#uamn

PHOTO ABOVE: Gail Priday installing works commissioned by the state of Alaska’s Percent for Art program at Ryan Middle School in July 2017. Photo by Brandon McGrath-Bernhard

Gail Priday is fascinated by the details of the Northern landscape. Her paintings and woodcuts highlight the treasures found in the forest, suggesting an active world that exists quietly underfoot. Her work explores both the bloom and decay of the forest floor, examining fungus, berries, and even the shadows on a snowbank. It provides a space to explore environmental elements while also ruminating on the wonder, beauty, and variety of her surroundings. Her work is featured through March 2019 in the Café Gallery at the UA Museum of the North.

Is there a theme to the artworks that you selected for this show? The pieces included in this show bring attention to the details I find most compelling about the Northern landscape. I am able to find a seemingly endless variety of subject matter in the woods around my house. There is so much variety in a small area, and there are daily and seasonal changes that continually add interest. The blooming and decaying forest floor, fungus, berries, and shadow patterns on the snow, consistently capture my attention. These easily overlooked features of the landscape hold great significance to me. They suggest an extraordinary and active world that exists quietly beside me.

Have any of the pieces been shown in public yet? This show includes new work as well as work previously exhibited at Well Street Art Company in Fairbanks and Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage. There are two brand new paintings not yet shown in public, as well as several pieces that have not been exhibited in Fairbanks before now.

PHOTO ABOVE: “Decomposing Birch” by Gail Priday

Why did you pick these particular works? These pieces illustrate the wide range of subject matter available in a small area. It is a cross section of the many features I am drawn to in the woods around my home on Chena Ridge. I included works from each season because seasonal changes are such a remarkable feature of living in the Interior. This show features woodcuts alongside oil paintings. Painting allows for the use of so many colors and the inclusion of endless details, while woodcuts force me to use only the essentials. As a result, they compliment one another. The large paintings can be viewed from a distance, while the woodcuts draw you in.

What are you hoping the audience will take away from this exhibit? So many people are fascinated by the same subjects, whether they are scientists, trail runners, mushroom hunters, or berry pickers. I think many people get excited about the rapid summer growing season or the unique winter light. Anyone who spends time in the woods around Fairbanks sees decaying logs, rosehips, and shadows on the snow. I hope viewers connect with these familiar subjects, recalling times they were out in the forest doing what they love. Many viewers will be visitors who may only be in Fairbanks for a short time. It is my hope that this exhibit will add to their experience of the Northern landscape.

What inspires you as an artist? I am inspired by the things I see every day and I am fascinated by the ever changing natural world. I equate walking through the woods to treasure hunting. I frequently carry pockets full of fallen leaves, lichen covered branches, and decaying logs back to my studio. I have even had those closest to me surprise me by leaving a fungus covered log by my woodpile as a gift, or help me carry a log home.

I am also inspired by the things I cannot see, such as the microbial processes that cause the fallen logs and leaves to decay, and the spores that infiltrate the woods, causing so many interesting things to emerge. I get a jolt of inspiration anytime I go outside and see that what I saw the day before is different in some way. Finally, I find much inspiration in the work of other artists in Alaska and beyond. Spending time exploring the work, processes, and ideas of other artists is crucial to a strong studio practice.

What does it mean to have your work on display at the UA Museum of the North? It is an honor! For the past three years I have worked at the museum as the school and community liaison as part of the education and public programs team. I am fortunate to spend my days here and know many of the artworks and objects well. Showing my work in the same space that houses artwork I have so often studied and admired is really exciting. I am also excited about having a new and varied audience for my work. The museum attracts visitors from all over the world, and the café is frequented by many UAF employees and students who may or may not be familiar with my work. It is my hope that having my art on display in the café will give many visitors a unique perspective of the Alaskan landscape.

IDEAS ARE EVERYWHERE -- Jamie Smith is the creator of the cartoon feature Nuggets, which has appeared weekly in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner since 1988. Originally from western and central New York, Smith currently teaches drawing at UAF and creates freelance illustrations out of his cabin, which he shares with his wife and cats. The artist is currently featured in the museum’s Cafe Gallery.

Is there a theme to the artworks that you selected for this show? Pretty much a random rock-skipping across half a dozen years of published work. Given the time frame of the exhibit there’s a slightly seasonal skew, otherwise it’s the usual Fairbanks foibles. One of the motivations behind surveying the field of works produced over the years is to assess how much potential material is suitable to publish in an upcoming collection.

