For Immediate Release
Contact: Cassandra Stalzer, 907-334-0520

Anchorage, AK –  Anchorage artist Garry Kaulitz has been named the 2015 Rasmuson Foundation Distinguished Artist. The $40,000 award, announced today, recognizes an artist with stature and a history of creative excellence. Kaulitz is the twelfth Alaskan artist to receive the award and he joins a prestigious list of previous winners including Peggy Shumaker (2014), Teri Rofkar (2013), Kes Woodward (2012), Ray Troll (2011), John Luther Adams (2010), Nathan Jackson (2009), Ronald Senungetuk (2008), Rie Munoz (2007), Delores Churchill (2006), John Haines (2005) and Sylvester Ayek (2004).

“Foremost, Garry Kaulitz describes himself as a practicing artist who specializes in the visions that dance in his head,” said Diane Kaplan, Rasmuson Foundation president.

Kaulitz’ works have been exhibited internationally, nationally and regionally. He has received numerous awards, grants and residencies and is represented in many private, public and museum collections. Kaulitz is Professor Emeritus of Art at the University of Alaska Anchorage, where he taught from 1993 to 2014. Since retiring last year, he has been conducting workshops and managing a co-op print shop. His current work deals with the juxtaposition of biographical reflections and the human form with mind frictions and fictions.

Before coming to Alaska, he was owner and master printer at a press in his name and taught at The Louisville School of Art, University of Louisville and University of Indiana. He earned his Master of Fine Arts in printmaking at Rochester Institute of Technology.

In addition to the Distinguished Artist Award, Rasmuson Foundation also awarded 25 Project Grants (worth up to $7,500 each) and ten Fellowships (worth up to $18,000 each). These artists were chosen from more than 300 applicants, whose applications were judged by an esteemed national panel of artists and arts leaders. A complete list of award recipients is attached.

This year’s winners represent 12 communities across Alaska: Anchorage, Chevak, Eagle River, Fairbanks, Glennallen, Haines, Juneau, Ketchikan, Port Alsworth, Sitka, Skagway and Talkeetna.

View a video about Distinguished Artist Garry Kaulitz
Photos of work by 2015 recipients
Photos of the 2015 recipients

2015 Fellows

Mark Knapp is a custom knife maker based in Fairbanks. His goal is to explore the limits of artistic expression with steel and handle material, by combining old world traditions and modern techniques. He will build five presentation knives for submission at the 2016 Blade Show in Atlanta. That presentation is the final step in achieving his journeyman certificate from the American Bladesmith Society.

Dawnell Smith, a writer in Anchorage, will research and conduct interviews for a collaborative memoir that examines the day-to-day and deep impact of sexual abuse on survivors and the people who love them.

John Tetpon, of Eagle River, began work on his autobiography in 2006 on the encouragement of his children. Nine years later, he has written approximately 30,000 words and calculates the manuscript is about half done. The challenge has been to carve out the time to complete what he calls the account of his life and times.

Allison Akootchook Warden, a performance artist in Anchorage, is working on an interdisciplinary installation to debut at the Anchorage Museum in 2016. The installation will be an Inupiaq qargi, or traditional ceremonial meeting house, which Warden will occupy during museum hours for two months.

Stephanie Wonchala, a choreographer and dance educator in Anchorage, will attend dance festivals outside Alaska to expand her perspective. She hopes to train among some of the world’s best dancers, see some of the world’s best choreography and bring what she learns back to Alaska, to create new work and teach what she has learned.

TJ Young is a carver and artist in the Haida tradition of formline design. He will use his award to expand his studio into a professional workspace and purchase new equipment. Originally from Hydaburg, he now lives in Anchorage. Young has been a full-time working artist for 10 years. He looks forward to applying what he has learned from a recently completed three-year apprenticeship with Robert Davidson.

Nicole Stellon O’Donnell, of Fairbanks, will complete her second collection of poems, “Everything Never Comes Your Way,” and begin new work in creative nonfiction.

Kay Parker is a Juneau-based traditional weaver who works in the Ravenstail style. Tunics with sleeves in this style are rare and Parker plans to visit and study two of them on the East Coast and in Canada. She will then weave a tunic with sleeves.

Anne Coray, of Port Alsworth, will write short fiction and work on a novel. The literary novel is set in contemporary southwest Alaska, in a fictional rural community made up of a few colorful friends.

Vivian Prescott, of Sitka, will complete a poetry manuscript. Because her poetry requires research into language, history and place, she will live at her family’s fish camp on the small island of Wrangell.

2015 Project Awards

Martha Amore, of Anchorage, will complete a collection of literary short stories. She will attend two Alaska conferences, reduce her summer teaching load and hire a babysitter.

Chris Carlin will make safety improvements to the Anchorage studio where he makes bamboo fly rods.

