Daily Sitka Sentinel

August 5, 2015 Community Happenings

Youth Advocates

Of Sitka to Meet

Youth Advocates of Sitka’s board of directors will meet 5:15-7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10, at YAS’s 805 Lincoln Street office. The meeting is open to the public.

Kids Yoga Taught

Chloe Copeland will teach a kids yoga camp, for ages 4-8, 1:30-4:30 p.m. Aug. 17 and 19, and 9 a.m.-noon  Aug. 21.

Call Jen at 619-313-3492 to sign up.  

Raven’s Advisory

Board to Meet

Raven Radio’s Community Advisory Board will meet 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11, at the Cable House.

Agenda topics include possible programming changes and tallying spring drive comments. The meeting is open to the public.

Kenwa Kai Karate

Session Aug. 15

Kenwa Kai Karate of Sitka’s next monthly session begins Aug. 15 at the Baranof School gym. Those ages 6 and older may choose to attend on Mondays, Wednesdays and/or Saturdays.

Adult lessons are 6:45-7:30 p.m. Mondays. Little Dragons, ages 4-5, meet 9:50-10:20 a.m. Saturdays. 

New and returning students are welcome. Karate classes continue year-round. For more information visit www.sitkakarate.org or call Sensei Laurinda Marcello at 738-2887.

Registration is open at Sitka Community Schools, 747-8670.

Electric Vehicle

Group to Meet

The Sitka Electric Vehicle Group will meet 7-8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12, at Kettleson Memorial Library. The public is invited.

The topic will be “A Tale of Two Leafs.” Attendees will learn about the city’s financial incentives for electric vehicle owners and learn how much it costs to own one in Sitka. Electric car owners will discuss new versus used ownership.

UAS Director Finalist

To Visit Sitka Aug. 6

UAS-Sitka Campus will host director finalist Cathy A. LeCompte on Thursday, Aug. 6.

LeCompte will give a public presentation at 11:30 a.m. on her qualifications and vision for the Sitka Campus to university faculty, staff, students and community friends. A one-hour public reception, with light refreshments, will follow. Both events will be hosted in Room 229 on the Sitka Campus.

Interested stakeholders and members of the public are invited to attend. Call 747-7700 for more information about the schedule.

LeCompte, MNPL, currently serves as associate dean of academic affairs at the University of Alaska Anchorage Community and Technical College, where she has been since 2010. Prior to that, she was the UAS Ketchikan Campus director, moving up from the position of assistant director.

She has faculty experience as an assistant professor of business administration for UAS. Her previous experience also includes serving as executive director at Grays Harbor United Way in Aberdeen, Wash. 

LeCompte is the first of two finalists in a nationwide search for a replacement for retired Sitka Campus Director Jeff Johnston.

Island Institute from Peter Bradley///

Having once thought that her artistic training would lead to work at a graphic design agency, Ramona Ring is now in town through the Sitka Fellows Program to carve out time from a busy illustration schedule to begin work on a graphic novel.

In Ring’s words, the work-in-progress graphic novel is an abstract and surreal story about “a child that has to grow up in a dysfunctional, destructive family... It will mostly be about the journey of the child to find ways of achieving happiness and confidence.” 

This is her first major attempt at a graphic novel, after spending the last few years producing illustrations for newspapers and magazines. It started when she was contacted by the art director of Zeit Magazine, who had long been a hero for her. When he stumbled across Ring’s work and asked her to draw a series of dreamy images showcasing designer beds, she dedicated herself to the opportunity.

“I had so many details and the illustrations were so time-consuming for me to make,’’ Ring said. ‘‘After two or three weeks my wrists started to hurt really bad. I had to finish it because it was the chance of my life.”

Though her wrists took months to heal from the marathon of drawing that the commission required, she has been able to make a rare living as a freelance illustrator ever since. Art directors are drawn to her singular style, which features a deliberate and uncommon color palette and detailed, surreal imagery.

Work in Sitka is going well for Ring, who said, “I find the people here very inspiring, which motivates me a lot, and I have many natural elements in my work, so this place is perfect for me to find inspiration.”

She’s hoping to try something new while having an opportunity to meet people from town, and as a result Sitkans have an opportunity to have their portraits drawn by Ring this month.

She’ll be posting up at the Backdoor Cafe on Wednesday afternoons 1-3:30 p.m. for people who schedule appointments at http://ramonaring.youcanbook.me. She does offer a disclaimer, however: “I’ve never done this before. I did it at school and always wanted to be better, so for me it’s nice practice.”

The Sitka Fellows Program, now in its fourth year, is a multidisciplinary group residency program which offers time and space to six emergent artists, thinkers, and entrepreneurs from across the country and around the world to develop their personal projects. Each week features a workshop by one of the Fellows, and the program will culminate in an Open Studio event on Aug. 22 where the Fellows will demonstrate their work.

The program is coordinated by the Island Institute in partnership with the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, and is made possible through donations from the National Endowment for the Arts’ Art Works program, David and Marge Steward, Sea Mart Quality Foods, and many individual donors. For more information, visit www.iialaska.org or call 747-3794.

Emblem Club Meets

Sitka Emblem Club Executive Board only will meet 5 p.m. Aug. 8 at Sitka Elks Lodge. 

Raven Board

Meeting Change

The monthly Raven Radio Board of Directors meeting has been changed to 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 17, at the station.

Fish Fry Benefit

Set for Sunday

A fish fry fundraiser for the Sitka American Legion women’s softball team will be noon-5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9, at the American Legion Hall.

The cost is $15 adults, $13 for veterans. Delivery is available by calling 747-8629.

Money raised will help the team get to the state meet in Anchorage Aug. 21-23.