Do they speak to each other in some way? When viewed as a whole generally all of the cartoons in this series under the Nuggets title will touch upon some attribute of life in the arctic and/or the critters that inhabit it, including the people. Individually they exemplify one of the unique aspects of the newspaper feature: the unpredictable and diverse range of subject matter I get to touch on, which mirrors my erratic, spontaneous attention span across eclectic topics of interest.

Why did you pick these particular works? I cater to the demographics of my readership, which is a nice way of saying you won’t get it if you’re not from here. This limits my audience but retains a unique regional flavor that isn’t as homogenized as syndicated strips. Many selections were culled from the archives purely on account of their popularity, some also highlight interesting scenarios, reflecting a love of basic drawing. Admittedly there are a couple included by virtue of the fact that I alone find them funny. You’ll just have to trust me on that.

Tell us more about your decision to exhibit them in two rows, one on top of the other. You mentioned that this might evoke a comic strip. Even though the bulk of my work is in the form of a single-panel gag cartoon, one of the hallmarks of sequential art (the juxtaposition of image + text) is the gutter between panels in a comic strip. While hanging the pieces, it occurred to me that the spaces in between the framed imagery link together a narrative -- both personal and about the lifestyle of the Interior.

As an artist with a regularly published series, what does it mean to show your artwork in an exhibit? Comics are enjoying an upswing in popularity and critical appreciation. As a unique art form, it has an increasingly strong presence on the literary front in bestsellers lists, especially with the rise of graphic novels and more mature, sophisticated narratives gaining the public’s acceptance in the public. Comics – especially in a gallery setting - can also showcase all of the fundamental aesthetic elements of any drawing: composition, value, color, line and texture etc. Also, given the temporal nature of print and the short-term attention span of social media. these pieces can occupy space + time outside of the constant flood of imagery that saturates modern life.

You bring your drawing class to the museum. Can you tell us a little more about how you use the galleries in your teaching? Ideas are everywhere. Every room is basically a big box full of stuff to mentally play with, not to mention what happens when people are added to the mix. Aside from the simple opportunity to practice basic drawing skills and gather reference sketches, cultural repositories such as museums are ripe, ready-made sources of inspiration to literally draw from.

“Salmon running the birch stream (unfinished)” by Charlotte Wyncoop

We received this lovely note from a recent visitor to the UA Museum of the North and asked her if it was OK to share this story with you. She said yes! And hoped it would inspire more people to see the artwork on display at UAMN.

I wanted to thank you for the art collection on your upper floor [in the Rose Berry Alaska Art Gallery]. The mix of craft and art in both traditional and non-traditional media was exciting and freeing for me as a hobby artist. I really enjoyed the breadth of the collection from both Native and non-native perspectives.

Seeing Alaska has renewed my itch to create. With four kids its been a struggle to find time. The midnight sun gave me opportunity while we were camped in Talkeetna, and I wanted to share my small piece of what Alaska inspired. I hope to find more time and inspiration as we vacation across this beautiful state.

Thanks to Curator Derek Sikes for sharing his research on Kasatochi. He’s been documenting the return of life to this Aleutian island after the volcano erupted in 2008.

Sikes just happened to visit Kasatochi in 2008, weeks before the unexpected eruption. One of the insects he collected happened to be an entirely new species to science.

Sikes joined a team of researchers who revisited the island in 2009. He wasn’t excited about the prospect, expecting an ecosystem overrun by ash and mud. They discovered some unlikely survivors, including insects living off the dead birds, fish and kelp accumulating on the beach.

“We were surprised to find that all the herbivores were wiped out and that all the insect activity was by predators and scavengers,” Sikes said. “This contradicted much of the successional ecology literature which stated that food-webs begin with plants and herbivores.”

He’s been attempting to return to the island ever since. You can learn more about what Sikes discovered in this feature story published by the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

WINTER’S MAMMAL VISITORS -- If you’ve ever opened your door to find a moose on your lawn or driveway, you know how big they are! They can fill up the view from a picture window. Our ungulate neighbors are fun to safely observe on a winter’s day from indoors.

Whether the moose is nibbling on shrubs or blocking the path to your car, these giant herbivores are drawn to human landscapes and manicured gardens.

Moose can grow as tall as seven feet at the shoulder. They are the largest members of the deer family. And on top of that, the subspecies that lives in Alaska is the largest in the world. They live all over the state, except a few remote areas like the Arctic Slope and the Aleutians.

