The Juneau Arts and Humanities Council on Wednesday announced the winners of the ninth annual Mayor\u2019s Awards for the Arts in 2016.<\/p>\n
The awards honor artists, volunteers, businesses and organizations for their work in Juneau\u2019s arts scene.<\/p>\n
Meet this year\u2019s winners: Vera Starbard Bedard, Jim Fowler, Scarlett Adam, Alaska Music One (Keith Giles), Mark Kelley, Jeff Duvernay and R.T. \u201cSkip\u201d Wallen.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Vera Starbard<\/strong><\/p>\n Starbard wrote \u201cOur Voices Will be Heard,\u201d a play that debuted this year at Perseverance Theatre. It follows a Tlingit family and community dealing with sexual abuse.<\/p>\n \u201cThe play started numerous dialogues about a complex and challenging issue facing far too many women and families in Alaska, and brought together groups as varied as SEARHC, AWARE, Sealaska Heritage Institute, the Alaska Legislature, and both the Governor\u2019s and Lt. Governor\u2019s offices, calling attention to the play\u2019s simple message that challenging problems can only be solved when communities can talk about them,\u201d the JAHC release said. The play also featured a Native playwright, director and cast.<\/p>\n Starbard was recently awarded a three-year residency with Perseverance Theatre, which began in July.<\/p>\n \u201cVera\u2019s work on advocacy has raised awareness of domestic violence for thousands of Alaskans, and her leadership as an indigenous theatre artist has placed Juneau at the forefront of a national movement to bring native voices onto our most prominent stages. She is making a difference in many ways,\u201d the release says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jim Fowler<\/strong><\/p>\n Local artist Jim Fowler received the Arts in Education award. Fowler is a teacher, illustrator and artist who led after-school art classes in Geneva Woods and Cedar Park for almost 20 years, retiring in June. He has also illustrated 13 children\u2019s books and creates acrylic landscape paintings.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a nice surprise,\u201d Fowler said in an interview, also noting that there are many others who work in arts education.<\/p>\n Cedar Park and Geneva Woods\u2019 programs were drop-in, which makes for a particular dynamic, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think just having a consistent adult (there) through a period of time is one of the key contributions you can make \u00ad\u2014 just being there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The kids frequently taught him things, as he\u2019s not very \u201ccraftsy,\u201d he said \u2014 how to fold a paper crane, or weave, for example. He said he\u2019ll \u201cenjoy being able to paint all day\u201d but will miss the kids\u2019 \u201ccreativity and their spirited enthusiasm.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFowler\u2019s work as an artist, illustrator, and educator has had a great impact on children over the years, especially the generation of children he worked with in those two locations,\u201d says the JAHC release.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Scarlett Adam<\/strong><\/p>\n Scarlett Adam, a volunteer, donor, performer and patron of Juneau\u2019s arts, has won the Arts Organization Leadership award. She served as the vice president of the Juneau Lyric Opera until the end of July, and in that role she \u201cproduced a wide variety of events, established collaborative ventures with other arts organizations and the high school theater programs, and took a lead role in fundraising for performing arts here in Juneau,\u201d the release said. She was pivotal in JLO\u2019s Opera Film Festival, whale-watching trip, Halloween Ball and the Ave Maria event at the Shrine of Saint Therese. She also played the lead role in \u201cHairspray,\u201d a joint production of JLO and Juneau-Douglas High School, and starred in \u201cMan of La Mancha\u201d this spring.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is hard to imagine how any one person could perform so many different functions so well,\u201d the release says. \u201cAlthough JLO will sorely miss her presence on the Board, Scarlett will continue to volunteer her services to JLO as time allows.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Alaska Music One<\/strong><\/p>\n Alaska Music One received the \u201cBusiness Leadership for the Arts\u201d award. When Alaska Music One owner Keith Giles opened his email Wednesday morning, he said \u201cI figured somebody was pranking me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt made me think about why I got into this in the first place,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Because of his positive experiences with music as young person, he said he\u2019s always felt he needed to give back.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope to see other people\u2019s lives changed, like mine was,\u201d he said. \u201cOwning a business that\u2019s in the arts … it\u2019s not generally a lucrative field, so it\u2019s nice to have people understand that you\u2019re in a support role.