Alfie Price dances with the multicultural dance group Yees Ku Oo on Front Street during Gallery Walk on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Alfie Price dances with the multicultural dance group Yees Ku Oo on Front Street during Gallery Walk on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Crowd art-icipation: Gallery Walk exhibits get attendees involved

Hundreds turn out to see art, hear music and have fun

The line separating observers from exhibits was thin during Gallery Walk.

More than a few of the over 40 Gallery Walk displays and events asked audiences to get involved or incorporated the art and photos of everyday people. Gallery Walk is an annual arts and entertainment takeover of downtown Juneau during the first Friday of December. It’s essentially the monthly First Friday arts walk on steroids.

[Photos: Gallery Walk 2018]

At the Triangle Club Bar, folks were able to vote for their favorite of 23 different bar napkins decorated by bar patrons, a wall inside Amalga Distillery featured printouts of photos taken by customers, and the multimedia, interactive exhibits in Centennial Hall asked Juneauites to share their thoughts on leadership.

“I think it’s really valuable when people are an integral part of the art that’s created, and it’s not precious,” said Sarah Campen, the artist behind “The Rolodex Project//On Leadership.”

Work on “The Rolodex Project//On Leadership” started three years ago, when Campen, who resides near Icy Strait Point, envisioned a Rolodex that connected the young leaders of Southeast Alaska. While the project started with a regional focus, Campen said given the political climate, people tend to view it through a national lens.

“It’s difficult to navigate that because it’s such a direct tie-in,” Campen said.

Campen has made interactive pieces in the past, but she said the one that opened during Gallery Walk at the Davis Gallery is the most involved.

The exhibit, which will be up through Feb. 23, tasked people with adding names of leaders in their lives to a Rolodex, writing what society thinks of leaders on blue note cards and sharing their thoughts about leaders on pink note cards.

Blue note cards included words such as “powerful,” “tall,” “all business” and “no time.” Pink note cards included “kind,” “planner,” “risk taker” and “validating of others.”

Nathel Sims added “collaboration focused” as a quality she perceives as a characteristic of leaders.

“Collaborative solutions are a really good thing,” Sims said. “It’s important to see input from everyone at every level.”

Sims said she has a real-life example of that trait in her boss, who prefers to keep a low profile. She added she appreciated the exhibit.

“I think thinking about leadership is important,” Sims said. “We can all be a leader in some way. Even if we can’t, we can be really great followers.”

Some people also acted out leadership traits in a small veiled area to be used for a video piece featuring colorful, humanoid outlines carrying out the evocative motions.

The figures partially resembled the colorful line art against a black backdrop of an Iron And Wine Album cover.

“My goals were to highlight the movements and abstract it in away I found beautiful and provide more anonymity for the people on camera,” Campen said. “We’re basically creating a collaborative dance piece.”

Sureally busy

Downtown Juneau was filled with hundreds, if not thousands of people for Gallery Walk — Juneau Arts & Humanities Council printed out 1,200 maps for the event.

On the portion of Front Street closed to traffic, walking was turned into a dadaist experience for the steady stream on people making their way to one of the dozens of galleries, sales or music performances.

DJ Chicagoff played thumping takes on holiday tunes while dance lights flashed in his small booth, people scrawled messages on the pavement with chalk and a pair of Sith lords battled with light sabers.

Miranda McHenry and Bryce Pilny were dressed as Kylo Ren and Darth Nihilus from Star Wars. The two are members of the 501st Legion, a Star Wars costuming organization, and were out to have fun and pose for photos.

Tristan Roberts, 6, beamed while high-fiving the black-clad combatants. Roberts wasn’t intimidated.

“No, not really because I’ve seen them before,” Roberts said.

When asked if he thought he’d see them during Gallery Walk, Roberts gave his head a hard, side-to-side shake.


• Contact arts and culture reporter Ben Hohenstatt at (907)523-2243 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com.


Cathy Needham, right, and Barb Sheinberg check out the “The Rolodex Project//On Leadership” by artist Sarah Campen, an interactive film and sculpture on display at The Davis Gallery in Centennial Hall during Gallery Walk on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Cathy Needham, right, and Barb Sheinberg check out the “The Rolodex Project//On Leadership” by artist Sarah Campen, an interactive film and sculpture on display at The Davis Gallery in Centennial Hall during Gallery Walk on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Zev LeVine, 7, takes in the holiday display at REACH during Gallery Walk on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. It is the 15th year the display has been set up by Dan Elstad. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Zev LeVine, 7, takes in the holiday display at REACH during Gallery Walk on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. It is the 15th year the display has been set up by Dan Elstad. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Students from the Floyd Dryden Middle School orchestra hand out cookies and other treats in the Senate Building during Gallery Walk on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. The students were working to raise money for a trip to Disneyland. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Students from the Floyd Dryden Middle School orchestra hand out cookies and other treats in the Senate Building during Gallery Walk on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. The students were working to raise money for a trip to Disneyland. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast through the week of Nov. 3

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, speaks in favor of Senate Bill 48, the carbon credits bill, on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in the Alaska House. At background is Department of Resources Commissioner John Boyle and staff supporting the bill. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska House control flips from predominantly Republican coalition to mostly Democratic coalition

Preliminary election results show the new House majority will have at least 22 members.

West Juneau homes on Douglas Island late Thursday afternoon. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
What will Trump as president again and a more liberal Alaska Legislature mean for Juneau?

Election appears to shake up federal and state governments in different ways, leaving lots of unknowns.

Aurelie Alexander photographs a helicopter hoisting cellular equipment onto the roof of the Marine View building at midday Wednesday. As a resident of the apartment/office building, she and others were notified to leave the building during the helicopter operation. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)
Hovering around downtown for better phone service

New AT&T equipment installed atop Marine View Building joins other telecom upgrades downtown.

The Columbia is scheduled to replace the Kennicott on the mainline ferry route between Southeast Alaska and Bellingham, Washington, starting in mid-December. (Alaska Marine Highway System photo)
Proposed summer ferry schedule for 2025 remains much the same, with Columbia replacing Kennicott

Public comments being accepted until Nov. 12, with virtual meetings scheduled that day.

A simulated photo shows the tailings stack and other features of Hecla Greens Creek Mine under the final notice of decision for expanding the mine announced Thursday by the U.S Forest Service. The expansion will extend the life of the mine up to 18 years. (U.S. Forest Service)
Extending Greens Creek Mine production for 12 to 18 years gets final OK from Forest Service

Agency says there will also be more habitat protection measures and mine waste disposal capacity.

A sperm whale is seen in an undated photo published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (NOAA photo)
Southeast Alaska fisher could get six months in prison after attempting to kill sperm whale

Federal prosecutors are recommending that an Alaska fisher serve six months in… Continue reading

Voters at Anchorage City Hall wait in line to cast their ballots on Nov. 4, 2024, the day before Election Day. City Hall, in downtown Anchorage, was one of the designated early voting sites in the state’s largest city. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
No leaders change as 1,500 more ballots are added to Alaska’s election count

Almost 46,000 votes cast before Election Day remain uncounted, according to absentee and early vote figures.

Most Read