The Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka is looking for applicants for its 2024 Alaska Native Artist Residency Program. During the residency, artists will be expected to create art in an open-studio format and engage with the community through talks, cultural consultations, and educational programming.
The Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum is an organization that supports the historic museum through advocacy, acquisition, and educational programming. The group is leading the call for Native Artists to apply to the program.
Residencies can range from 20 to 22 days in length. Residency dates are already set, and will happen June 10 to July 2, July 29 to Aug. 18, Aug. 19 to Sept. 8, Sept. 12 to Oct. 2, and Oct. 3 to Oct. 24. Artists can request time off to attend the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention in the fall.
Each residency position will include a $2,000 artist stipend, $840 food stipend, and travel to and from Sitka. Positions will be filled as grant funding allows.
Artists may make traditional or contemporary Native art from any medium including carving, beading, sewing, dancing, weaving, and drum making. At the end of the program, artists will present what work they completed during their residency.
The Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum said that artists will benefit from exposure to and time with collections at the museum, and from meeting people from all over the state and world while working in the museum gallery. The cultural consultations will be paid time where the Native artists can provide information and insight into the museum’s artifacts, and help further document those artifacts. The group said this time to study the museum’s collection can be inspiring to the artists.
Application packets can be found online at https://museums.alaska.gov/artist_opportunities.html and www.friendsofsjm.com, or can be requested by calling 907-747-8981.
Questions about the program or application can be directed to Jacqueline.Fernandez-Hamberg@alaska.gov or by calling 907-747-8904.
The due date for the application is Jan. 15.
