KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
With the new year fast approaching, various community groups are already gearing up for a commemoration five decades in the making. March 2014 will mark the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Good Friday earthquake and tsunami. Kodiak was one of many coastal communities in Alaska greatly affected that day, and will be hosting a slew of events surrounding the March 27 anniversary.
While that date is still months away, the Baranov Museum is kicking things off already with a poster contest. Sarah Short is the curator of education at the museum and said the idea is to incorporate local artwork into a poster that will highlight different activities around the anniversary.
“So we wanted to open up a poster contest to all different age groups. And in order to encourage everyone to apply we wanted to have a range of different prizes for them. So we have an adult, teens and tweens, and kids categories. Not with any strict age requirements, anyone is welcome to submit into any age category they feel is appropriate.”
Short said prizes will be given to winners in each category. She said winners will receive a prize package that will be made up of materials from participating organizations.
“And then in addition to that each age groups gets their own special award or honor. So I believe one of the younger groups will get to be a ceremonial ribbon cutter at our exhibit opening and then we’ll also have other ceremonial honors at the other events. And the adult prize is a three week individual art show at the Baranov Museum. So while we take down the found on site exhibit and prepare to put up the 1964 exhibit we wanted to take that time to give some people a special chance to put up some artwork in town.”
Requirements for the poster are fairly open ended, which Short said the museum did intentionally.
“So there’s no size requirements or medium requirements. Mostly we’re just asking that artists be aware of the fact that we’ll need to scan or photograph their work and transpose it on a PDF document. So it should be something we can put onto a flier, but it doesn’t exclude sculptures or ceramics or any type of visual art really. Just so long as we can get a good picture of it, even if the art isn’t done on paper, that’s fine. We wanted to leave it open so people could be truly creative.”
Submissions are due to the Baranov Museum by 3 p.m. on February 1 and all entries will be showcased in a first Friday art walk. There is no limit on the number of submissions and those with questions can contact Short at the Baranov Museum.
