Petersburg Pilot -

The Rasmuson Foundation named Petersburg artist, Ashley DuRoss an Individual Artist Award winner of a $5,000, Project Award. DuRoss is also the art teacher at Petersburg High School.

DuRoss is a visual artist whose work explores the relationship between light and shadow on physical structures. For her project award, she will ship work and travel to upcoming solo shows in Fairbanks and Anchorage.

The Rasmuson Foundation also named a Distinguished Artist Award worth $25,000, 10 Artist Fellowships of $12,000 and 26 project grants of $5,000. These winners were chosen from a total of 305 applicants, whose applications were judged by a national panel of artists and art leaders.

The Distiguished Artist Award went to Kessler Woodward a visual artist of Fairbanks. The Artist Fellowships were awarded to Laura Bliss-Spaan a media artist of Anchorage; Jack Dalton a presentation/interpretation artist of Anchorage; Brendan Harrington a visual artist of Kodiak; Tommy Joseph a visual artist of Sitka; Da-ka-xeen Mehner a visual artist of Fairbanks; Karina Moeller a music compositionist of Anchorage; Phillip Munger a music compositionist of Wasilla; Kat Tomka a visual artist of Anchorage; Sonya Kelliher-Combs a visual artist of Anchorage and Morris Palter a presentation/interpretation artist of Fairbanks.

Ice Caves by Ashley DuRoss

The Individual Project Awards were earned by Karrie Pavish Anderson a presentation/interpretation artist of Galena; Beth Blankenship a crafts artist of Anchorage; Slavik Boyechko a media artist of Anchorage; Melina Draper a literary arts scriptworker of Fairbanks; David Gerard a folk and traditional artist of Homer; Ronald Klien a visual artist of Juneau; George Kuhar a media artist of Juneau; Kristen Elizabeth Link a visual artist of McCarthy; Enzina Marrari a visual artist of Anchorage; Andrew Michael a visual artist of Anchorage; Maria Nicolai a visual artist of Bethel; Tracy Opeim a folk and traditional artist of Kodiak; Cinthia Ritchie a literary arts scriptworker of Anchorage; Timothy Robb a music compositionist of Tenderfoot Hill(Fairbanks); Mattox Roesch a literary arts scriptworker of Unalakleet; Lucas Rowley a literary arts scriptworker of Anchorage; Mark Tepton a crafts artist of Anchorage; David Walker a crafts artist of Juneau; Allison Warden a performance artist of Anchorage; Teague Whalen a music compositionist of Ketchikan; Theresa Woldstad a folk and traditional artist of North Pole; Roblin Davis a performance artist of Juneau, Meagan Mackey a music compositionist of Anchorage; Adam Ottavi Schiesl a visual artist of Ester and Richard Eissler a visual artist of Soldotna.

This is the ninth year the Individual Artist Awards program, and as of today, the program has awarded 267 grants, totaling $1.9 million, directly to Alaska artists.

The purpose of these awards is to allow artist to seek a variety of creative opportunities, including providing them with the time necessary to focus on creative work.

The Rasmuson Foundation was created in May 1955 by Jenny Rasmuson to honor her late husband, E.A. Rasmuson. The Foundation is a catalyst to promote a better life for all Alaskans.