Michael Conti’s multidisciplinary work is all about hockey – ambition, violence and absurdity within the sport. Conti, of Anchorage, will apply his project award to a solo exhibition scheduled for next February at the Anchorage Museum.

Sarah Davies, of Anchorage, will complete a public art installation consisting of 100 life-sized figures. The title – “100Stone” – represents the burden often born by those who struggle with or care for people who struggle with mental health management, chronic illness, trauma, grief and suicidal thoughts.

Amber Gauthier, an opera singer in Anchorage, will attend the Sankt Goar International Music Festival and Academy in Germany this summer and represent Alaska in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in October in Seattle.

Todd Grebe, of Anchorage, will tour in Alaska to promote “Citizen,” his third full-length compilation of original music. He hopes the tour will help him carve a niche in Alaska as a songwriter, performer and educator.

Emma Hill, a composer in Anchorage, will tour Europe and the UK to promote her latest compilation of folk and Americana music.

Michael Howard, a folk composer in Anchorage, will produce his second full-length studio album of original music.

Bobbi Itta works with fur in the traditional Inupiaq style of her ancestors. She will develop a professional website, purchase a larger sewing machine, document her art, and purchase furs. Originally from Barrow, Itta now lives in Anchorage.

Dr. Tamara McCoy, a pianist and vocalist, will use her award to collaborate with classical guitarist Valerie Hartzell. Since Hartzell lives in England and McCoy is an Anchorage resident, the award will facilitate a two-country tour with concerts in England and Alaska.

Maris O’Tierney, of Anchorage, will explore the “space between” – the rest between notes.

Chantelle Pence will self-publish the first in a series of “Homestead Girl” books. Subtitled “Alaska Grown Prose,” it’s a collection of creative non-fiction stories about the people and places of Alaska. Pence resides in Anchorage.

Jimmy Riordan is a multi-disciplinary visual artist in Anchorage. His current project is a 96-page graphic novel that uses fiction and autobiography to address mortality and how one can compartmentalize personal trauma.

Cody Swanson, a photographer in Anchorage, will finish his “cast-head camera” project, using photography to explore the idea of altered memories. His work questions our sense of vision and memory and the way we use sight and photography to capture the world around us.

Lisa Unin, from Chevak, will make two full size traditional Cup’ik parkas. She will interview elders about how they made traditional parkas. Unin will donate the completed parkas to museums in Alaska.

Emerson Eads of Fairbanks will write a children’s opera based on an adaption of Yeats’ “Pot of Broth.” Eads’ opera will be placed in Alaska.

Karinna Gomez, a printmaker in Fairbanks, will participate in several artist residencies in Norway. She will create a new series of prints and drawings that build on recent work.

Robert LaMontagne of Fairbanks works with glass, wood and concrete. He will create a body of work composed of individual pieces that weave together a narrative of northern issues.

Mary Odden, of Glennallen, will complete a collection of creative non-fiction essays with the working title of “Kith and Kin.” About half the essays are entirely new and in progress.

John Hagen, a photographer in Haines, will use his award to cover transportation and tuition at workshops in Santa Fe and Maine, where he will focus on digital printing and developing his artistic vision.

Peter Griffin, a storyteller in Juneau, will use his award for a four-day coaching session with a solo performance coach. Griffin hopes to develop a compelling one-person, one-hour performance from his existing collection of personal stories.

Rico Lanáat Worl, of Juneau, focuses on traditional Tlingit and modern applications of formline design. He will expand from two-dimensional work into three dimensions, using bronze and 3-D printing.

Kathryn Rousso, a textile artist in Ketchikan, will create an exhibit exploring “A Sense of Place.” The exhibit will feature photos and examples of textiles made from plant materials in various regions of the world, ranging from Central and South America, to New Zealand, as well as her own work reflecting Southeast Alaska.

Rachel Ford, of Skagway, will create a book of graphic short stories depicting life in the North, from backcountry skiing to sun dogs and northern lights, to life in a small, isolated community.

Sarah Birdsall, of Talkeetna, will build a small, portable writing studio with the goal of completing a first draft of her new novel, “Wild Rivers, Wild Rose,” within the next year.

About the Individual Artist Awards

In December 2003, the Rasmuson Foundation Board of Directors launched a multi-year initiative to make a significant investment into the arts and cultural resources of the state. Designed with the help from artists and arts organizations from around the state, the initiative prioritized support to practicing artists themselves as a key strategy to ensure Alaska enjoys a vibrant art and culture community.

This is the twelfth year of the Individual Artist Awards program and, as of today, the program has awarded 373 grants, totaling more than $3.1 million, directly to Alaska artists. The purpose of the awards is to allow artists to seek a variety of creative opportunities, including providing them with the time necessary to focus on creative work.

About the Foundation
The Rasmuson Foundation was created in May 1955 by Jenny Rasmuson to honor her late husband E.A. Rasmuson. The Foundation is a catalyst to promote a better life for all Alaskans.