Artist Talks @ Bunnell

July 11, 2020- Land Recognition Series, Part 1: “We Were Not Discovered. How Should Captain Cook Be Remembered?” July 10, 2020, featured guests Da-Ka-Xeen Mehner and Melissa Shaginoff.

Born in Fairbanks, Alaska to a Tlingit/N’ishga Mother and Hippy/American father, Da-ka-xeen Mehner uses the tools of family ancestry and personal history to build his art. his work stems from an examination of a multicultural heritage and social expectations and definitions. In particular his work has focused on the constructs of Native American identity, and an attempt to define the Self outside of these constructs. Mehner has received a number of awards for his work including a 2015 USA Rasmuson fellowship, a 2015 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, and a 2014 Native Arts and Culture Foundation Artist Fellowship.

Melissa Shaginoff is part of the Udzisyu (caribou) and Cui Ui Ticutta (fish-eater) clans from Nay’dini’aa Na Kayax (Chickaloon Village). Melissa is an Ahtna and Paiute person, an artist, a social activist and currently the curator of Alaska Pacific University’s Art Galleries. Within her current curatorial work, Melissa has focused intently on potlatching. She believes that the only future in which institutions embody Indigenous ideologies is one that publicly recognizes its power, and autonomously gives it away. Melissa has participated the Island Mountain Arts Toni Onley Artist Project in Wells, British Columbia as well as the Sheldon Jackson Museum Artist Residency in Sitka, Alaska. She has been published in First American Art Magazine, Inuit Art Quarterly, and the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Learning Lab page. She is currently working on a year long project revolved around social engagement and conversation as art practice. more.

July 3, 2020- Inspiration & Adaptation w/ Kima & Dasha Kelly Hamilton

What does it mean to design Social Justice? July 3, 2020, featured guests Kima and Dasha Kelly Hamilton.

Kima is a facilitator, DJ and social justice engineer. From Pennsylvania to Georgia to Alaska to Wisconsin, he has shaped his engineering skills and artistic talents into a signature work as a convener, counselor and ARTivist. Kima as traveled as an Arts Envoy for the U.S. Embassy in Colombia, India and Mexico. He has led writing workshops and wellness dialogues with school systems, social agencies, and correctional facilities. Kima leads discussion and healing circles for men with the Alma Center and is an on-air personality with Radio Milwaukee.

Dasha is a facilitator, writer and creative change agent. She is a widely-respected educator, culture producer, and founder of Still Waters Collective, an arts outreach organization committed to building community, capacity and confidences. She worked as a public relations account executive for several PR agencies and director of a citywide youth program for the YMCA. Dasha has, since, gone on to serve as an Arts Envoy for the U.S. Embassy to teach, perform and facilitate community building initiatives in Botswana, Canada, Lebanon and the island of Mauritius. more.

June 26, 2020- Inspiration & Adaptation "Dancing Alone," w/ Mariah Maloney, Maura García and Becky Kendall

Featured guest dancers: Mariah Maloney, Maura García and Becky Kendall

Originally from Homer, Mariah Maloney is a New York-based dance artist located in Brooklyn and Brockport, New York. Mariah Maloney Dance formed in 2003 and today the company is invited to perform, teach and create new work in New York, throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and South America.

Maura García (non-enrolled Cherokee/ Mattamuskeet) is a dance artist who creates contemporary Indigenous performance to form connections, empower cultural values, explore the rhythms of the natural world. Maura’s artistic creations reflect the power of stories to form and change our realities. Through narrative-driven choreography and beat-embracing movement.

Becky Kendall is a choreographer, performer, and educator based in Anchorage. Creating work for a stage, a park, or a rooftop, she is inspired to connect to people in new ways and in nontraditional environments After returning home to Anchorage, Becky founded Momentum Dance Collective with 6 fellow artists in 2008 and continues to serve as Artistic Director. more.

June 20, 2020- Inspiration & Adaptation w/ Nathan Shafer & Melissa Shaginoff

Friday, June 19, featured guests Nathan Shafer and Melissa Shaginoff. Nathan Shafer is a new media artist from Alaska specializing in augmented reality and digital humanities. He is one of the founding members of both the Meme-Rider Media Team and Manifest.AR. He was profiled by PBS Digital Studios as part of an online collaboration called The Future in 2014. Shafer’s geobased AR works have been displayed on every continent in multiple venues across the world. He contributed chapters to Augmented Reality Art, Augmented Reality Games II, and Augmented Reality in Education, in 2020. He received a Creative Capital award in 2020 for Wintermoot. Melissa Shaginoff is part of the Udzisyu (caribou) and Cui Ui Ticutta (fish-eater) clans from Nay'dini'aa Na Kayax (Chickaloon Village). Melissa is an Ahtna and Paiute person, an artist, a social activist and currently the curator of Alaska Pacific University’s Art Galleries. Within her current curatorial work, Melissa has focused intently on potlatching. She believes that the only future in which institutions embody Indigenous ideologies is one that publicly recognizes its power, and autonomously gives it away. Melissa has participated the Island Mountain Arts Toni Onley Artist Project in Wells, British Columbia as well as the Sheldon Jackson Museum Artist Residency in Sitka, Alaska. She has been published in First American Art Magazine, Inuit Art Quarterly, and the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Learning Lab page. Her artwork is collected by the Institute of American Indian Arts, the Palmer Museum and the Pratt Museum. Melissa is also a part of the N-Collective, a new media group focusing on transparent and accurate representation of Indigenous experiences in fiction and science-fiction content. Melissa was selected for the Skövde Musuem’s AiRs International Artist Residency in Skövde, Sweden, she is currently working on a year long project revolved around social engagement and conversation as art practice. more.

