2nd Biennial
2008 NWC Gathering Review

Northwest Coast Artists’ Gathering
Mission Statement
The mission of NWCA Gathering is to bring together artists and facilitators who work in the indigenous northwest coast style of art: to foster dialog; to develop connections; to explore new materials and techniques; to inspire new work; and to create a community that is inclusive and thoughtful, and that honors tradition while moving into the 21st Century.

Since 1982, the Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI), based in Juneau, Alaska, has sponsored the biennial Celebration. In recent years, Celebration has become increasingly focused on Native art and has greatly expanded its audience. To highlight the creativity of artists and to encourage greater and more excellent productivity, invitational, juried art exhibits have been sponsored by SHI at the last three Celebrations ('02, '04 and '06).

National Museum of the American Indian Art Program Director Keevin Lewis shares good laughs with Artstream's Gathering '08 Director, Chloe French

Artstream Cultural Resources wishes to continue to expand on the work SHI is doing and wants to enhance the experiences of artists during the days before and during Celebration. Working in collaboration with SHI, Sealaska Corporation, the National Museum of the American Indian, the University of Alaska's Museum of the North Fairbanks, and the Juneau City Museum, Artstream's second Northwest Coast Artists' Gathering was held at the Old Armory in Juneau , Alaska on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 3 & 4, 2008, the two days before Celebration. Celebration began on Thursday and ran through Saturday, June 5-7, 2008.

Artstream Board of Director Donna Foulke and her friend Al Pizzarelli, place nametags to the incoming gathering of artists.

Gathering 2008 Review:
Eighty to one hundred artists and representatives of various arts support agencies got together in Juneau, Alaska, on June 3rd and 4th, for the Northwest Coast Artists' Gathering 2008. This was the second biennial Gathering, the first having been a one-day event in June, 2006. Gathering was held the two days before Sealaska Heritage Institute's Celebration, which is the biennial event, bringing together Tlingits, Haidas and Tsimshians.

The Gathering of artists was the brainchild of artists Clarissa Hudson and Preston Singletary, who wanted to meet each other's colleagues and friends. Clarissa and Preston got together a few of their friends and formed NWCA Gathering 2006. This year, Chloe French lead the organizing of Gathering '08 and expanded it to two days.

Clarissa Hudson and Jean Lampe sing an opening welcome song to the Gathering.

Gathering is unique in that it is a wholly artists-founded and -run organization. Artstream Cultural Resources, a non-profit, is the "mother" organization for Gathering. We are an inclusive organization which respects the diversity of artists working in the Northwest Coast indigenous styles.

The first day of Gathering 2008 was sponsored by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Chloe applied, and was awarded their community arts symposium grant.

Aldona Jonaitis was the moderator and very well-versed in traditional as well as contemporary indigenous Northwest Coast art. She has written a number of books on this topic.

SealaskaHeritage Institute Executive Director, Rosita Worl and daughter, artist Celeste Worl partcipate in the invitational clan dance song.

The artists, on the Artists Panel, included Nathan Jackson, a world-renowned traditional Tlingit carver of wood and silver, and a traditional dancer; Nick Galanin, a Tlingit-Aleut artist working in both traditional and contemporary styles and materials; and Marianne Nicholson, a Kwakwaka'wakw contemporary artist who works within many of the traditional rules.

The panelists each spoke for a few minutes about themselves while images of their work were displayed.

Artists Panel partcipants Marianne Nicholson, Nathan Jackson and Nicholas Galanin wait to be called on stage.

The question of using non-Native images in artwork was introduced, and opened up the underlying question related to the acquisition of new media and ideas. Each artist spoke of how tradition was influenced by contact with other tribes as well as with Europeans, which led to the idea that what artists are doing when they use new materials and ideas, is actually a tradition of each of their tribes. Nathan spoke of not copying old works but of using them as the basic idea for making a new piece -- which requires understanding one's history.

Ricky Tagaban and Della Cheney listen intently to the artists' panel discussion.

The topic of non-Natives making traditional art was a follow-up to the previous question and is considered the gorilla in the closet. Nathan spoke of the difficulty of deciding who was "Native," and Nick and Marianne agreed. Nathan decided that his family and tribal history, the sense of belonging to the land, made him Native. Nick spoke of how this is one of the questions he addresses in his work. He spoke of museums as positive repositories of regalia, information and objects. But he spoke of the disconnect there, because the very people who set up the museums and wrote the books -- from their own point of view -- are responsible for trying to destroy the very Native culture they have put in museums. Next each spoke of non-Native and Native teachers who were invaluable in helping them along the way to becoming the artists they are today.

