Alaska artists have training opportunities coming up with visiting art professionals.
The Ketchikan Area Arts and Humanities Council worked with its counterparts in other areas of the state to bring Sharon Louden, Hrag Vartanian and Matthew Deleget to four communities in Alaska.
They will give presentations and lead workshops for artists, and are promoting a book, “The Artist as Culture Producer: Living and Sustaining a Creative Life.”
Arts Council Executive Director Kathleen Light spoke about the opportunity during Thursday’s Morning Edition on KRBD. She said the three artists work for a non-profit organization called Creative Capital.
“And their mission is to provide ways for artists to be successful,” she said. “Sounds good to all artists, right?”
Two free events are planned in Ketchikan. The first is 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Ketchikan Public Library.
“It’s going to start out with a discussion about the book, which is some research that these artists have been working on,” Light said. “Then Sharon is going to moderate a conversation with Hrag and Matthew about how artists sustain their creative lives. So, different techniques for making opportunities, different ways the artists have creatively built a career.”
There will be opportunities for audience questions, Light said. Copies of the book also will be available.
The second event is on Monday, starting at 4 p.m. in Room 516 of the UAS-Ketchikan Paul Building on the upper campus. Light said Louden and Deleget will lead a workshop.
“They’re going to talk about approaches and making creative opportunities without referrals. So, an artist’s question is always how do I get into galleries? if a gallery doesn’t know me, how do I get my pieces there? They’re going to talk about how to approach that opportunity and how to make that possible for yourself,” she said.
Light said they also will discuss setting goals, research opportunities, developing professional relationships outside of Alaska, promotion, marketing and mailing lists.
No registration is needed for the workshop, which will be televised for other Southeast residents on the OWL Network. That stands for Online with Libraries. Through that, artists and others in Craig, Wrangell, Petersburg and Juneau will be able to watch at their community libraries.
From Ketchikan, the three visiting artists will travel to Juneau for an event on Tuesday. They then will head further north for similar events in Anchorage and Fairbanks.
