Sealaska Heritage Institute, university partner for new degree program

Sealaska Heritage Institute, university partner for new degree program

An Associate of Arts with an emphasis on Northwest Coast arts.

University of Alaska Southeast and Sealaska Heritage Institute are partnering for a new Associate of Arts degree with an emphasis on Northwest Coast arts, SHI announced.

The undergraduate program, recently unveiled in the UAS academic catalog for 2020-2021, includes a wide spectrum of classes, such as tool making, design, basketry and weaving among others.

The degree is part of SHI’s vision to make Juneau the Northwest Coast art capital of the world and to designate NWC art a national treasure, said SHI President Rosita Worl in a news release.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

“This marks a huge milestone in our effort to ensure the perpetuation and advancement of our ancient art practices, which are on par with the greatest art traditions in the world,” Worl said in the release. “It took years of planning, but we are here at last, and we could not be more excited.”

That effort also includes the proposed Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus that is planned for downtown Juneau.

[Assembly puts arts campus support decision on hold]

The degree is supported by SHI through a more than $500,000 three-year grant.

The program, which will be offered this fall at the university’s Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka campuses, is part of a larger effort to establish a four-year art degree through UAS and the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Students who earn the degree would have the option to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts from IAIA through a memorandum of agreement with SHI and partnership with UAS or through another university. Students could also work toward a bachelor’s degree in arts and sciences or education at UAS or the broader University of Alaska system.

The program also requires students to complete courses in Alaska Native studies, Indigenous performing arts and a language class on beginning Tlingit, Haida or Tsimshian, as well as Northwest Coast design, art history and culture, art theory and practice, and career development for artists. Instructors for key courses include Wayne Price, a master Tlingit carver and UAS associate professor of Northwest Coast art; Tlingit weaver Lily Hope; and other local and visiting artists.

“Northwest Coast Art holds cultural identity and is the highest level of perfected achievement,” Price said in a news release. “Through preserving the high standards of our past we will grow in our connection to Northwest Coast Art and value it in, on, and around our community.”

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast through the week of Feb. 1

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

A worker paints over a wall mural featuring words such as “fairness,” “leadership,” “compassion,” “diversity” and “integrity” at the FBI Academy at Quantico on Wednesday. (Anonymous photo provided to The New York Times)
Mass deletion and alteration of federal websites includes Alaska reports and data

Forest Service climate assessment, Alaska Native education program, FEMA strategic plan among deletions.

MXAK’s executive director Steve White watches the wall of monitoring screens as maritime information specialist Jason Hort (foreground) tracks vessels transiting the North Pacific. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)
Buying time: Juneau’s Marine Exchange of Alaska saves lives, cargo, communities and wildlife

Two retired Coast Guard captains lead team providing data to ensure safe transit for hundreds of vessels.

A Mendenhall Valley neighborhood is swamped by a record glacial outburst flood on on Aug. 6, 2024. (Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities photo)
Profits from ‘fully’ extracting Alaska’s resources minus the cost of climate impacts: Who will gain/lose how much?

The results may not be high either way since experts say Trump’s goals are unlikely to happen anytime soon.

A marker for the U.S.-Canadian border sits between Skagway, Alaska, and Stikine Region, British Columbia. (Philip Yabut/Getty Images)
Yukon government warns that Trump tariffs will make Alaska life more expensive

China, Alaska’s biggest international trading partner, also targeted by tariffs likely to trigger trade war

Deena Bishop, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, gives an overview of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s omnibus education package on Jan. 31, 2025, at the Alaska State Capitol. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Education package with multitude of policy changes and no BSA increase unveiled by Gov. Dunleavy

Proposals include allowing students to enroll anywhere in the state, more charter and homeschool support.

A map shows properties within a proposed Local Improvement District whose owners could be charged nearly $6,300 each for the installation of a semi-permanent levee to protect the area from floods. (City and Borough of Juneau map)
81 of 466 property owners object to flood district plan ahead of Assembly vote on Monday

Residents in zone would have to pay about $6,300 each for barriers if plan approved.

Kate Sheehan (left foreground), director of the Alaska Division of Personnel and Labor Relations, and Paula Vrana, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration, discuss an ongoing statewide salary study during a House State Affairs Committee meeting Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, at the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Dunleavy’s delay in releasing state salary study frustrates legislators, union leaders

Draft report to assess competitiveness completed last June, but not released publicly.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Most Read