Going on view February 5 through April 10, 2016 at the Anchorage Museum, “All Alaska Biennial†celebrates the contemporary work of Alaska artists with works that explore the North, its people, materials and landscapes, through a variety of interpretations. For more than three decades, the Museum has recognized the unique contributions Alaska artists are making to the world of contemporary art with the biennial “All Alaska Juried Art Exhibition†and “Earth, Fire & Fibre.†This show combines these two exhibitions to encourage the creation of new works by Alaska artists in all media.
This highly competitive exhibition drew 594 submissions by 136 Alaska artists. Guest juror Jen Budney selected 41 artworks by 27 different artists for the exhibition. She awarded the $1,000 Juror’s Choice Award to John Kailukiak of Toksook Bay for his artwork titled Alakam Cikiutiik (Carrie’s Gifts).
    “Many of these works are visually stunning and simply knocked my socks off,†said Budney. “Others I find compelling because of their inner mystery or profound exterior strangeness, and the clear belief the artists had in making them.†Artists from Anchorage for the other awards are: $500 Merit Award went to Amy Meissner for “Reliquary #8: Scroll,†vintage domestic and unfinished linens, silk and found objects; $250 Merit Awards went to Beth Blankenship for “Summer School,†machine embroidery on water soluble stabilizer; Matt Johnson for “Cross,†“Field Jacket 2,†“Doormat,†“Homage,†photography; and Lily Weed, “Fly-in People Watching,†“Morning at Meade River School,†“Walking to the Simon Paneak Memorial Museum,†“Kaktovik Gulls,†photography.
Other artists included in the show are from Anchorage are: Linda Brady Farr, Honore Buckley, Thomas Chung, Michael Conti, Don Decker, Julie Drake, Mary Ann Dunham, Hal Gage, Holly McQuinn, Meike Paniza, David Pettibone, Cole Robbins and Sheila Wyne; Fairbanks: Annie Duffy, Elizabeth Irving and Margo Klass; Palmer: Jessica Swider and Emily Longbrake; Kodiak: Antoinette Walker; Homer: Michael Walsh; Douglas: Rachael Juzeler; and Cordova: Paula Payne.
About
Jen Budney is a curator, writer, arts administrator, and PhD Candidate in Public Policy at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, Saskatchewan.
   Since 1994, her reviews, essays, and interviews have been published in magazines and journals including Flash Art International, Parkett, Nka: Contemporary African Art, Art Asia Pacific, Third Text, Siksi, Art in America, Fuse, Canadian Art, and more. She has written for artists’ catalogues for galleries and organizations including Portikus, Frankfurt; Padiglione d’arte contemporanea, Milan; Compton Verney, UK; Sydney Biennale, Australia; Menil Collection, Houston; MassMOCA, MA; and other public and private venues.
   For the Kamloops Art Gallery and the Mendel Art Gallery, she has curated major touring retrospectives of the work of Jayce Salloum (history of the present) and Ruth Cuthand (BACK TALK). As an independent curator and co-curator she has produced exhibitions for the Waino Aaltonen Museum of Modern Art, Turku, Finland; la Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan; Center for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne; Franco Soffiantino Gallery, Turin; and la Galleria Civica di Modena, Italy.
   Interdisciplinary projects include the lecture series UNBOXED on the intersections of art, architecture and performance, co-produced by Gallery 101 and Carleton University, Ottawa, and the 2-year educational, research and curatorial project with Aboriginal youth, Overstepped Boundaries, at the Kamloops Art Gallery. An experienced grants and policy writer, she has also worked as a program officer at the Canada Council for the Arts and has participated on juries and advisory committees for Canadian arts publications, Canadian participation in the Venice Biennale of Art, Canadian participation in the Venice Biennale of Architecture, and more.