: The Spooky Night, War by Magdalene ( Fairbanks)


Thank you to everyone who entered the contest, to our judge Ishmael Hope, and congratulations once more to the winners of this year's contest!

PLEASE NOTE: Fairbanks Arts’ communications originally indicated announcement of 2020 Statewide Poetry Contest winners in late March with a reading in early April. Due to COVID-19 disruptions, this reading did not take place and we apologize for the delay in announcing this year’s winners. Thank you for your patience as we navigate these uncharted waters and make adjustments to our programs and schedule.
ALASKA HUMANITIES FORUM
COVID-19 EMERGENCY RELIEF GRANTS NOW OPEN
As Alaska’s state humanities council, the Alaska Humanities Forum will distribute and administer funds allocated to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the CARES Act. The Forum will manage Alaska’s share of the funds directed to the 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils to assist affected cultural nonprofit institutions and organizations across our state with operational expenses.

Applications and Timeline:
Applications will open on Wednesday, April 22 and must be filed online through Submittable at  akhf.org/grants .  

Applications received by May 1 will be reviewed in a first round and notified of an award by May 8. Following that date, additional requests will be reviewed on a rolling, bi-weekly basis, as long as funding remains.  Organizations may only apply once for awards at this time.
An opportunity shared from our friends at Bunnell Street Arts Center:

Land Acknowledgement Workshop on Zoom with Melissa Shaginoff
Friday, May 15 from 1-3 pm

“Land Acknowledgment is the public recognition of Indigenous peoples. The Alaska Native people have stewarded this place for thousands of years. Their acute knowledge of this environment created a sustainable and symbiotic relationship with the waters, plants and animals of this land. We look to their Elders and their youth for guidance. It is only Indigenous ways of being that will ensure our collective future.

This workshop will focus your personal relationship and understanding of Land Acknowledgment and Indigenous ways of being. It will include a conversational presentation as well as a guided and abstracted ceremony that focuses on opening a space with gratitude and centering Indigenous ways of being.” — Melissa Shaginoff

Resources for artists, families, and arts enthusiasts.
Click on the image above to head over to Fairbanks Arts' website, where we have compiled a page of resources for individuals of all ages, organizations, and folks looking for ways to help out!
Remembering Annie Duffy

On April 16, Fairbanks Arts and the Alaskan arts community lost a dear friend with the passing of artist, educator, and inspiration, Annie Duffy. Annie was a fierce advocate for the arts and artists.

One of the many ways she lifted up our community was as a long-time visual arts committee (VAC) member of Fairbanks Arts. Limited Edition, a now beloved open-entry exhibition of small works hosted by Fairbanks Arts, was created thanks to Annie's involvement with the VAC; one of many examples of how she advocated for creating opportunities available to emerging artists.

Our hearts are with Annie's family, students, colleagues, and friends during this difficult time.
From Annie's family:

“With great sadness, I'm sorry to share that Annie Duffy passed away late this afternoon from complications due to Hemochromatosis. Fortunately, Annie was able to pass peacefully while surrounded by her family.

We ask that in lieu of flowers, that you donate to the Fairbanks Art Association in her memory. You can find the donation page at  https://fairbanksarts.org/donate/

As soon as we have details about a late spring memorial service, I will share them on this page. In the meantime, please try to remember Annie as a fine artist, dedicated teacher, and beloved sister that she was.”

(Message posted to Annie Duffy's Facebook Page on April 16, 2020)
You can reach us at: (907) 371-2299
(we are still checking messages during our temporary closure)

3501 Lathrop St. Unit B
(corner of Lathrop & Van Horn)

Fairbanks Arts' office and gallery will be closed through the end of May due to COVID-19 concerns.

The Fairbanks Arts office is on the top floor of Wandering Bear Gallery.
Fairbanks Arts Association is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization; all donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Contributions support the programs and efforts of Fairbanks Arts Association.

Programs are made possible by the City of Fairbanks Hotel/Motel Bed Tax, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska State Council on the Arts, Fountainhead Development, Inc. and individual and corporate contributions from Fairbanks Arts supporters like you.