FAA0209newsletter(P)

State of the Arts

community calendar p8-9volunteer needs p10

volunteer thanks p10committee meetings p10

watercolor society corner p11oldie but goldie film series p11

volunteer spotlight p12

p2 art expop2 main stagep3 art expo applicationp4 poetry contestp5 arts down the roadp5 gift shop artistp6 gallery exhibitp7 state of the cinema

“Promoting contemPorary and traditional arts in alaska’s interior”

Published monthly by fairbanks arts association

i n t h i s i s s u e

february 2009

P.O. Box 72786, Fairbanks, Alaska 99707

Vol. 9, Issue 2

Fairbanks Arts Association’s Fifteenth Annual Statewide Poetry Contest

Fairbanks arts association • February 20092

Board of DirectorsLorraine Peterson, PresidentMarcella Hill, Vice PresidentLeafy McBride, SecretaryMyrna Colp, Treasurer

Members:Joan Stack Shane Hurd Darleen Masiak Calaya Williams Rebecca Burns Mary Ann FortuneMartin Miller

F A i R B A n k S A R t S A S S o C i A t i o n

FAA Phone: (907) 456-6485

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. FAA also helps to raise funds for other arts groups, provides technical assistance and support for arts programing, encourages and advises individual artists and beginning organizations, sponsors workshops and presents educational forums.

StaffJune Rogers, Executive Director , ex 225 [email protected] Hougland, Associate Director, ex 226 [email protected] Faught, Office Manager/Bookkeeper, ex 223 [email protected] Schwartz, Program Coordinator, ex 227 [email protected] Rehfield, Education Coordinator, ex 222 [email protected]

The Lathrop High School Ballroom Dance team started in 2001 under the direction of Stefani Brown. It currently has 23 members (9 guys and 14 gals). They learn and perform a variety of swing and ballroom dances including the Cha-Cha, Samba, Night Club Two Step, Foxtrot, Salsa and a variety of swing styles. Last March, the team competed in the United States Youth Latin Formation Team Championships in Provo, Utah and came home with the 3rd place trophy in Division II. This is currently the only high school ballroom dance team of it’s kind in the state of Alaska. If you’d like information about becoming a team sponsor or having them perform for your organization, please contact Stefani Brown at [email protected] or by calling 452-4751 ext 9349.

Coming soon: Art EXPO 2009Have you participated in Art EXPO before? Would you like to do so again?

Are you new to Art EXPO and looking for additional information?

Fairbanks Arts Association will be hosting an Art EXPO registration and information meeting on February 10th at 7pm. During the meeting, we will be providing information on this year’s Art EXPO and corresponding events, answering questions and offering publicity materials that vendors may use for advance mailing. Everyone is welcome to attend!

Everyone who registers for a booth at the meeting gets 20% off the $100 booth fee!

What: Art EXPO information meetingWhen: February 10th at 7pm

Where: Bear Gallery on the 3rd floor of the Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts in Pioneer Park, 2300 Airport WayContact: Melissa at 456-6485 or [email protected]

February 18th at 7pmTickets $10, Students and Seniors $5Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts Theater in Pioneer Park, 2300 Airport WayQuestions? Contact Seth at 456-6485 ext.227

Saturday, March 21 & Sunday, March 22, Noon to 5pm

February 2009 • Fairbanks arts association 3

2009

Application for Exhibit SpaceART EXPO 2009

Saturday, March 21 & Sunday, March 22, Noon to 5pm

Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts

Pioneer Park, 2300 Airport Way

Name:

Business Name:

Address:

City: State: Zip:

Phone: E-mail: Fax:

Number of Spaces ($100 for a 9’x 8’ space) (Two Tables provided per single space.)

Will you need an electrical outlet? Yes No . (Extension cords not provided.)

Please let us know if you have special needs, every effort will be made to accommodate requests. Exhibit space is limited.

Description of Product Line: (First time participants in Art EXPO, please send a photo or sample of your work. FAA reservesthe right to accept only those exhibits that reflect the character of the show.)

APPLICATION FEE $100Applications received before February 10, 2009 receive 20% off!

