Museums Alaska is currently accepting applications for the Access to Alaska Native Collections (AANC) program. This program responds to the needs of the Alaska Native artist community for access to Alaska Native collections in museums by supporting research visits to museum collections storage in Alaska. As such, Alaska Native artists will be invited to propose a visit to a participating museum’s collection that has a clear benefit to the artist and the development of their work.
The grant will cover travel costs for the collections visit—flights, ferries, mileage, per diem, lodging, parking, taxis, and family care needs—up to $2,500. There are six grants available.
The grant program is made possible with funding from The CIRI Foundation’s A Journey to What Matters: Increased Alaska Native Art & Culture (JWM) funding and is administered by Museums Alaska on behalf of the Foundation. All inquiries must be directed to the Museums Alaska Director.
Eligibility is limited to Alaska Native artists located in the state of Alaska.
Please contact us if you have any questions about the program.
APPLICATION DATES:
Open date - Wednesday, January 18, 2023, 12:00am
Deadline - Friday, March 3, 2023, 11:59pm
Application Draft Review Deadline: February 17, 2023, 11:59pm.
Funding will be sent out in early April 2023 and has to be spent by July 31, 2023, so please plan your travel accordingly.
IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS & LINKS:
- Link to the Application (the deadline has passed)
- Grant Help
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- We have an optional grant review for those who would like help strengthening their application. To submit your application for optional grant review, complete your narrative and budget and submit them to Museums Alaska's director by the review deadline (listed above and in the grant guidelines).
INFORMATION ABOUT ALASKA NATIVE COLLECTIONS AT PARTICIPATING MUSEUMS:
- Please find a brief description of their collections below. If you think they may have a collection you'd like to visit, but would like more information, please contact Angie Demma (907-330-8067).
The Alaska Native Heritage Center cares for a collection that reflects Alaska Native cultural groups from all five regions of the state. The permanent collection accounts for about 3,000 objects, archives, library books, and photographs. Most recently, over 1,700 cultural belongings were gifted to the Center after the closing of the Wells Fargo Museum. The objects and belongings include fine art, utilitarian objects and tools, regalia, watercraft, instruments, historical photographs, the Institute of Alaska Native arts archival files and photos, and library materials.
The education collection consists of about 500 objects and will be used up in the course of its life. It includes regalia and objects that are handled at the life-size village sites that are interpreted at the point of contact with Europeans.
In terms of rare pieces of art and items of cultural matrimony, we primarily steward Tlingit objects. This includes carvings, bentwood boxes, many miniature totems, a significant number of spruce root basketry pieces including 20 gallon plus bags. There are several hundred pieces of hide and bead work as well, and 288 pieces of ivory, mostly art, and mostly collected from various places in Western Alaska around the year 1900.
APPLICATION
To apply, click the button below to go to the grant application. Grant application deadlines can be found in the Application Guidelines document linked above.
Note: The application was created in Google Forms. You cannot save the application and return to it. Please have all your information and documents ready to upload at one time.
Grant Application Link
We have an optional grant review for those who would like help strengthening their application. To submit your application for optional grant review, complete your narrative and budget and submit them to Museums Alaska's director by the review deadline (listed in the grant guidelines).