\u201d<\/p>\n In its release, the JAHC highlighted some of the store\u2019s activities \u2014 selling instruments, doing repairs, giving lessons to young people, offering workshops, bringing in musicians from the Lower 48, partnering with nonprofits and businesses to bring live music to Juneau, and more. Giles is also a sound technician who with his \u201cdedicated sound crew can tackle both traditional and unorthodox arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBottom line, when performers see Keith at the sound booth, they know they\u2019re in good hands. And without his generosity, expertise and local storefront, Juneau would not be the dynamic music community it is today,\u201d the release said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mark Kelley<\/strong><\/p>\n Juneau photographer Mark Kelley, who has been photographing Alaska for more than 40 years, won the award for Innovative Application of the Arts. \u201cHis deep photographic knowledge of our great state is unsurpassed,\u201d the release said.<\/p>\n Kelley worked at the Juneau Empire for 13 years \u00ad\u2014 until 1993, when he made the decision to pursue photography full time. Since then, he\u2019s won several prestigious awards for his work. He\u2019s also published calendars whose proceeds benefit Discovery Southeast, local soccer teams, the Sitka Sound Science Center, whale research and the Juneau Raptor Center, and worked with local authors and businesses to publish books that, according to the JAHC release, have sold more than 250,000 copies.<\/p>\n \u201cMark is an outstanding artist with a strong dedication to his local community. His Juneau and Alaska images travel the world \u2014 cherished by visitors and folks who might have lived here once. His self-publishing business has had small but consistent economic impact to be proud of. Juneau is so lucky that Mark Kelley calls it his home,\u201d the release says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jeff Duvernay<\/strong><\/p>\n Jeff Duvernay, president of Juneau Dance Theatre\u2019s Board of Directors, received the Volunteer in the Arts award.<\/p>\n \u201cWithin the last few years, in particular, he devoted a tremendous amount of his time, energy, and resources to ensure a successful leadership of transition at JDT. He recognizes the importance of JDT\u2019s place in the community and has guided the organization through a tenuous time of change and uncertainty,\u201d says the JAHC press release, adding that he has long supported the arts. \u201cJeff is incredibly generous with his time, expertise, energy, and resources. Without his support, JDT would not be the organization it is today.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n R.T. \u201cSkip\u201d Wallen<\/strong><\/p>\n R.T. \u201cSkip\u201d Wallen received the Lifetime Achievement in the Arts award.<\/p>\n Wallen started out as a biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. While living on Little Diomede Island, he began sketching animals. He began pursuing his art full time in 1967, when he left ADF&G and opened a gallery on Seward Street. He\u2019s also the creator of the well-known \u201cWindfall Fisherman\u201d near the Capitol Building, has art around the world, including Africa, Fairbanks and Lake Michigan, and is creating the life-size breaching humpback whale statue, \u201cTahku,\u201d that will soon be installed downtown. The release also calls Wallen \u201can environmental conservation pioneer.\u201d He\u2019s worked to establish \u201cthe Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, the Mendenhall Wetlands, Admiralty Island National Monument, Petersburg Creek\/Duncan Salt Chuck Wilderness and extension of Denali National Park,\u201d the release said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Celebration<\/strong><\/p>\n The celebration for the awards is Aug. 19, 5:30\u20137:30 p.m. at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center. There will be live music, election of new JAHC board members, and award presentation, among other things. The event is free; anyone can attend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Juneau Arts and Humanities Council on Wednesday announced the winners of the ninth annual Mayor\u2019s Awards for the Arts in 2016. The awards honor artists, volunteers, businesses and organizations for their work in Juneau\u2019s arts scene. Meet this year\u2019s winners: Vera Starbard Bedard, Jim Fowler, Scarlett Adam, Alaska Music One (Keith Giles), Mark Kelley, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":34427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":7,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[74],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-34426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","tag-arts-and-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34426"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=34426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}