The issue of traditional versus contemporary Native-style art has always fostered a great deal of discussion, but not always a lot of thought. The panel spoke from their hearts, showing how thoughtful they are about their work, and where it fits in the world. They brought up areas of interest to all artists working today and addressed them without always finding a comfortable answer or perhaps any answers at all. For those only wishing to see traditional artwork, perhaps they discovered that contemporary artists also believe in being well-founded in tradition, and think very deeply about what they are expressing in their new work. Perhaps they learned that the new artists are looking at our world and wishing to find and express their place in it. The contemporary art being produced is not disrespectful of tradition, but rather is an outgrowth of it.

Approximately 12 tables of 6 to 8 artists participated in the artists' collaborative exercise.

The culminating project of Day One, led by Bill Hudson, brought the audience and panelists together to make large posters about the panel discussion. This is always an interesting time as most artists present initially are hesitant to participate, but as the project got underway every one jumped in with ideas and laughter. The posters were hung around the room and each group got up and discussed how they came up with their ideas for their poster.

A few young people added their two cents and let their interpretations of philosophies be known through art.

The intent of this collaborative art excercise is two-fold: 1) to create an activity for artists to work together and "create" an image of a piece of art based on our clan identity, a historical event, a political or environmental statement, etc., and 2) to remind the artists that the basis of our Northwest Coast Native art was born of our desire and need to "document" our history in this fashion, through our carvings in our masks, boxes, house posts and totem poles, in our dance regalia, and on our house screens inside and out.

Walter Porter explains his point of view with his captive group of artists.

Day Two was designed along the lines of the first Gathering. There was an artist PowerPoint Presentation, assembled by Doug Waugh, and each of the artists stood and spoke about their work for one minute as their work was shown. This is invaluable as it allows the audience to see the artists with their work and then they can make contact after the presentation if they wish.

This year, twenty support agencies also became part of the PowerPoint Presentation. The agencies' representatives spoke about how they supported the arts and what grants or other opportunities they had to offer artists.

Kathy Rousso explains her group's design concept to the rest of the Gathering.

Walter Porter, from Yakutat, was the Guest Artist Speaker for this year's Gathering. He spoke of the spirituality of our unique Northwest art form in relationship to the legend of the Box of Daylight.

The afternoon was for networking with agencies and artists setting up tables to show their work. Many artists demonstrated their work while having items for sale; everyone visited, often meeting for the first time.

Dolly Garza learns an intricate tricks-of-the-trades in basket weaving from Della Cheney.

Sealaska Corporation gave a generous grant that allowed us to offer free lunches and snacks throughout both days. Clarissa Hudson and her volunteers, JoAnn Price, Lorraine and Patrice DeAsis, and Mimi Goodwin worked continuously to make sure there was always plenty of fresh fruit and wholesome food to eat. The Juneau-Douglas City Museum donated coffee and fry bread for morning arrivals and the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council gave a generous financial donation to help with the rent of the hall.

The PowerPoint Presentation from 2006 and the Power Point Presentation from 2008 were blended into one slide show and were continuously presented during breaks during the day. The blending of the 2006 and 2008 Power Point Presentations may be seen on line here. The images also included those who were not a part of either Gathering. There are over 400 slides so get a cup of coffee and enjoy.

Jean Lampe sings the closing song.

Clarissa's and Preston's vision once again bore fruit, so that with the help of many, particularly Chloe as the Executive Director this year, Gathering 2008 was a great success, a lively and rewarding event.

Gathering 2010 is in the planning, with Clarissa and Donna Foulke heading up the team. (Donna is a writer and performance artist. This is an area of the arts that has not been adequately addressed by Gathering.) There will certainly be interesting and innovative program changes offered, and G-10, as it is being called in shorthand, will be memorable. Please click on the links in the left column for more information about the Agenda, Registration, Volunteering for Gathering 2010, and for reviews of Gathering 2006.

For any information about Gathering 2008, contact Gathering '08 Director Chloe French (chloefrench @gmail.com).

For information about the upcoming Gathering 2010, please stay tuned to this website for continued updates as we continue to plan the (3rd Biennial) Northwest Coast Artists' Gathering 2010. You may also directly contact Gathering 2010 Directors, Donna Foulke (donna@foulkeart.com) or Clarissa Hudson (ch@clarissahudson.com).