Moose prefer boreal forests in temperate and subarctic climates, so Alaska offers good habitat.

Museum educator Emily Koehler-Platten has been researching moose for a variety of hands-on programs in February at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. She said everything about moose is big. Even the calves.

“Newborn calves gain three to six pounds per day and can outrun a human a few days after birth. During mating season, bull moose are often too preoccupied to eat and lose a lot of weight. Bull moose also lose their huge antlers and grow a new set every year. I find that incredible.”

But why do moose grow so large? One reason is their need to stay warm during the winter. These mammals have an insulating layer of fat and protein and are efficient at getting the most out of their food. Their long legs also allow moose to wade easily through deep water or snow.

Moose spend most of their time looking for food. Adults can eat up to 70 pounds a day. Willows are an important source of nutrition, especially in the winter. In the summer, moose add fireweed (Epilobium latifolium) and a variety of other plants to their diet. They also find aquatic plants tasty and spend much of the summer eating marsh cinquefoil (Comarum palustre), along with other wetland plants.

Since they are herbivores, plants are important to moose, but the benefit goes both ways.

Herbarium collection manager Jordan Metzgar said moose play a role in the ecosystem of plants in Interior Alaska because they disperse them to new locations. “When moose eat a plant's fruit, they can travel many miles before they pass the seeds in their scat.”

Sometimes this is a bad thing. When moose eat invasive plants like white sweet clover, they can spread the seeds to new locations miles away and push out native plants. But Metzgar said moose are also a positive influence. “They spread native seeds while browsing and can change forest succession patterns by helping to establish alders (Alnus spp.).”

At the museum’s Family Day: Moose on Saturday, Feb. 11, visitors can learn more about these fascinating animals. A closely related species called Alces latifrons is featured in a reproduction of a painting by artist Jay Matternes on display in the Gallery of Alaska depicting Ice Age animals in Alaska.

This specimen from the Ikpikpuk River, North Slope, AK is 14,100 years old, the oldest recorded moose specimen in the museum’s collection. Photo by Katherine Anderson (UAMES 10922)

According to Earth sciences collection manager Katie Anderson, modern moose (Alces alces) appeared during the late Pleistocene and migrated to North America at the end of that epoch. The animals likely arrived in Alaska 14,000 years ago based on radiocarbon dating of specimens in the collection.

Moose are important to the lifestyle of many Alaska Native peoples. In the Interior, Athabascan communities have traditionally used every part of the moose. One moose can provide a large amount of meat. And even the parts that don’t appear edible are used. For example, moose nose soup is a prized delicacy.

Alaskans use parts of the moose for a variety of objects. Antlers and bones can be turned into tools. After the heart is eaten, the membrane can be used as a storage bag. The hide is used for clothing, mattresses and even canoes. Sinew, which is dried moose tendon, can be used for sewing. And people use strips of rawhide, or babiche, to make sleds and snowshoes.

Athabascan cultural values encourage hunters to show respect toward moose, other animals and toward the land itself. Success of the hunt is judged not only by  how many moose you get, but how well you respected the animal.

In contemporary Alaska, moose continue to be an important subsistence animal. Today, more people hunt moose than any other big game species in Alaska. Every year 6,000 to 8,000 moose are harvested in the state.

If you visit a museum program this month, Koehler-Platten said you can explore moose in a variety of ways:  by handling real antlers, making your own paper antler headband, exampling objects made of moose parts or making moose art. “Come any day this month to see a life-sized moose silhouette in the Family Room and add your own decorated moose track to the wall.”

yesssss.

the Museum of the North at UAF suspended this bowhead whale in 2020. i got to see it being made!

some parts of the skeleton are 3d printed. but you couldnt really tell unless you knew what you were looking for; the mammalogy department in the museum have very skilled artists :3 i got to hold a part once and it was baffling how light the "bone" was compared to an actual rib they let you lift in the side exhibit

some other pics from the same museum <3

a crested auklet, a small bird suspended next to the bowhead. you might see it in the whale pictures. tiny thing!

other whales shown in the northwest alaska exhibit

and my favorite part of the museum, the place:

its an ambient art piece by John Luther Adams. it takes data like geological, weather, day/night, moon/sun, and aurora activity to produce different soundscapes. the colors change based on the time of day. as im writing i hear tones of aurora!