Method of Payment: (Please circle one)CASH CC CHECK (Made out to Fairbanks Arts Association)

MC/Visa #_______________________________ Exp__________ Signature:_____________________________________________

Submit application and payment to:Fairbanks Arts Association

PO Box 72786 • Fairbanks, AK 99707


FAIRBANKS ARTS ASSOCIATIONFIFTEENTH ANNUAL

Statewide Poetry ContestFairbanks Arts Association’s Literary Arts Committee is now accepting entries for the 15th Annual Poetry Contest. The purpose of the contest is to encourage, publicize, and reward the writing of high quality poetry. Winners of the contest will be announced on March 21, 2:00pm @ Fairbanks arts Association’s Bear Gallery in the Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts, Pioneer Park, 2300 Airport Way.

Divisions: Awards:Adult 1st Place $150 | 2nd Place $100 | 3rd Place $50High School 1st Place $100 | 2nd Place $50 | 3rd Place $25 Elementary & Middle School 1st Place $50 | 2nd Place $30 | 3rd Place $15

DeADlINe:Tuesday, February 17, 2009 - postmarkedMonday, February 23, 2009 • 6pm - hand delivered(hand deliver entries to Fairbanks Arts Association, Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts, Pioneer Park, 2300 Airport Way)

eNTRy Fee:Grade, Middle, and High School: $3 per poem or $10/four poems.Adults: $4 per poem or $13/four poems.

INSTRUCTIONS:• Open to Alaska residents only.• No more than four poems per author may be entered.• All poems must be original and not previously published.• Each must be typed or formatted to an 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of paperand may not exceed 100 lines in length.• A separate cover page should include name, address, phone anddivision, as well as the titles of all poems submitted. Author’sname should not appear on any poems.• NEW: DIGITAL SUBMISSIONS! Submissions may be e-mailed [email protected], Fees will be accepted via the phone,mail or in person. Submissions will not be entered without the fee.

No entries will be returned. A list of winners will be sent if SASE is included.

SeND eNTRIeS wITh eNTRy Fee TO: (Checks should be made payable to Fairbanks Arts Association)

Fairbanks Arts AssociationFAA Poetry Contest 2009

P.O. Box 72786Fairbanks, AK 99707

Jill Osier received her MFA in poetry from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2000. She has since lived in her native northeast Iowa, northern Vermont, and Fairbanks. Her poems can be found in Black Warrior Review, Crazyhorse, The Gettysburg Review, The Iowa Review, Poetry, Prairie Schooner and 32 Poems. She is the recipient of a 2007 NEA Fellowship and is currently the Diane Middlebrook Poetry Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

POeTRy CONTeST JUDge:

Jill Osier

For more information please call

456.6485 ext. 227 or visit our website at

www.fairbanksarts.org

The Literary Arts Committee of the Fairbanks Arts Association meets at 5:30 pm on the third Monday of each Month in the Bear gallery.

The literary Arts Committee of Fairbanks Arts Association, an organization 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, sponsors this contest.


ART

DOWN

theROAD

Kenai Fine Arts Center

Gift Shop Artists of the Month: Kat & Bryn McElroy

The Kenai Fine Arts Center is the home for The Peninsula Art Guild, an organization of visual artists and arts supporters on the Kenai Peninsula. The Kenai Fine Arts Center provides a gallery forum for the presentation of some of the most exciting artwork being pro-duced on the Peninsula today -- including painting, drawing, clay, sculpture, fiber arts and much more. In addition to gallery sales, which support Peninsula artists, The Center promotes student ac-tivity through art shows and scholarships. Plus, members have the unique opportunity to meet and interact one-on-one with artists in workshops, gallery openings, other arts community activities and many volunteer opportunities. For more information, please visit http://www.kenai.net/finearts

Kat McElroy has been stringing beads since she was a small child. The habit seems to be getting worse. She has gotten twisted and warped in fiber arts, and recently has begun working hot glass, but remains faithful to her original passion of stringing and sewing beads. She is a self-representing artist and works out of her cabin in Nenana, Alaska.

Her daughter, Brandywyn McElroy has kept up the family tradition of creating beauty out of chaos and chaos out of beauty. Raised in Delta Junction and raising her own children in North Pole – she works when her creative goddess demands it and her lil ones allow it. She also is a self-representing artist who works from her cabin in North Pole.


