A Sugpiaq artist who works in fish skin is in residency in Sitka

Sugpiaq artist Larissa Kramer will give two free public talks in Sitka this month, part of a residency at the Sheldon Jackson Museum that runs through Sept. 11.

Kramer builds model boats and makes jewelry from botanicals, resin and fish skin, a material Alaska Native peoples long tanned into waterproof garments and containers before the practice nearly disappeared.

She credits June Pardue, whose classes she took at the University of Alaska and who helped bring fish skin tanning back. "I know how to bead, weave, woodwork, skin sew, tan salmon skin," Kramer said of what she learned from her.

The first talk, on Alaska Native art and cultural history, is at noon Thursday, Sept. 3. The second, on artifacts from the museum's storage and exhibits, is at noon Friday, Sept. 11. Both are at the museum and on Zoom, and both are recorded and posted afterward.

The museum's Native Artist Residency Program has run since 1988.