KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Kayla Desroches/KMXT
Two artists so far have responded to a call to decorate Kodiak’s recycle sheds.
Recycling center Threshold Services is seeking locals who would be willing to make the structures a little more appealing. And it’s offering a $1,000 stipend and a $220 supplies budget to help the artists purchase what they need.
Deborah Bitanga will paint the shack down at the spit. The 20-year-old is currently in Seattle as part of the eight-week Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program at the University of Washington and called into KMXT via Skype.
Bitanga says she was part of multiple environmental groups and activities when she was in high school. Her plan for the shed reflects how highly she continues to value conservation education
“The design has young people recycling because it’s important for me to get young people into recycling and care for environmental issues.”
She says she imagines her future career involving kids and education in some way.
The second artist, Alyssa Madrid, will also put something close to heart into her mural.
She says her design is a contemporary take on Alutiiq style and she’ll include a sun, moon, waves, and petroglyphs.
“I think that we all kinda coexist, and we have this one love for Kodiak that makes us come together as a community and the Alutiiq people, my ancestors, they had the love for the land and the water as well and I wanted to incorporate that into one mural.”
Madrid has begun work on her shed, which is down at the senior center, and says she’s trying to work out how to paint such a long-term project in the rain.
Threshold is still looking for an artist to decorate its third shed in Bells Flats. The organization has extended the application deadline to July 31.