February G a l l e r y e x h i b i t Patterns of Influence: Rhythm and Flow

Juror’s Statement

As an artist living in today’s culture where boundaries are grayed or obliterated, my hybrid constructions bring into tenuous balance disparate approaches within both historic and contemporary contexts. Using mundane materials, I employ a painter’s approach as I strive to break down traditional categories of art making. My referencing works together to blur co-existing realities that mirror complex yet contemporary notions of culture, time and memory.

The uses of transparent or collaged spaces become metaphors for the merging of the temporal or uniting of co-existing realities. This structure mirrors the fragmentation of contemporary life by highlighting the dislocated residue of the interior versus acculturated self.

As memories encode themselves in the brain, actions show themselves on the physical skin of the image. Each line or texture indicates the place of contact, the marking of a moment, the vibrancy of a touch caught and recorded. The reference to or use of tape in my work underscores this idea. It provides delicate, spectral scaffolding yet it is weightless and non-precious. Tape’s accessibility and function

speaks of utility and contemporary life. It also binds things together, both metaphorically and physically in my work.

Kat Tomka

Exhibit Dates: February 6-28

Opening Reception: Friday, February 6,

5-7pm


The State of Cinema in Interior AlaskaIn many ways, cinematic arts are diametrically opposed to life in Alaska. Where as Pioneer Alaska was about solitude, space, independence, and isolation – Cinema is about communication, connectivity, collaboration, and compromise. Alaska is rustic and self-sufficient; cinema is technological and inter-dependent. Alaska requires patience. Cinema declares “ACTION.” So what is Alaskan Cinema to be like? Is it possible that a unique aesthetic can arrive from these seemingly conflicted aspirations? Or are the requirements of living in Alaska really that different from the requirements of making a great film?

This past June, Governor Sarah Palin signed Senate Bill 230 into law – establishing an Alaska State Film Office and Tax Incentive Program. The purpose of this legislation and law is to help Alaskans attract national film productions to our state, and then benefit from them. The truth is that hundreds of productions take place in Alaska annually, from television shows, to documentaries, advertisements, and feature films. While shooting an educational film in Barrow this summer with 10 film students, we encountered film crews from National Geographic, the BBC, and the San Francisco Exploritorium. Our group was only in Barrow for 10 days. Alaska is a location that can not be easily substituted. Most of these productions are small operations that bring their own support crew. The new Alaska State Film Incentive program will reward companies who hire and produce locally with tax rebates. The advantage of these types of state-initiated programs is that they often lead to a strong in-state infrastructure for film production that leads to blossoming industry of Unionized positions empowering local people with the technical abilities to make work at a national level. Look at New Mexico or Louisiana for proof of this.

However, we as Alaskans cannot wait for the next Hollywood blockbuster to knock on our door and ask us to make a movie here. By its nature, Alaskan film is Independent film. It must be made weather or not there is studio backing, state-of-the-art production facilities, or national distribution. It must be made using the inventive creativity that Alaskans have always relied on to survive and thrive in harsh environments- be they environmental or economic. It is the strength of Alaskan communities that has actually enabled this survival, with the sharing of resources, knowledge, and working together we have gotten to where we are today. I believe we can only benefit from one another’s strengths and successes, and that we must work together to realize our creative visions.

Outside Alaska, the entertainment industry can be a cut-throat

world. The film industry is highly competitive, and according to a recent report on National Public Radio (Aug 12, 2008) that in the film industry, “You have a 99-percent chance of being a failure if you are an independent film,” according to Mark Gill, a veteran film executive from the art-house world. Despite these odds for independent film, a demand for filmmakers and multi-media professionals still exists in Alaska. Here at UAF, we are in the process of developing the first Film Major degree program in the state. Learn more at www.uaf.edu/film. As this is my eighth season with the Theatre and Film program and a primary advisor to film students, I have grown accustomed to watching some of our most talented and ambitious film students leave the state for their education. I have even encouraged many of them to do so. With the State of Alaska strongly supporting the creation of new film projects from outsiders in our state, they must too support the education of filmmakers to be hired by such projects, and eventually lead such projects.

Cinematic arts remain the forefront of the creative frontier. Alaskans are no strangers to unexplored territories. To all of the Alaskan filmmakers, I challenge you to push your own boundaries towards your creative vision. Tell the unique stories that you know, hunt/scrounge/and gather the materials, equipment, and talent that you need, and most importantly: WORK TOGETHER to make your films come to life and completion. Take advantage of any opportunity to get to know each other- through your work, and your aspirations.

