KIC Northwest Coast Arts

Kristall Bullock of Ketchikan last week brought home two awards for her art pieces that scored first and second place in the Juried Youth Art Exhibit at Celebration, the festival of Southeast Alaska Indigenous cultures that Sealaska Heritage Institute holds every two years.

Celebration draws thousands of people to Juneau, and this year featured about 1,500 performers who belong to about 40 Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian dance groups that took the stage during the four-day event that began on June 5.
Bullock, who graduated from Ketchikan High School last month, in March submitted to the biennial Celebration art contest a pair of beaded moccasins that she hand-sewed, as well as a red and yellow cedar bark hat that she wove using plating and twining techniques. She created both pieces as part of the Northwest Coast art program that Debbie McLavey leads at Ketchikan High School, and which is funded by the Ketchikan Indian Community Education Department.
Both of Bullock's artworks were featured in the Juried Youth Art Exhibit at Celebration last week. The exhibit included 12 objects made by eight middle and high school students from Anchorage, Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, Yakutat and Mesa, Arizona, according to Sealaska Heritage Institute information.
SHI's 2024 youth art exhibit juror was Tlingit artist and educator Jackson Polys of Ketchikan. Polys thanked the young artists who submitted to the exhibit in a statement that SHI shared after the awards ceremony last week.
"Seeing the work you submitted is encouraging and inspiring; we see that the next generations are willing to take risks in order to advance both individual creativity and cultural revitalization," Polys stated. "The artworks in both the middle school and high school divisions reveal developments in your artistic voices as you learn, experiment and refine to create works that keep our culture growing and thriving."
During a Tuesday phone interview with the Daily News, Bullock said that she traveled to Juneau with her mom this past week to attend the juried art show and awards ceremony at Celebration.
Bullock said that she was surprised when she arrived at the juried youth art exhibit to see that a professional photo of her cedar hat had been used as the artwork on a poster that advertised the exhibit and related events at Celebration.

"I went over to the exhibit to go look at the other art pieces and I looked at the front door as I was going in and (the poster) was there," Bullock said. "I had looked over at my mom and I was like 'I think that's my hat on the flyer right there for the juried art show' and my mom was like 'Oh my gosh, it is, your name is right underneath it.'"
Bullock said that she wove the cedar hat, which is the first hat that she ever created, over the course of about two months this year during McLavey's Northwest Coast Art class at Kayhi, which met for an hour each day.
She said she began with "the top plating" on the hat, weaving the red cedar "over one, and under one," and then continued down the side of the hat by "twining with yellow cedar, and then five rows of plating with red cedar." Bullock repeated the pattern of twining and plating down the entire hat.
And as a part of the Northwest Coast Arts class last spring, Bullock hand-sewed her first pair of moccasins, which won first place in the juried youth art competition this year.
Bullock said that she began that project by beading two red flower designs on pieces of felt to create an applique for the the top of her moccasins. Then, she sewed a fabric lining for the inside of the moccasins, and then sewed the leather exterior and fur trim with materials provided by McLavey.
Regarding the arduous process of repeatedly pushing a needle through thick hide, Bullock said that "It definitely took some time to sew the leather" for the moccasins.
Bullock noted that her moccasins and cedar hat aren't the first works that she's submitted to the youth exhibit at Celebration.
"I went two years ago and I had also submitted another project," Bullock said. "I got honorable mention. I had made a vest with a butterfly design on the back. That was at home when I was starting to learn how to bead and sew."
Bullock said that she's been taking art classes and creating works for about eight years.
"I started a few smaller classes at the Totem Heritage Center when I was in, I want to say like fifth grade," Bullock said, adding that she also worked at the center for about two years.
Now that she's graduated from Kayhi, Bullock plans to continue her studies at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau in the Alaska Native Studies and Anthropology programs.
Bullock said that she's been told that UAS provides art opportunities for students, and that there's opportunity "throughout the community" of Juneau to continue studying and practicing art.
Over the summer, Bullock plans to work as a dock representative for Allen Marine Tours. She said that, on top of her job, she will continue working with McLavey and Patricia Tucker, who is the assistant instructor for the Northwest Coast art program, during open art classes that the two instructors hold almost every day at the KIC Education Department building.
Regarding her art practice, Bullock said that "I've just always had a connection with it. It is something that I want to keep doing and pursue, and would like to eventually teach it."
The youth exhibit that features Bullock's two works will be on display at the Juneau Arts & Culture Center through June 28.

And here she is…

I take
It back. Here is her moccasins that won 1st place and her very 1st hat she wove which is plaited won 2nd place at the shi juried youth art show.

She entered the SHI youth juried art show and won 2nd place with this hat. And she won 1st place with a pair of moccasins that she made in our high school program. We are so very proud of her. She is an amazing artist. We love her.

Yay. She finished her moccasins and they are beautiful

She did it again. Next year the challenges begin. She is an awesome weaver

Yummy is what we got. She baked us cream puffs this morning and shared with the office staff too.

How beautiful is this. Her first hat

What a beautiful pair of moccasins. She did an amazing job

He’s a weaver. What a great job

She did it again

How beautiful is this.

Wow. Her sister is a lucky. Beautiful

Wow. What can I say. Another beautiful piece

Look at what she finished. Her mom is so lucky. What a beautiful job young lady

What can I say. She did an absolutely beautiful job with her hat. She will be wearing it at graduation. Congratulations to her 🎓🎉

As we watch our graduates 🎓 leave school. We are so proud of our graduating class of 2024

Yes they do!

And she finished her robe. Just in time to graduate in it. How beautiful is that

Isn’t this beautiful. She did it again

What a beautiful pair of moccasins

Today is senior skip day. We are missing our seniors 😓. Yet we are soooo proud of them and all that they have accomplished and personally grown 🥰. We have developed lots of love for them and wish the them the very best that life has to offer 🥰. Debbie & Patty

And she did it again. It is beautiful

What a beautiful job

💖dk💖

How beautiful is this

He did an awesome job

Yay. She did a beautiful job

What a great job. Love this