Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus: Promoting Arts & an Economic Engine for Southeast Alaska City & Borough of Juneau Assembly Feb. 10, 2020 Rosita Ḵaaháni Worl, Ph.D. Sealaska Heritage Institute INTRODUCTION Yeidiklas’akw ka Kaaháni yóo xát duwasáakw Ch’áak’ naa áyá xát Shungukeidí naax xat sitee Kawdliyaayi Hítdáx áyá xát Jilkáat kwáan áyá xát Lukaax.ádi dachxán áyá xát My Tlingit name is Yeidiklas’akw. It is an ancient name that has been handed down through generations of our clan, and its meaning has been lost in antiquity. My ceremonial name is Kaaháni, which means “Woman Who Stands in the Place of a Man.” I am an Eagle of the Thunderbird clan and the House Lowered from the Sun from Klukwan in the Chilkat region. I am a Child of the Sockeye clan. 2 Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus overview: • approximately 6,000 square feet • space for public performances and gatherings • indoor and outdoor space for working artists • Native art markets and artists-in-residence areas • classroom space, an art library, and capabilities for distance learning • five monumental bronze masks representing Alaska’s major cultural groups called “Faces of Alaska” 3 SHI’s goals for the campus are to: 1. Help ensure the survival and enhancement of ancient art forms and practices and their continued evolution; 2. Support Native artists through art markets and educational opportunities; 3. Offer a space where the public can learn about Alaska Native and Northwest Coast cultures, enhancing cross-cultural understanding; and 4. Help establish Juneau as the Northwest Coast art capital and economic engine for the region. 4 GOAL 1: Ensure perpetuation of ancient art forms Northwest Coast (NWC) art evolved over thousands of years in the rich and complex Indigenous societies of the Pacific Northwest. It is based on ancient formline design principles and spatial relationships not seen elsewhere in the world. It also has the capacity for further innovation. NWC artforms include monumental carvings such as totem poles and canoes; smaller carvings such as boxes and masks; many forms of jewelry; and unique, complex weaving traditions such as Ravenstail, Chilkat, and spruce-root. 5 GOAL 1, continued Traditional Alaska Native artforms include skin-sewing, ivory carving, beadwork, and baleen basketry, among many others. NWC and Alaska Native art play a significant role in maintaining the cultural diversity of the nation and the cultural survival of Indigenous populations. In order to ensure perpetuation of these evolving traditions, some of which are endangered, the campus will: • Provide indoor and outdoor spaces for artists to make monumental pieces, such as totem poles and canoes; • Offer expanded Alaska Native and NWC art programming, artist-inresidence spaces, and a library. 6 GOAL 2: Support Native artists through art markets and classes The arts campus will offer expanded Native art markets to artists in Juneau and beyond, which will: • Contribute to creative and sustainable economies for individual artists and Alaska’s rural communities; • Grow the demand for arts in the region, already a $58 million industry; and • Create more global demand for Alaska Native and NWC art. 7 GOAL 2, continued Artists will also benefit from educational opportunities. Through the campus SHI will: • Offer art classes and workshops to ensure perpetuation of ancient art practices; • Advance a plan with the University of Alaska Southeast and the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe to create a four-year degree in Northwest Coast art by adding new space for classes. • Develop and offer e-learning courses on Native art through the campus that provide options to earn high school credits, college credits, and dual credits for high school and college. 8 GOAL 3: Build cross-cultural understanding The campus will support SHI’s overarching goal of promoting cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding. It will: • Provide cultural experiences for residents and millions of annual cruise visitors to learn about Alaska Native and NWC art; • Offer a new gathering space in downtown Juneau for the public to experience Alaska Native and NWC performing arts; • Help educate students—Native and non-Native—about Alaska’s Indigenous cultures. 9 GOAL 4: Establish Juneau as the NWC arts capital NWC and Alaska Native art represent a major attraction for visitors and can provide untold sustainable social and economic benefits to the region and state. The economic potential of NWC and Alaska Native art is currently under-utilized. The potential can be realized by promoting Southeast Alaska and Juneau as the NWC/Alaska Native arts capital and economic engine for the region. 