Campus Classes
SHI offers instruction on Northwest Coast art at the Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus in Juneau. The program provides beginning, intermediate, and advanced training to individuals interested in learning about these unique and culturally rich art forms. Led by experienced instructors, these classes offer teachings in a wide variety of subjects, including basket weaving, beading, formline design, metal engraving, skin sewing, spruce-root and cedar-bark harvesting, tool making, and wood carving. The classes are part of SHI’s goal to establish a bachelor's degree in Northwest Coast art through its partners, the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Many of the classes at the campus may be taken for college credit through UAS, which offers an Associate of Arts (AA) degree with an emphasis on Northwest Coast arts.
Community Classes
SHI offers in-person workshops to people living outside of Juneau in Alaska and the Lower 48. These classes are designed to teach participants about Northwest Coast art's traditional techniques and styles. Through hands-on instruction and guidance from experienced artists and teachers, participants can develop their artistic skills in ancient art practices such as basket weaving, beading, formline design, metal engraving, skin sewing, spruce-root and cedar-bark harvesting, tool making, and wood carving. Community workshops provide a supportive and inclusive learning environment that encourages creativity, collaboration, and cultural exchange.
Online Classes
Online classes are a form of remote learning where students can participate in educational activities from the comfort of their own homes or workspace. These classes are designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the art forms and techniques unique to Northwest Coast cultures. Through online instruction and interactive sessions, students can develop their skills and knowledge of this rich and diverse art form and connect with a community of like-minded artists and learners. Overall, online classes provide an accessible way for individuals to pursue their artistic interests and deepen their understanding of the Northwest Coast art traditions.
Atnané Northwest Coast Arts Academy
SHI sponsors Atnané Northwest Coast Arts Academy, a culturally integrated college and career readiness program for Alaska Native/American Indian high school students. Northwest Coast arts classes, team building activities, entrepreneurship training, and culturally affirming artistic lesson plans help students enter a career pathway in Northwest Coast arts. Open to all Sealaska shareholders regardless of residency. SHI will pay travel and lodging costs. In addition, SHI has partnered with the Juneau, Sitka, and Klawock school districts to offer Northwest Coast arts courses to high school students in six high schools. Students have the option to earn college credit as well as high school credits, and the program supports the courses with accessible, authentic cultural resources.
Northwest Coast Arts Degree Program
SHI has partnered with the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) to develop and offer an Associate of Arts (AA) degree with an emphasis on Northwest Coast arts. The undergraduate program includes a wide spectrum of classes—from tool making to design, basketry and weaving among others. The program, which will be offered this fall at the university’s Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka campuses, is part of a larger effort to establish a four-year degree track through UAS and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Thanks to an MOA between SHI, UAS, and IAIA, students who earn an AA degree with a NWC Arts emphasis have the option to transfer credits and pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from IAIA. Students can also work toward a bachelor’s degree in arts and sciences or education at UAS or the broader University of Alaska system. In addition to art classes, the program requires students to complete courses in Alaska Native studies, Indigenous performing arts and a language class on beginning Tlingit, Haida or Tsimshian, as well as Northwest Coast design, art history and culture, art theory and practice, and career development for artists.
Museum Studies
SHI offers summer internships to undergraduate and graduate students at SHI in Juneau and the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Interns gain hands-on experience with cataloging museum collections, object storage management, and exhibition planning, research, and installation.
Art Studies
SHI offers summer internships to art students who are pursuing an arts and science degree, preferably with a focus on Northwest Coast or Alaska Native arts through studio arts, performing arts and technology, or creative writing.
Art and Museum Studies
SHI offers scholarships to undergraduate or graduate students who are pursuing: - Arts and science degrees with a focus in studio arts, performing arts, cinematic arts and technology, or creative writing, and which incorporate Northwest Coast Arts studies in their degree; or, - A degree with a concentration in museum studies Art students must be enrolled in NWC arts courses at the University of Alaska Southeast or arts courses at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Museum studies students must be enrolled full-time at a US college.
