Artist, Poet Robert Hoffman
To Open SJ Museum Series
The Sheldon Jackson Museum has announced the opening of ‘‘Filling Empty Spaces – Attraction and Distraction,’’ an exhibition of new works by Robert Hoffmann (Tlingit).
A reception and artist talk are scheduled 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, at the museum. Following Hoffmann’s talk will be the show and light fare, sponsored by the Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum.
Hoffmann is one of three artists selected for the Sheldon Jackson Museum 2020-2023 solo artist exhibition series. The others are Allie High and Peter Williams.
Hoffmann, Xaashuch’eet, is originally from Kake. He is primarily a wood carver and painter, but has worked in multimedia sculpture and has recently been experimenting with casting. He is represented by the Stonington Gallery in Seattle and his works can be found in private collections and museums including the Sheldon Jackson Museum.
“Through his carvings and paintings, Hoffmann explores cultural values, and to what ends they drive us in a search for fulfillment,” his artist statement said.
In addition to being a visual artist, Hoffmann is an accomplished poet. His published works include ‘‘Soul Catcher, Village Boy: Poems of Cultural Identity’.’ and his most recent book of poetry ‘‘Raven’s Echo,’’ just published by Arizona Press, Suntracks Edition.
Hoffmann also has illustrated both books in the Raven House Mouse book series written by Jan Steinbright.
‘‘Filling Empty Spaces’’ will be on exhibit at the museum until April 22. The proposal for the exhibition was selected by a panel from over a dozen applications.
The next Solo Show Exhibition Series is set in 2023. Images of the exhibition will be posted on the Alaska State Museum website in the online exhibitions section for viewing and a recording of Hoffmann’s talk will be uploaded to the Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum YouTube Channel.
Admission to the reception, artist talk, and exhibition is waived for Saturday, Jan. 14, starting at 2 p.m. Admission will be charged to view the show after Jan. 14.
The museum is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and by appointment only on Tuesdays. Winter admission is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors, and free for ages 18 and under and active duty military and their families (with an ID). People with questions about the Zoom event or exhibition may contact the museum directly at (907) 747-8981.
Sitka Nonprofits Listed
For PFD Contributions
As the year draws to a close, many Alaskans already are thinking about applying for their Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend check in January.
And as in past years, they can share their wealth with a variety of Alaska nonprofits through the PFD’s Pick.Click.Give. program.
The program allows people to donate in $25 increments to their favorite statewide and local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations when they file their PFD applications Jan. 1 through March 31.
Starting at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 1, Alaskans can fill out the PFD application at http://pfd.alaska.gov/. In the section of the application asking to participate in Pick.Click.Give. Charitable Contributions program, click on the PCG link.
In 2022 Alaskans contributed $3.033 million to 635 Alaska nonprofit organizations, and more than $33.1 million has been donated since the program started in 2009. Some Alaskans choose to donate to just one group, while others may spread several donations around to many groups.
In 2022, Alaskans donated $38,875 to Sitka-based nonprofits. Note: total doesn’t include donations to some nonprofits based in multiple cities.
Sitka nonprofits participating this year include: 3 to 5 Preschool, Alaska Association For Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Brave Heart Volunteers, Catholic Community Service Inc., Friends of Sitka Circus Arts, Friends of Sitka Public Library Inc., Healing Hand Foundation, Kootznahoo Fortress Of The Bear, Mt. Edgecumbe Preschool Inc., Outer Coast, Raven Radio KCAW CoastAlaska, Sitka Fine Arts Camp, Sitka Historical Society Inc., Sitka Legacy Foundation ACF, Sitka Local Foods Network, Sitka Maritime Heritage Society Inc., Sitka Sound Science Center, Sitka Summer Music Festival, Sitka Trail Works Inc., Sitkans Against Family Violence, Southeast Alaska Independent Living SAIL, Spruce Root Inc., The Salvation Army.
Climate Connection:
Good and Bad Carbon Offsets
Corporations committing to being “net-zero” by 2050 usually purchase carbon offsets to allow them to continue their greenhouse gas emissions to the extent that others lower their emissions or reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide. A common offset is purchasing a guarantee that a forest will not be logged. This is based on storage of carbon in large tree trunks and continued tree growth absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere until trees die and rot or burn.
