Alaska: ARTShops

Ancient Alutiiq Cell Phones, Old Harbor, Kodiak, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Lena Snow Amason-Berns

ARTShops is a collaborative effort of the Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA) and The CIRI Foundation—with support from the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation—to catalyze Alaska Native artists’ creative leadership and related community development throughout rural Alaska. Every year since the pilot program launched in 2016, a jury-selected cohort of four Alaska Native artists participates in a nine-month process through which the artists benefit from peer-to-peer learning, administrative coaching, tailor-made resources, and individual and group mentoring from ASCA and The CIRI Foundation. Participating artists design, organize and implement a unique arts program in their home community, applying the indigenous teaching and evaluation methodologies they identify. The program is evolving based on reciprocal learning and design among arts funders, program administrators and the participating cohort creative leaders. In its third year, ARTShops is striving to become an effective model that identifies and supports meaningful community arts development through indigenous leadership and methodology. To that end, it is celebrating an increase in direct funding, partner contributions, professional development resources and additional support services. To learn more, contact ASCA Community and Native Arts Program Director Saunders McNeill.