10 Benefits to Juneau The Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus is a natural progression of Heritage Square and CBJ’s vision for Juneau as the Capital of Alaska: • Downtown revitalization, a priority of CBJ and SHI, pride in our city • Workforce creation: SHI staff, contractors, educators, artists • Science & research: epigenetics studies, archival facility, visiting scholars, lecture series, sea mammal and herring roe publications, UAS partnership • Diversifying visitor experiences: cultural tourism, WSB and museum tours • Opportunities for local residents: public plaza, lecture series, culture and history orientation, NWC arts degree, funding for education • Sustainability: LEED Gold rating on WSB, biomass heating, Aan Latin -- our traditional values of responsibility and stewardship for our land 11 Cultural tourism is on the rise worldwide Already a international destination with more than 1 million annual visitors, Juneau is poised to become a model for cultural heritage tourism, one of the fastest-growing sectors of the travel industry. A report published in 2014 by Partners for Livable Communities through Americans for the Arts noted: “As far as its scale, there is no doubt that interest in cultural heritage tourism is already strong and growing stronger. “Recent studies have shown that 78% of US tourists take part in a cultural heritage activity while traveling.” 12 Expanded community space Sealaska Corporation has graciously committed its private parking lot to the SHI Arts Campus. The existing parking lot will be relocated underground, below the Arts Campus. SHI is aware of community concerns regarding parking in downtown Juneau. To that end, architects were able to design an underground parking lot that will create more spaces than the existing lot. The new design includes 9 spaces of surface parking. 13 SHI’s impact In 2018, SHI had a $10.4 million impact on the Alaska economy, including $9.2 million in Juneau operational spending and Celebration, according to a McDowell Group study. • $4 million in payroll • $2.1 million in visitor spending for Celebration • $170,000 in sales and bed tax (estimated) • 85 jobs in Juneau (direct, indirect, induced) • SHI has employed more than 150 contractors totaling $4.1 million in payments (average of $28,000 per contractor) 14 SHI’s impact: Education Another facet of SHI’s economic impact can be seen in our schools. SHI’s economic contributions in Juneau schools from 2017 through 2022 (based on secured funding for multiple projects and grants) will include the following: • $3.1 million to the Juneau School District ($2.5M in personnel, $530K in professional development, $76K in supplies) • $4.4 million to UAS ($1.9M in personnel, $2.5M in tuition, room & board) • $1.1 million to SERRC (four full-time staff positions) • SHI’s staff has grown from 12 to 65 employees. They are young and highly educated, 87% are college graduates: 4 have PhD’s; 15 have master’s degrees; 38 have BA’s. • More than 1,200 K-12 students from the JSD visited the WSB (in 2018). 15 SHI’s impact: Celebration In addition to SHI operational expenditures, Celebration, SHI’s biennial festival of Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures, generated $2.1 million in visitor spending in Juneau in 2018 (including indirect and induced impacts). • More than 5,000 people attended Celebration 2018, including about 2,635 visitors. • Visitors to Juneau spent an estimated $1.6 million on accommodations, shopping, food and beverage, transportation, and other items. • The Celebration Native Artist Market attracted 2,480 shoppers including 1,460 visitors and 1,020 Juneau residents. 16 Financial highlights 2020 Estimated Economic Impact:* • 2020 budget of $18M • $340,000 in sales and bed tax • Approximately 160 jobs in Juneau (direct, indirect, induced) • Overall economic impact: $24 million * Based on preliminary SHI estimates. 17 Economic impacts of construction The goal is to host a ceremonial groundbreaking on the project during Celebration 2020, which is scheduled June 10-13. The project will take an estimated 18 months to complete. A feasibility study conducted by the McDowell Group that measured the impacts of facility construction found that the project will generate an estimated 55 total jobs in Juneau including direct and secondary employment. Labor income is projected to be $5.6 million. 18 80% funded This fall SHI received word that we received a federal grant of more than $5.6 million for the $12.75 million project, which, along with donations, commitment of land, and grants from other sources, puts the project at 80 percent of its funding goal. Major donors so far include Sealaska, the U.S. Dept. of Education, the National Park Service, the National Endowment for the Arts, and a foundation that prefers anonymity. SHI has received nearly 700 donations from individual donors to date. 19 Collaboration is key In 2012, CBJ approved $3 million in funding for construction of the $20 million Walter Soboleff Building. Since that time, SHI has reciprocated the city’s generosity with direct funding, services to the community, creation of new jobs and contributions to the economy and tax base. We at SHI are grateful to the City and Borough of Juneau for your continued partnership, your leadership, and your commitment to artistic growth and collaboration. Together we can continue to build the foundation for Juneau to become the Northwest Coast arts capital of the world. 20 Gunalch?esh, H?w?aa, SEALASKA TAG 21