New satellite imaging calls into question the climate-protective effect of forest offsets. In California, stored carbon is not increasing in forest offset sites compared to other areas, and giant timber companies are not logging less on their offset lands. Tree species in offset areas may not be candidates for harvest, and the most commercially valuable species are often not protected. Numerous offset projects are being set up on previously harvested land with lower potential for carbon storage. Some offset lands are not harvestable because they are conserved already by environmental groups. Forest fires in offset areas increase atmospheric carbon, and insurance is inadequate to cover the lost offsets. Globally, forest offsets have been inadequately verified and contribute to profits of large emitters and landowners, rather than lowering net emissions.
Other investments to lower greenhouse gas emissions are likely more effective, reliable, and just. Corporations could invest in solar or other renewable energy to lower electric power emissions or to lower energy costs of or emissions from low income households. Local carbon offset funds, like those in Sitka and Juneau, use their offset income to subsidize electric heat pumps and electric transportation. These investments lower community use of fossil fuels for heating homes and powering internal combustion engine cars, thereby lowering carbon dioxide emissions in our communities. The main concern of such carbon trading is that the social cost of carbon emissions is underestimated in suggested donations, (e.g., for airplane travel).
Basically, we need to plan for no greenhouse gas emissions as rapidly as we can to stop the increase in global temperatures, ocean acidification, and melting ice caps that increase sea level. Net-zero is insufficient. The challenge is to decrease atmospheric pollution, not to just stop it. Carbon capture and storage are not yet economically feasible. Natural solutions in preserving forests, planting trees, and agricultural means of storing carbon in soils are a help, but slow in their effects.
Our lives will certainly change as we stop using fossil fuels and develop sustainable life styles and production to protect our children from what we have already done to our earth. In the meantime, we can contribute to helping our community members by donating to local carbon offsets, decreasing our own carbon emissions, and pressing for more stringent regulation of corporate carbon offsets. To meet the goal of decreasing 50% of emissions by 2030, we need more government policy, such as a fee on coal, oil, and gas.
---Kay Kreiss, Transition Sitka and Citizens Climate Lobby
Sitka Seawalk
Comment Sought
The comment period for Sitka Seawalk Phase II has been extended until Jan. 4.
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, in coordination with the City and Borough of Sitka, is proposing to improve accessibility to the Sitka National Historical Park and downtown Sitka by extending the current Sitka Seawalk. The extension would continue from the Sitka Public Library to the O’Connell Bridge lightering facility then on to Totem Square.
The project would guide visitor and resident pedestrian traffic through the community and provide expanded recreation opportunities, the city said.
The Project Team held a public meeting on Nov. 30 and some of the presentation materials incorrectly used the word “alternative,” ADTPF said in a press release. As required under the NEPA process, the word “alternative” is being replaced within the project materials using the terminology Routes 3a and 3b to allow public input for the two options being considered for Section 3 under the O’Connell Bridge.
Comments may be provided via e-mail, telephone and the project website at https://www.cityofsitka.com/SitkaSeawalkPhaseII. Loren Gehring, P.E. DOT&PF Project Manager, loren.gehring@alaska.gov (907)465-8189, Kathryn Erickson, DOT&PF Environmental Analyst Kathryn.erickson@alaska.gov (907 465-4498.
Courage of Haida Woman
Topic of Museum Program
The Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum invites the public to attend its fourth event in the Winter Share Your Culture/Share Your Research Series.
The Zoom presentation at noon on Friday, Jan. 13, will be delivered by scholar and author Marcia Biederman. she will give a talk titled “The Courage of Agnes Young McAlpin: The Forgotten Story of a Haida Woman Who Won a Fight for Her Human Rights.”
Hidden from visitors and forced to eat separately, Agnes thought of suicide. Instead, she developed a plan to free herself and her children from this intolerable situation, Biederman said.
Using photos and excerpts from news accounts, Biederman will explain how Agnes won a highly publicized divorce trial, ensuring a future for her descendants in Alaska, and prompting a small Pennsylvania city to examine its commitment to civil rights.
To attend the Jan. 13 Zoom talk, visit www.zoom.com and input meeting ID: 842 3603 1991 and passcode: Agnes.
The Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum is dedicated to supporting the Sheldon Jackson Museum and its Alaska Native ethnographic collection through advocacy, acquisition, and educational programming. To learn more about the friends, get involved, or learn more about the Winter Share Your Culture/Share Your Research events, visit: www.friendsofsjm.com.
