Art by Jennifer Norton

I’m back in Seattle, but before I left Alaska, I spent an evening going to art openings with my mother in my hometown of Homer, Alaska. It’s a bit of a nostalgia thing, really, as she used to cover arts for the local paper, and I tagged along with her to many many openings as a child. Homer is a big art town, so there’s quite a bit to see.

Our first stop was Bunnell Street, a restored building housing a wonderful gallery and a bed and breakfast. Rather than a single artist’s work, their current exhibition is a curated collection by a variety of Alaskan artists.

During the opening, the curator stood up and spoke to the crowd about his experiences coming to Alaska, originally as a seasonal worker. The first question that many people asked him was, ‘how long have you been here?’ Now that he’s lived in-state for ten years, he still feels like there is a line drawn in the sand, and he wanted address that with the show. Here’s his statement on the idea behind the show. Read More →