June 12, 2020- Inspiration & Adaptation with Kat Moore and Tim Easton

Friday, June 12, featured guests Kat Moore and Tim Easton. Kat Moore, multi-instrumentalist and creative force known as The Forest That Never Sleeps, weaves a sonic tapestry with her compositions. Kat lives and teaches music in Anchorage. Tim Easton is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter playing rock and roll, folk and Americana music. He tours extensively and often plays in Alaska. Tim is based in Nashville. more.

June 5, 2020- Inspiration & Adaptation with Tamara Wilson & Jimmy Riordan

June 5, 2020, featured guests Tamara Wilson and Jimmy Riordan. Tamara Wilson is a Fairbanks-based artist and creator of The Lemonade Stand, a mobile exhibit space with the mission to grow and connect creative community. Jimmy Riordan is an artist and educator living in Anchorage. He is currently working on the Alaska Bookmobile Project, bringing a 20 year old bookmobile out of retirement and re-imagining its role as a mobile library, community venue and art space in its new home of Anchorage. more.

May 28, 2020- Inspiration in Isolation w/ Catie Bursch, Amber Webb & Thorey Munro

May 28, 2020, featured Catie Bursch, Amber Webb and Thorey Munro. These artists have all lived and worked along Bristol Bay for many years.

Catie Bursch intertwines art, science and commercial fishing on a daily basis. She has fished in Bristol Bay for the past 30 years where she and Tom raised their two girls in the summer. She just finished a fellowship with Alaska Salmon Fellows exploring salmon sustainability, equitability and the Alaska Salmon/People system.

Amber Webb is an artist & activist from Dillingham, Alaska of Yup’ik and Unangan heritage. She received a Rasmuson Individual Artist Award and a Project Award. Amber explores pictorial Yup’ik storytelling to tell contemporary stories of oppression and resilience.

Thorey Munro spends her winters in Homer, Alaska and her summers salmon fishing on the Egegik River in Bristol Bay. She recently completed a masters degree in architecture and had an exhibit, May 2020, at the Bunnell Street Arts Center.

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April 30, 2020- Inspiration in Isolationw/ Bruce Farnsworth & Sheila Wyne

April 30, 2020, featured visual artists Bruce Farnsworth and Sheila Wyne. Bruce Farnsworth is an Anchorage based writer, artist and community organizer. He founded and directed MTS Gallery in Anchorage and Light Brigade, a multimedia collaboration of artists who stage site specific art interventions in the built and natural environment. He is Co-Lead of the Pan-Arctic 8Boxes Project. Farnsworth was the recipient of the first ever “President’s Award” from the Rasmuson Foundation, an award created by the foundation’s President and CEO to honor his work in neighborhood revitalization through the arts.

Sheila Wyne is a visual artist based in Anchorage. Her studio work has been shown across the state, the Lower 48 and overseas. Her work is in permanent collections of several Alaska museums, and she has designed over 20 public artworks. Wyne has worked as a set designer with theatre companies in Alaska and the Northwest and she is core Member of The Light Brigade. Wyne has been awarded a national NEA/TCG Fellowship in set design, a Rasmuson Artist Fellowship and grants from Alaska State Council on the Arts, the NASE Development Program, the Andy Warhol and Rockefeller Foundations as well as the Governor’s Award for Individual Artist. more.

May 21, 2020- Inspiration in Isolation (Homer Youth Speak) w/ Asa Panarelli, Ella Parks & Drew Wimmerstedt

May 21, 2020, featured Homer Youth guests: Ella Parks, Drew Wimmerstedt and Asa Panarelli

Asa Panarelli is a locally grown actor and musician. A recent graduate of Homer High, he looks forward to delving deeper into all the art and creativity that Homer has to offer.

Ella Parks is a singer-songwriter who was born and raised in Homer. She currently resides in Austin, Texas where she is making new music and hopes to build a career out of it someday.

Drew Wimmerstedt is a visual artist raised in Homer’s art community. Closing to finishing their Associate in the Arts at Kachemak Bay Campus, Drew hopes to continue contributing to Homer’s healthy obsession with art. more.

May 14, 2020- Inspiration in Isolation w/ Francesca DuBrock & Michael Walsh

May 14, 2020, featured Francesca DuBrock and Michael Walsh. Francesca DuBrock is Chief Curator at the Anchorage Museum. She is passionate about creative practice as a method of understanding and questioning the world, often collaborating with artists and community members to develop projects highlighting cultural diversity in the North. Before returning home to Alaska, Francesca worked as an artist, educator, archivist, translator, server and (briefly) in wood conservation in Maine, California, and Mexico.

Michael Walsh is assistant curator/archivist for the Ruben/Benston Film Collection at the Walker Arts Center. A teacher and studio artist, Michael Walsh has worked in moving image art since the early 1990s. He has curated programs for Korean galleries, San Francisco museums and microcinemas, Milwaukee’s urban meadows and shipyards, Alaskan airplane hangars, bunkers, and mountain tops. more.