Hello from Alaska!
I’m writing to you en route to Fairbanks I’m writing to you from a cabin in Fairbanks (didn’t finish this on the plane yesterday), where I’m starting the next eight weeks of teaching in different parts of Alaska. It’s been five years since I first came up as an artist-in-residence with JIRP. It was remarkably clear yesterday, and I looked out the window to see the Juneau Icefield stretching out over the mountains and spilling down to the coast. I got a little choked up as I realized I could recognize Observation Peak, Taku Towers, Gilkey Trench from above, mapping our summer route from Camp 17 to Camp 10 to Camp 18. We kept moving northeast, flying over glaciers and land that was so complex and astonishingly beautiful, towards new places I haven’t been before. I’m so grateful to feel like I get to return here, and I hope to continue to build relationships here based in reciprocity and community.
A quick rundown of what I’m doing this summer before I attempt a (very overdue) life update.
Summer Teaching:
I have been digging deeper into developing creative educational methods: expansive and inclusive models for scientific fieldwork and outdoor education. I feel eager to put a lot of new ideas to work as I return to the field with a deepened knowledge and appreciation for how all of this can be woven together.
I love being in and learning about Alaska and feel endlessly fortunate to have had the opportunity to to do this work and to come back here each year. The state of our country feels continually complex and hard to grapple with, but amidst that anxiety and darkness, I am continually so moved and energized by the incredible places and people I get to spend time with here. To put it simply, this work feels hopeful.
This summer I am teaching and leading trips with three different programs:
Inspiring Girls Expeditions: Girls on Ice Alaska (June)
I’m thrilled to be joining Inspiring Girls Expeditions this summer after many years of admiration for their mission: free expeditions program centered around empowering young people through teaching science, art, and outdoor skills. I am co-leading their Girls on Ice trip on the Gulkana Glacier as the Art Instructor with three other amazing Mountaineering/Science Instructors with a cohort of high-school-aged women and non-binary folks from around the country. Today was our first day of prep together and I have been met with an incredible amount of support and enthusiasm! We leave for the glacier tomorrow for an overnight scouting trip and crevasse rescue refresher, and then back to Fairbanks for more prep before participants arrive at the end of the week. (Ahtna Nenn’ / Ahtna Land)
Juneau Icefield Research Program (June-July)
Back at it! I’m returning to JIRP this summer for a short stint on the Taku Glacier at Camp 10 (the second basecamp of the summer), teaching art and science communication, and partnering with fellow artist Ben Huff on leading a student project about rocks and creative storytelling. I love JIRP and I’m really looking forward to coming back to the Icefield with renewed perspective and leadership after a couple years of hard work on the Academic Council and JEDI Committee. It will be fun to be at Camp 10 – I haven’t been to there since 2018! (Lingít Aaní / Tlingit Land)
Chulengo Expeditions (July)
I am co-leading a Chulengo fly-in trip to the Talkeetna Mountains with founder, Nadine. We developed this “Creative Explorations” program for a University of Tennessee honors student group that combines hiking, outdoor ed, and a wide array of creative workshops, to deepen engagement with the environment and build skills along the way. After first meeting Nadine as a visiting artist with one of Chulengo’s trips in Chile in 2019, I can’t wait to meet up in Alaska. (Dena’ina Ełnena / Dena’ina Land)
At the end of July, I’m spending some time with Juneau with friends and family (my parents are visiting for the first time ever!), and then heading straight to Minneapolis for my best friend’s wedding! Needless to say, packing for the summer was a little crazy.
What I’ve been up to:
Art, Science, Education
Partly because I don’t have a studio yet, and partly as my art practice has shifted more towards facilitating, my creative energy has recently been spent on research, planning, collaborating, and lots of behind-the-scenes work. I have been continuing to work on my public art installation with Bishop O’Dowd High School. This spring, I have mostly been focusing on ideas for educational components and public engagement, including designing a book and a series of workshops for students in the fall. The piece is actually being installed later this week…!
In addition to curriculum development and organization for JIRP and Chulengo, I have been doing a lot of training with Inspiring Girls, including short seminars in leadership, inclusivity, pedagogy, and risk management, and helping to facilitate info sessions and training for JIRP teaching faculty.
I also recently got my Wilderness First Responder certification after a 10 day training program in New Hampshire. It was really amazing and challenging to learn – everything from CPR to taking vitals, assessing and stabilizing spinal injuries, beside manner, treating hypothermia, building a traction splint for a broken femur with a hiking pole and simple cord, etc etc etc. Having all this new knowledge – both hard and soft skills – in my proverbial toolkit makes me feel much for confident and competent as a leader.
Erratics
Lot of excited things are in the works for Erratics (me + Nina Elder + Tyler Rai)! We are currently working on planning an invitational residency program, curating a group museum exhibition, and partnering with an incredible group of glaciologists to develop a major tandem research project. We also met in person (rare for us!) in Maine for a weekend this spring as part of Nina’s fellowship with Ellis Beauregard Foundation. We recently did a website revamp with new projects, new language, and a new page about our time in McCarthy together last summer. There is so much generosity involved in this work, and I feel very bolstered by the camaraderie and zingy energy of everything going on here.
Design
Since February I have been working as a designer and illustrator with Storyroot, creating visuals for sustainability and impact reports. Storyroot is an anti-greenwashing strategic impact studio, helping companies to incorporate sustainability into their business and helping them be transparent about these processes. We are a small, dynamic team, and I feel valued for my whole brain and supported in the full scope of my work across art, teaching, and design. I have also been doing a ton of design and illustration work for my friend Kristina Zontini / Super Secret Ice Cream, helping her design her new shop in Bethlehem, NH. I designed all her branding when she was starting out in 2020, so it’s so fun to see her making such big moves! I got to see the space under construction when I was in town for my WFR course, and I can’t wait to come back to visit again when it’s up and running.
Life
This winter and spring has really been a transitional incubation period; one that I think has been helping me plant some seeds. Generative work with both Erin Elder / Gibbous and Chris Faroe / Creative Mapping Project has helped me gain clarity about how to pursue and focus on what I care about as an artist, educator, designer, etc… and also how to see myself as a person deserving of rest and care. As part of this, I have been taking some time to focus on finding treatment for some ongoing, complex health issues and chronic pain (if you are also dealing with this kind of stuff, which is often unseen, I see you and I feel you. Ugh.)
And last but not least, I want to end on a very high note! I know I buried the lede here, but as I’m guessing you already know, Danny and I moved to Providence! It’s honestly been an amazing life change, and I’m really happy to be there in our sunny, sweet apartment. With everything going on in the world, this has meant periods of slowness amidst months that seem to have evaporated in a flash. Danny has been working at the Newport Art Museum as a preparator, and also recently received two amazing fellowships to do artist residencies at the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Institute in NY this summer and MacDowell in NH this winter (woohoo!). He and I have been spending a lot of time getting to know new and old friends and exploring our new city and surrounding coastlines – going on lots of walks and drives to find beaches, birdwatching, seafood, and ice cream (if we are lucky, all in the same day!). I am looking forward to going home to this new home in August.
Okay, that’s it for now! Sending warmth and care to you.