Alaska Humanities Forum Blog

“Sailing for Salmon: Celebrating 125 Years of Commercial Fishing in Bristol Bay” is a collection of photos and artifacts documenting the rich history of the Bristol Bay commercial fishing industry, starting with the first cannery opening there in 1884. The exhibit has already shown at museums in Dillingham and Homer and will be presented at the Anchorage Museum beginning April 14 and continuing through September. Co-curators John Branson and Tim Troll are collecting exhibit material for a 50 to 70-page book of historical photographs and accounts cataloging the project. Their project is funded by a $4,000 Alaska Humanities Forum 2011 general grant

Tags: Grants, Photography

The Alaska Humanities Forum (AKHF) is seeking candidates to serve on the AKHF Board of Directors. With the exception of six members appointed by the Governor of Alaska, the twenty-person volunteer board is self-perpetuating and fills vacancies through an open nominations process.

Each year six director-positions are vacated in the fall. New members are elected in September andbegin their three-year term in January. Directors serve for a term of three years renewable for anotherthree years.

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In a White House ceremony earlier this week, President Obama honored 19 scholars, writers, artists and entertainers with the National Humanities Medal and the National Medal for the Arts.

As the Washington Post reported: "The medals are the highest government honors given to scholars, writers, artists and entertainers. The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities suggest names to the White House, which makes the final selection."

Tags: NEH

Games of the North, a distinctively Alaska documentary, is scheduled to debut on public television April 18. The film was supported with a $5,500 grant from the Alaska Humanities Forum. Games of the North follows Inuit athletes as they train and compete in time-honored Alaska Native games as well as deal with the challenges of balancing traditional ways of life in rural Alaska with the pressures of modern times.

Games of the North is a follow-up to the 2004 documentary To Play the Games, which was named best documentary short film at the Anchorage International Film Festival.

Tags: Grants, Film

This is the third of three Door 15 profiles of University of Alaska scholars recognized for their distinguished service to the humanities at the 2010 Governor’s Awards for the Arts & Humanities.

In 1985 Dr. Gordon Pullar toured for the first time the Smithsonian Institution's Kodiak collection housed in the Museum of Natural History. He was astounded by what he saw – carved wooden masks, traditional clothing, model kayaks, and other cultural items that spoke volumes of a rich heritage many had thought was forever lost.

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