The museum is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and by appointment only on Tuesdays. Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors, and free for ages 18 and under and active duty military and their families (with an ID). Call (907)747-8981 to confirm hours.
SCLT to Hold
Annual Meeting
The Sitka Community Land Trust will hold its annual meeting 5-8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23, in person at the Hames corporate office conference room at 208 Lake Street, Suite B.
The public is being encouraged to attend. The SCLT is a non-profit organization that relies on community support and participation.
For information about attending the meeting, contact Mim McConnell at 907-738-2888.
Natural Food
Preservation
Topic of Series
The public can learn to safely preserve foods at home in a five-week series of online classes available statewide from Jan. 7 to Feb. 4.
Sarah Lewis, an agent with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service, will teach the ‘‘Preserving Alaska’s Bounty’’ series.
Students will learn about and practice pickling and fermenting vegetables; how to can fruits, berries and pickles in a boiling water bath; and preserve meat, fish and vegetables using a pressure canner.
Classes also will cover dehydrating fruits and vegetables, making jerky and smoking fish. Other topics will include emergency preparedness, how to start a cottage foods business and information about harvesting wild plants.
Live instruction will be offered during a three-hour Zoom session each Saturday at 1 p.m. Students will complete assignments in their kitchens on their own schedules. Assigned readings and other activities will be accessed via the Canvas platform.
Participants must be 16 or older (unless joining a household adult.) The registration deadline is Dec. 31.
Registration and more class details are available at https://bit.ly/PAB2023 or by contacting Lewis at sarah.lewis@alaska.edu. The series costs $150 per household or Zoom connection and includes one class textbook, which will be mailed to students. Discounts are available if requested. Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made 10 business days in advance of the Jan. 7 start to sarah.lewis@alaska.edu.
Those who wish to become a food preservation educator in their community can complete a final exam, the cooperative said.
Unit 4 Hunting
Seasons to End
State hunting seasons for deer, mountain goat and brown bears in Game Management Unit 4 end Dec. 31.
The federal subsistence deer season s will continue on federal lands within GMU 4 until Jan. 31. Federal subsistence hunters will need a valid 2023 hunting license to hunt in January.
Deer harvest tickets issued for 2022 continue to be valid for the January federal season, Alaska Department of Fish and Game said.
Hunters targeting deer on beaches are reminded that state land ownership extends to the mean high tide line. For a harvest to be legal in January, both the hunter and the deer must be above the mean high tide line and on federal lands.
Anyone who obtained deer harvest tickets, a mountain goat registration permit, or a brown bear registration permit, including those who did not hunt, must return completed hunt reports to ADF&G or report online at http://hunt.alaska.gov, within 15 days after the close of the respective season. Beneficiaries of proxy hunts are responsible for reporting deer harvested on their behalf.
Contact the USFS Sitka district office at (907)747-6671 for questions regarding the federal subsistence deer season, or federal land maps. Contact the Sitka ADF&G office at (907)747-5449 regarding the state deer, mountain goat, or brown bear seasons.
Hunter Education
Field Day Offered
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is offering the Field Day Qualifier portion of Basic Hunter Education in Sitka on March 11 at the Sitka Sportsman’s Association, 5211 Halibut Point Road.
Hunter education certification is required.
Students must complete the online course prior to registration. It consists of six to eight hours of modules and a test. The course costs $19.95 and can be accessed at www.hunter-ed.com/alaska/.
After passing the online course, students will receive an email with a field day qualifier number.
After one to three days, signups will be taken for the Field Day Qualifier, using the qualifier number emailed to them, at the ADF&G website at https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=huntered.field.
Field days are four to five hours and will review key safety issues and Alaska specific regulations, firearms handling, and a live-fire proficiency shoot. Firearms and ammunition will be provided.
Contact the Sitka ADF&G office at (907)747-5449 with any questions.
School Board Meets
The Sitka School District School Board will meet 6 p.m. Jan. 4 at Centennial Hall. The meeting will be preceded by student/staff recognitions at 5:45 p.m.
The full agenda can be found by following the link on the District’s website: www.sitkaschools.org.
