Haines’ First Friday features historical exhibits, new artwork, and an art auction for a local family | KHNS radio

First Friday is back in Haines after some took a month-long hiatus due to the COVID outbreak in the community. The October 1st events feature historical exhibits, brand new works, and a community auction raised for a local family. Corinne Smith from KHNS got this preview.

A variety of original art is on display in Haines on this first Friday, and there is also a mission this month. More than 50 local artists and some from across Southeast Alaska donated pieces to a silent auction to benefit Willow Bryant, a young Haines youth currently receiving treatment for anorexia. All proceeds are used for their medical expenses.

The auction is being organized by co-owners Amelia Nash and Andrea Nelson of Ampersand AK, an art gallery and gift shop on Main Street.

“We only got in touch with a few people through social media and over the phone at first,” said Nash. “And then, when the news spread, we received a lot of unsolicited donations that were still coming in yesterday. So we have new items that people may not even have seen that are on the floor tonight. So it was just a huge deluge of generosity from artists and business owners, and that was nice. “

Co-owner Andrea Nelson points out some of the pieces on display in the front window where ‘Bid for Willow’ is stenciled over the glass.

“We have a very popular chicken picture, it’s a hot object,” Nelson said with a laugh. “I mean, there is everything from knitted hats and enamel mugs to garden art and weather vanes.”

A full auction Item list is available online now on Ampersand AK’s social media pages, and bidding is open until 7pm on Friday evening. A family-run GoFundMe raised over $ 33,000 as of Friday afternoon for his $ 85,000 goal. Nelson says the response has been inspiring.

“I have a feeling that due to the seasonal change and winter, there is a tough anniversary ahead for many people and just a few difficult years with COVID, we are all running out of motivation and energy,” said Nelson. “And making a call to action and seeing the reaction is really inspiring and driving the engine … and really the idea that artists and communities can come together to help someone who needs help.”

Next door in the bookstore, on the piano of the owner Amy Kane, the grandmother of Willow Bryant, Debi Knight Kennedy displays a collection of carved and stylized figures made of driftwood, which are also used for the fundraiser.

Debi Knight Kennedy’s new exhibition is called “A Parade of Pandemic Possibilities” (Corinne Smith / KHNS)

Talia’s Treasures on Main Street will donate 10% of its daily sales to the fund through October.

On Main Street, Larry Johansen is one of several Haines artists exhibiting at Alaska Arts Confluence, an art gallery and nonprofit. He has just moved from Juneau to Haines. Originally from Ketchikan, he says he has been photographing Alaska since he was 17. He says he has over 100,000 photos and shows some of the best. He points to one who is looking across the water towards the Yakutat Glacier.

“It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been,” said Johansen. “It was such a moment when we arrived, it was like a sacred moment. We all sat down, looked at it, didn’t say a word to one another, we were all just humbled by the beauty we saw. “

Larry Johansen poses with his exhibited photographs and two of his books, including “The Golden Days of Baseball” (Corinne Smith / KHNS)

The Haines Sheldon Museum will present selected objects from its own collection entitled “Treasures from the Vault II: Nature’s Mixed Media”.

“We wanted to do a sequel to the last Treasures from the Vault. And that had an emphasis on buying art from the community, ”said Zachary James, Museum Collections Coordinator. Along the theme of organic materials, the new exhibition features items from the early 1900s, including chilkat baskets, beaded slippers, and a carved walrus tusk. James says there are some items that appear for the first time.

“There’s a cedar rope that was part of someone’s insignia. And that’s how it was done in Klukwan, says the record, and you see it carried like this around a person’s neck and then off a person’s shoulder. And the cedar rope is woven in such a way that it is connected to itself. And this connection that this loop always has to somehow maintain. I thought that was a pretty good metaphor, you will always see people tucking the strands back in because it resists being looped with itself. “

Haines High School students have postponed their skatepark wall project presentation due to the weather, but there will be a community event with food, skating and music this Tuesday, October 5th, from 4pm to 6pm.