Box of Treasures (High School and College)
It is committed to building educational and career pathways beginning in high school and extending throughout the collegiate and professional levels, and is implemented in partnership with University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau School District, Klawock City School District, Sitka School District and Sitka Tribe of Alaska. A large portion of the programming is offered through the Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus, a hub for in-person and virtual course offerings taught by master artists and co-sponsored with University of Alaska in efforts to expand the Northwest Coast Arts degree program while increasing delivery methods. The project is part of SHI’s efforts to galvanize the region’s economy and ultimately designate Northwest Coast Art as a national treasure.
Naakahídi Academy (Clan House)
NWC art historically included a rich performing arts tradition. In modern times, SHI has sought to integrate Native cultures into productions such as operas and plays. To that end, SHI sponsors Aadé sh kadulneek yé, which seeks to foster acting, Native language, and singing skills into adults for such performances.
Juried Youth Art Exhibit
SHI sponsors a biennial Juried Youth Art Exhibit, which is held in conjunction with Celebration, a major dance-and-culture festival organized by SHI. The program is part of an effort to increase the number of young artists making high-quality pieces and sharing their work with the public. Cash awards are made to schools of the winners for art supplies to be used by schools or organizations for future instruction in Northwest Coast art. All youth who chose to exhibit receive a specially-made Juried Art Show t-shirt, and winners also receive a certificate. The competition is open to all youth in grades 6-12. The exhibit is held in June every even year.
Master-Apprentice System
SHI sponsors master-apprenticeships to perpetuate and revitalize Northwest Coast art, especially endangered traditions, such as spruce-root weaving and dugout canoe carving. The program was fostered at SHI's first Native Artists Gathering, which brought together nearly 30 artists in 2015 who identified the most imperiled Northwest Coast Native art traditions. This traditional method of training younger artists still provides the best instruction.
Native Art in Alaska Prisons
A significant population of Alaska Natives is in correctional institutions. SHI collaborates with Lemon Creek Correctional Center to offer NWC art training in prison as a way to connect Native inmates with their culture and give them a means of supporting themselves through art sales upon release.
Designated Artist’ Spaces
SHI operates an artist-in-residence study room at the Walter Soboleff Building named after master artist Delores Churchill to encourage the study of NWC art. Artists have access to SHI’s extensive ethnographic collection for study while they are in residence. SHI also hosts artists at its Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus and accommodates artists working on large-scale projects, such as totem poles and dugout canoes.
Kit & Curricula
Formline design is part of a living culture and integral to the lifeways of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian. “It surrounds us, and it holds us up. Our Northwest Coast art is ingrained in the social fabric and oral histories of our clans.” —Rico Lanáat ́ Worl, A Basic Guide to Northwest Coast Formline Art In this project, we give students an introduction to formline design shapes and definitions, the importance of balance in the design form, and to ways an experienced Native artist would compose a formline design. We then provide them with tools to create their formline design. A key to this project is to see both the positive and negative aspects of a design and how each type influences and serves to shape the other. SHI offers materials to teach Northwest Coast art, including an online textbook, flashcards, and curriculum boards. To order a hard copy of the textbook, contact the Sealaska Heritage Store at thestore@sealaska.com or 907.586.9114.
Instructional Videos
SHI has posted numerous videos online, including a two-day formline workshop taught by Steve Brown, ovoid construction with David R. Boxley using Adobe Illustrator, and how-to video series showing spruce root weaving in practice, from harvesting the roots to weaving and finishing the basket, as well as some time talking with Delores Churchill, a master Haida weaver. This series was created to help revive the endangered art form of spruce root weaving and features several apprentices. The video documentation was gifted to SHI by Lindblad Expeditions as a way to give back to the cultures that their clients (tourists) are exposed to. Instructional videos on how to make horn spoons were created in an effort to save this endangered Northwest Coast art practice. Horn spoon instructor Steve Brown narrates the videos. Videos are posted online on our YouTube channel and on our Vimeo page.
Lecture Videos
Watch lectures on Northwest Coast art by renowned Native artists and scholars, including Robert Davidson, Delores Churchill, and David Boxley. SHI videos are posted online on our YouTube channel and on our Vimeo page.