Those who wish to submit a written public comment on an agenda item must submit it by 5 p.m. Jan. 3 to the district office at 300 Kostrometinoff Street, or by emailing info@sitkaschools.org.
Sitka Nonprofits
Listed for PFD
Contributions
As the year draws to a close, many Alaskans already are thinking about applying for their Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend check in January.
And as in past years, they can share their wealth with a variety of Alaska nonprofits through the PFD’s Pick.Click.Give. program.
The program allows people to donate in $25 increments to their favorite statewide and local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations when they file their PFD applications Jan. 1 through March 31.
Starting at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 1, Alaskans can fill out the PFD application at http://pfd.alaska.gov/. In the section of the application asking to participate in Pick.Click.Give. Charitable Contributions program, click on the PCG link.
In 2022 Alaskans contributed $3.033 million to 635 Alaska nonprofit organizations, and more than $33.1 million has been donated since the program started in 2009. Some Alaskans choose to donate to just one group, while others may spread several donations around to many groups.
In 2022, Alaskans donated $38,875 to Sitka-based nonprofits. Note: total doesn’t include donations to some nonprofits based in multiple cities.
Sitka nonprofits participating this year include: 3 to 5 Preschool, Alaska Association For Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Brave Heart Volunteers, Catholic Community Service Inc., Friends of Sitka Circus Arts, Friends of Sitka Public Library Inc., Healing Hand Foundation, Kootznahoo Fortress Of The Bear, Mt. Edgecumbe Preschool Inc., Outer Coast, Raven Radio KCAW CoastAlaska, Sitka Fine Arts Camp, Sitka Historical Society Inc., Sitka Legacy Foundation ACF, Sitka Local Foods Network, Sitka Maritime Heritage Society Inc., Sitka Sound Science Center, Sitka Summer Music Festival, Sitka Trail Works Inc., Sitkans Against Family Violence, Southeast Alaska Independent Living SAIL, Spruce Root Inc., The Salvation Army.
Unitarians to Discuss
Predictions, Resolutions
Dave Turcott will lead a discussion of predictions and resolutions for the new year at Sunday’s meeting of the Unitarian Fellowship.
The hall is located at 408 Marine Street, with parking behind, off Spruce Street. Gathering is at 10:30 a.m., with the program beginning at 10:45. Soup and bread follow the program at noon. All are invited to attend.
City Scrap Yard
Closure Noted
The city’s Gary Paxton Industrial Park scrap yard at 4655 Sawmill Creek Road will be closed on Saturday, Dec. 31, in observance of New Year’s Day.
Regular business hours will resume on Tuesday, Jan. 3. The scrap yard is open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday with the exception of observed holidays.
Call the public works department with any questions at 907-747-1804.
SJ Museum Artist
Residency Program
Deadline Extended
The Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum has extended the deadline for applications for the Alaska Native Artist Residency Program. The new deadline is Jan. 5.
Residencies are 21-22 days long and occur: July 7-28, Aug. 18-Sept. 9, Sept. 15-Oct. 6, and Oct. 7-28.
All include a $2,000 artist stipend, a $660 food stipend, and travel to and from Sitka. While in residence, artists create art in an open studio-like format in the museum gallery and engage with the community through cultural consultations, artist talks, and teaching an art form or art forms.
Positions will be filled as funding allows and is contingent upon grant awards.
Artists may focus on traditional or contemporary Native art forms including but not limited to wood carving, ivory carving, silver engraving, beading, skin, gut and fish skin sewing, drum making, and basket or textile weaving, drumming, and dancing. Outstanding beginners and experienced artists are welcome, the museum said. Artists benefit from utilizing the museum’s collections for research and meeting visitors from around Alaska, the world, and community members while working in the museum gallery.
During cultural consultations, artists and culture bearers help further document the museum’s artifacts, providing invaluable information and insight.
While in-residence, artists are encouraged to give several artist talks. Individuals who wish to obtain an information packet on the Alaska Native Artist Residency Program outlining pay and benefits, position expectations, the residency schedule, and other details may call the museum at (907) 747-8981 and request a packet be emailed or mailed.
The packet also is available at www.friendsofsjm.com and http://museums.alaska.gov/artist_opportunities.html. E-mail Jacqueline.Fernandez-Hamberg@alaska.gov or call (907) 747-8904 with questions. Applications are due Jan. 5, 2023.
