Clarissa Rizal weaving the “Resilience” Chilkat robe she designed and wove,completed in June 2014 for the Portland Art Museum

Whew!  It was a lot of work applying for the Native Arts and Culture Foundation fellowship grant; well worth 5 years of applications!  This year I won one of the three artists under the “Traditional” category!  Click here to read more about the 13 artists selected for the NACF 2015 fellowship awards!

What am I going to do with the money?  I’m not going to pay off my visa cards (that’s how I generally pay my bills until I receive a commission); I’m not going to buy a car (though I really need one to get around a do the art markets); I’m not going to blow the bucks on a vacation (because I don’t know how to vacate and feel comfortable doing nothing); and, I’m not going to buy a new wardrobe (I already have one).

I’m working on several projects within this next year.  This money will be my “sugar daddy” so I can focus on creating weavings for an exhibit opening on September 21, 2016 at the Bill Reid Gallery in Vancouver, B.C.  (more on this later).  I am also working with a close group of Tlingit artists to create a Tlingit Mentorship Program.  I am working on the various chapters for my book of Tlingit ceremonial robes (my first 60) to be published in August 2016.  These are just three major projects over the next 12 months.

Also,…I’m saving the money for a home.  I need a home to settle down.  Since 2007, I’ve been without a home.  I have a studio, but no home.  I am saving for a home.  That sounds and feels real good!

Thank you NACF for the support; it feels real good to be acknowledged.  I feel somewhat “settled” in my bones.  I like it; I like it.