Maya Salganek Assistant Professor, Digital Media Film Studies/Theatre University of Alaska Fairbanks

8

Fairbanks Arts Association invites you to advertise in our State of the Arts Newsletter!

rates as low as $25Members receive 5% off all prices!

For more info call 456-6485 ext. 226

State of the Arts

Coming Soon!saturday & sunday,

march 21 & 22, 12-5pm

Exhibit Hall, Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts, 2300 Airport Way

For more info call Melissa, 456-6485 ext.226

Special Exhibit- Yuungnaqpiallerput: THE WAY WE GENUINELY LIVE, Masterworks of Yup’ik Science and Survival. This exhibit will be ongoing through March 22, 2009 in the Special Exhibits Gallery of the University of Alaska Museum of the North. 9am - 5pm Monday – Saturday Museum Info: 907.474-7505

Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre announces auditions for the April production of William Shakespeare’s, “Romeo & Juliet,” Thurs. Feb 19, 6-9pm, Fri. Feb. 20, 6-9 pm and Sat. Feb. 21, 1-4 pm in the Empress Theatre downtown on 3rd Ave. Actors may prepare a monologue and will read from the script. Call 457-7638 or email [email protected] for more information.

Fairbanks Watercolor Society will have a social hour on February 18 at 6:30pm followed by general membership meeting and program/speaker. The meeting will be held at the Blue Room in Pioneer Park Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts. New members welcome. Information: 458-7925 or 389-2114.


VOLUNTEERS!We need volunteers in the Bear

Gallery & gift shop! This is a great opportunity to support the arts in Fairbanks, while meeting visitors and sharing about life in the north. Our volunteer docents fill a three-hour shift and are a vital part of our program.

Find out more about how you can be part of the team at Fairbanks Arts Association, by calling 456-6485 ext. 223 or 226.

To submit calendar information please

email [email protected] or call 456-6485

ext.226

You are invited...The 2009 Interior Mayors’

Awards for the Arts March 21 at 6pm

Reception to Follow • Free to the public!

Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts in Pioneer Park, 2300 Airport Way

For more information call 456-6485.

The Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival presents an inspirational event for everyone who loves to sing! WHAT: Gospel Choir rehearsals with Bobby Lewis, conductor and Eustace Johnson, pianist! No auditions. For ages 15 and older. WHEN: M-F, February 16-20, 6:00-7:30pm WHERE: University Community Presbyterian Church on College Road, across the street from Hot Licks. HOW MUCH: $70 for the week. PERFORMANCE: Sunday afternoon, February 22nd, 4:00pm at the Sacred Heart Cathedral on Airport Way HOW TO REGISTER: Go to the Festival’s web site, www.fsaf.org. Look to the right and click on “Winter Edition” classes. Or -- call 474-8869 if you have questions. We hope to have 100+ voices again in February!

Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival presents a High Tea

Fundraiser. If you love the arts, invite your best friend,

mother or daughter and join us for a fun-filled noon-time

“High Tea” party. Tables of eight will be decorated in

a beautiful variety of themes by various arts groups of

Fairbanks. There will be lots of delicious food: entrees,

salads, breads, scones, pastries, cakes, chocolate and tea!

Door prizes and silent auction. Limited seating. Tickets $30

per person. For more info contact Adela Jackson at 322-8000

or email [email protected].

Ashes & DiamondsMarch 12, 2009 at 7pm

Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts in Pioneer Park, 2300 Airport Way

Tickets: $5Discount Package 8 tickets for $30

For more info, call 456-6485 ext. 227

Fairbanks Theater

Groups wants 10-minute plays for

8X10 Festival

Eight ten-minute plays will be given rehearsed staged readings at the Festival, which wi l l be held Apr i l 17 & 18, 2009, at FDA’s R i ve r f ron t Theater in Fairbanks. Submissions must be postmarked no later than March 10, 2009 and sent to:

8X10 Festival

Fairbanks Drama Association/ Looking Glass Group Theatre

1852 Second Avenue

Fairbanks, Alaska 99701


February Committee Meetings:

FACE meetingFebruary 2, 4:30pm

Community Writer’s GroupFebruary 8, 1-4pm

Art EXPO MeetingFebruary 10, 7pm

All meetings in the Bear Gallery, 3rd Floor of the Alaska Centennial Center

for the Arts, Pioneer Park, 2300 Airport Way.

