Contact: Victoria Lord
Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Awards Selected, John Haines receives Distinguished Artist Award
Anchorage - Well known literary artist John Haines has been selected as the 2005 Rasmuson Foundation Distinguished Artist in recognition of his lifelong accomplishments in the arts. When notified about the award, Haines commented that he was surprised and honored. Haines will receive $25,000 which he plans to use to complete a new selection of essays, reviews and letters for publication as well as a collection of poems.
In addition to serving as Alaska's 3rd Poet Laureate from 1969 to 1973, Haines' honors include the Alaska Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, two Guggenheim Fellowships, an Amy Lowell Travelling Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Library of Congress. He was also named a Fellow by the Academy of American Poets.
The author of more than ten collections of poetry, some of his most recognized work includes The Owl in the Mask of the Dreamer (1996), and his memoir, The Stars, the Snow, the Fire: Twenty-five Years in the Northern Wilderness (1989). A veteran of World War II, his most recent work, Wartime, A Late Memoir describing his years of naval service in the Southcentral Pacific, was published in the Sewanee Review in Winter 2004. Haines is presently a visiting instructor in the Honors Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
One of the application review panelists commented: "John Haines' name became synonymous with Alaska for those of us who read his first 2 books of poems, Winter News and The Stone Harp, back in the 1960's. The lines in these poems were spare and darkly beautiful, steeped in the mystery of the frozen north. Haines had built his own homestead, and his poetry reflected the simple life of one who spends long stretches of time in the landscape, including the occasional surreal flight of the imagination sprung loose from its moorings by an over-long spell of silence. He has proven himself a master of the image, through a deep connection to the land and its creatures. His poetry (and essays too) continue to surprise and amaze, to provide the reader with an integrity of vision forged long ago in those early poems."
The Individual Artist Awards are a program of the Arts and Culture Initiative, a ten-year $20 million investment to increase the impact of arts in Alaska. The awards are intended to provide artists with the resources to concentrate and reflect on their work, to immerse themselves in a creative endeavor, and to experiment, explore, and develop their artistry more fully. To date, the Foundation has awarded over $380,000 to 36 artists for Project Awards; 13 artists for Fellowship Awards; and 2 artists as recipients of the Distinguished Artist award.
This fall the Foundation received 170 applications from across the state for the three award categories. "There were many excellent applications in all the artistic disciplines," commented Victoria Lord, program associate. "We continue to rely on expert panelists from outside Alaska to evaluate all of the applications, resulting in, what we believe, is a thorough, thoughtful, and unbiased review process."
Six artists have been chosen to receive $12,000 Fellowship Awards: Ayap'run J. David Abraham, Folk & Traditional (Yup'ik), Anchorage; Kathleen Carlo, Folk & Traditional (Athabascan), Fairbanks; Olena Davis, Literary (poetry), Anchorage; Seth Kantner, Literary (creative non-fiction), Kotzebue; Thomas Malapanis, Folk & Traditional (guitar maker), Palmer; and Susan Share, Crafts (Book arts), Anchorage. Fellowship Awards recognize mid-career or mature Alaskan artists providing an opportunity for them to focus their energy and attention for a one-year period on developing their creative work.
In addition, 2005 Individual Artist Project grants have been awarded to John Luther Adams, Music Composition, Fairbanks, $5,000; Sarah Beaty, Crafts (clay), Fort Yukon, $5,000; Michael Conti, Visual Art (photographer), Anchorage, $4,400; Mark Daughhetee, Visual Art (photographer), Juneau, $4.990; Ernestine Hayes, Literary Arts, Juneau, $2,200; Judith Lindenfelser, Literary Arts, Chugiak, $3,000; Charles Mason, Visual Art (photographer), Fairbanks, $5,000; Mavis Muller, Visual Art/Crafts (basket maker), Homer, $4,000; Alexandra Phillips, Visual Art (mixed-media), Anchorage, $5,000; Jake Pogrebinsky, Folk & Traditional (blacksmith), Fairbanks, $5,000; and Patrick Race, Media Arts, Juneau, $5,000. Project awards are for Alaskan artists at any stage in their careers for specific, short-term projects that have a clear benefit to the artist and the development of his/her work.
The next deadline for Project Award applications is March 1, 2006 (postmark deadline). More information is available here at the Foundation's website or by calling Victoria Lord at 907-297-2827 or toll-free 1-877-366-2700. A list of past award recipients can be viewed by clicking here.
The Rasmuson Foundation was created under a declaration of trust in May of 1955 by Jenny Rasmuson to honor her late husband, "E.A." Rasmuson. Today, the Rasmuson Foundation continues this tradition through programs that support both non-profit organizations and individuals dedicated to improving the quality of life for people throughout the state. By assisting those who address basic needs, arts and culture, and projects that address special circumstances, the Rasmuson Foundation contributes to healthy, enriched and productive lives for Alaskans of all ages.
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