October 2024 Director's Journal

Experiencing this year’s Sitka Art Invitational, the 30th in our history, I was struck by an undeniable sense of warmth—a tenderness that permeated both the art and the atmosphere. “The color palette of the show stood out right away,” observed co-curators and artists Patty Maly and Ruby Maly, a mother-daughter team. Many works glowed with a softness that invited contemplation and calm.

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Each year, my favorite work in the exhibit is the curation itself. Patty and Ruby’s intergenerational eye brought sensitivity and flow to this 30th annual exhibit, with works displayed in ways that spoke not only to each other but also to the changing cycles of the world around us.

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Hsin-Yi Huang’s ceramic sculptures and Emily Poole’s illustrations of small creatures—emerging from nests to collect acorns—evoked a sense of resilience in anticipation of winter storms. Deborah Unger’s Impasse veiled its meaning beneath the snow. These images and others reminded us of the bounty and scarcity in nature’s cycles, inviting us to reflect on our own pawprints within those rhythms.

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Miki’ala Souza’s printmaking practice surfaced another layer of this theme. Her work, deeply rooted in Native Hawaiian tradition, reveals a world in constant motion—currents, wind, clouds and the ways people “navigate and care for the environment.” Rose Covert’s Sinuous, suspended like a cloud formation, signaled the ever-changing climates that shape our world.

Some works seemed to offer protection—whether from forces beyond or from within ourselves. Adriene Cruz’s “Vision Carriers” and Samantha Yun Wall’s mugwort portraits carried a sense of medicinal power, while Roger Peet’s cautionary talismans reminded us that “if we are going to share the wealth of the world, then we must share the struggles as well.”

It’s awe-inspiring to see how the Sitka Art Invitational has grown and evolved, thanks to the creativity and care of the artist community. Each year, we invite new voices—artists whose work inspires and challenges us—and everyone who has ever been part of this show is forever part of its story.

I invite us to experience the Sitka Art Invitational not as an annual event but, rather, as a continuum—an ever-evolving reflection of our relationship with nature and a growing arts ecosystem that connects every artist who has been and will some day be a part of it.

As we celebrate this milestone, here’s to the artists, past, present and future, to community and to the next 30 years.

Cheers!

Alison Dennis

Executive Director