National Park Service Grant: Demonstration Arts and Cultural Preservation Project

OVERVIEW
The Demonstration Arts and Cultural Preservation Project seeks to make possible the continuation of a long-held park goal to provide a venue and support for the Native artists to perpetuate and preserve their history, culture and craft through park or Visitors Center studiobased work on art forms including wood carving, metal-smithing, bead work, fiber arts such as weaving, story-telling and other elements of culture. The partner, Sitka Tribe of Alaska (STA) will provide staffing to conceive a detailed plan for the project, to publically solicit applications from
Native artists who wish to participate in the project, to select participating artists, to schedule artists¿ studio time, and to monitor and manage artists¿ participation and fulfillment of mission. SITK will provide training for the artists on the park, its history and mission, so that as artists interact with visitors they will be able to provide information not only on their arts, but on the park itself. Park staff will work closely with STA staff on scheduling, training and support, so that the artists in studio are on site during peak visitor periods. The project will run from Maythrough September.
STATEMENT OF JOINT OBJECTIVES/PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN
The goals are to foster the preservation of Native art and culture, and to enhance visitor enjoyment of the park. STA will provide the management of the project, and SITK will provide the venue, training and liaison with the visitors. The two partners will work together to align the artists, the venue, the scheduling of demonstrations and the visitor interaction. Through the selection and presence of active Native artists in the park studios, STA and SITK will jointly make possible the continued perpetuation of a number of Native art forms that are in significant
need of support. These art forms have been passed down through generations of artists for several millennia, but the lack of contemporary venues and support for artists threatens the continued existence of these forms of art.
With input from SITK, STA will establish a calendar of artists¿ participation in studio space, aligned with visitor flows, and establish a management team to manage the project, including a senior manager with project and budget oversight, and a scheduler who will track and manage
artist time and attendance. SITK will designate a member of the Interpretive staff as project liaison. That person will work on scheduling, preparing the studio space for artists, arrange for training artists in SITK and NPS information that will be helpful to visitors, and provide such
other support as to make the project run smoothly.
Artists will be provided such materials and equipment as are needed to be able to practice their crafts. The artists will be scheduled in-studio during days when the heaviest load of summer visitors is projected, so that their work can be viewed by the largest number of park visitors.
STA and SITK will work together on publicizing the demonstration arts project, with a special emphasis on the key goal of preservation of culture and art forms. The partners will have scheduled check-in points through the life of the project to review its progress and to address any problems that may arise. The partners also will do a formal review when the project is completed so that lessons learned about success and challenges can be captured.
RECIPIENT INVOLVEMENT
STA will manage this project, and that management and associated costs will be funded by this project. STA will assign a senior manager to oversee its execution, including the management of the budget. The manager in turn will hire a part-time scheduler to ensure artists are scheduled at times appropriate to the studio space and visitor influx. The scheduler will track time and attendance, and provide that information to the manager so that the artists can be paid for their time in the studio. Program Point of Contact: Becky Latanich 907-747-0132.