All meetings are subject to change.For more information call 456-6485 ext. 227.

Kathy Dubbs

Cheryl Joens

Deb McQueen

Liz Bent

Linda Phisterer

Pat Mack

Margret Van Flein

Katherine Voss

Lee Harris

Mary Lou Jorissen

Shirley Odsather

Helga Wagenlieter

Roxanne Burger

Frances Schulz

Willie Bliss

Thank you to our Volunteers:

Thank you for your In-Kind Donations!

Carol Lee HarrisUpright Freezer

Marty Russell HadePrinter

Marcella Hill

Computer TechIn home or business computer repair

In home tutoring20% o� with this ad

Seth Schwartz328-2953

[email protected]

Penny Wakefield


Society Corner

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Jean-Luc Godard’s Pierrot le Fou begins with a montage that features some of the most beautiful images ever caught on film. (Tellingly, the

only other ‘60s film to feature such lush photography was Godard’s Contempt). D i s s a t i s f i e d i n

marriage and life, Ferdinand (Jean-Paul Belmondo) takes to the road with the babysitter, his ex-lover Marianne Renoir (Anna Karina), and leaves the bourgeoisie behind. Yet this is no normal road trip: genius auteur Jean-Luc Godard’s tenth feature in six years is a stylish mash-up of consumerist satire, politics and comic-book aesthetics, as well as a violent, zigzag tale of, as Godard called them, “the last romantic couple.” - The Criterion Collection

“Pierrot le Fou” (1966)January 8, 7pm in the Alaska Centennial Center for the

Performing Arts Theater in Pioneer Park. Tickets are $5

Book of 8 tickets are only $30!

Pierrot le Fou

Sue ColeI joke and tell people that I have Artistic ADD- I’m always trying something

different in art. Currently I am experimenting with marbling on paper and fabric as well as learning different aspects of bookbinding and other book arts. Additionally, I’ve recently taken on painting murals. I have completed an 11’x 7’ foot wall of Chinese Bamboo and, most recently, a 6’ foot single fireweed. I love to teach, both one-on-one and classroom style. I teach knitting and crochet as well as all kinds of art and I give driving lessons.

Life is a constant challenge and inspiration and I especially enjoy taking part in trying to capture different aspects of it. You can forget about your problems and even time while you are making art, which is one of the things that fascinates me most about it.

Donna LenardI am a self- taught

watercolor artist. After high school, I entered the work force as an optician. In my

late thirties, I moved from Arlington Heights, Illinois to the beautiful upper peninsula of Michigan. While in Michigan, I took up numerous hobbies, including: solo canoeing, snowshoeing, drawing and painting. I have lived in Fairbanks for several years now, all the while residing in the friendly Goldstream Valley.

My artwork is very spontaneous and I hope that the wet washes give the viewer the same feeling of tranquility that I feel living in Alaska.

Sue Cole

Donna Lenard

P.O. Box 72786 Fairbanks, Alaska 99707

Return Service Requested

State of the ArtsPublished monthly by fairbanks arts association february 2009

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Vol. 9, Issue 2

VolunTeer SPoTlighT -mArTin miller

Stories have been part of my life as long as I can remember. I began telling stories formally after being introduced to recordings of the Folktellers, Barbara Freeman and Connie Reagan. After listening to Barbara tell the story of a Fiddling’ contest (No, I won’t tell it here, get the recording “White Horses & Whippoorwills”), I decided I wanted to do that too.

As a third generation weaver of tapestry, yardage and transparencies, I also have some grounding in the fine arts. Arriving in Alaska nearly two decades ago, I started finding local fine and performing arts organizations. One characteristic they all shared was that they benefited from Fairbanks Arts Association. Looking around a bit more, I discovered that by helping FAA I could help several other organizations meet their goals. Volunteering with FAA is the best way I’ve found to ensure a diverse, vibrant arts community exists and grows in the Interior.

Documents

FAA0209newsletter(P)