Join Alice Qaannik Glenn, host of Coffee and Quaq, as she facilitates a conversation about cultural appropriation with a panel of artists, cultural strategists, published authors, and a professor of psychology. The panel will reflect on what cultural appropriation is, examine the difference between inspiration and appreciation, what it means to be mindful and intentional, and more. Attendees will hear from Sonia Guiñansaca, poet, cultural organizer, activist, and the current cultural content reviewer for the Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Awards; practicing artist and curator, Melissa Shaginoff; and University of Alaska Anchorage Professor of Psychology, Dr. E.J.R David.

This event, hosted by the Anchorage Museum and the Rasmuson Foundation, is intended as a resource for all artists, but may be especially helpful for those applying for the 2022 Individual Artist Awards. Free. Registration required.

Melissa Shaginoff, is part of the Udzisyu (caribou) and Cui Ui Ticutta (fish-eater) clans from Nay'dini'aaNa Kayax (Chickaloon Village, Alaska). She is an Ahtna and Paiute person, an artist, a curator, and anAuntie. In principle her work is shaped by the framework and intricacies of Indigenous ceremonies and social protocols. In practice Melissa visits. Her work is about finding deeper and truer understanding, thus she centers conversation as her art praxis. Melissa recently completed an invitational artist residency in Sweden with the Skövde Kontsmuseet. She has also participated in invitational residencies in Venice, Italy, Wells, British Columbia, and Sitka, Alaska. Melissa has curated and juried art exhibitions with the Anchorage Museum, the Alaska Pacific University Galleries, the University of Alaska Anchorage Hugh McPeck Gallery, the Coe Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the International Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has been published in the Alaska Humanities FORUM Magazine, FirstAmerican Art Magazine, Inuit Art Quarterly, and the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Learning Lab. Melissa is also a part of Łuk’ae Tse’ Tsass (fish head soup) Comics, a new media group focusing onIndigenous collaboration and representation in narratives and science-fiction.

Dr. E.J.R David was born in the Philippines by Kapampangan and Tagalog parents, and grew up in Pasay, Las Pinas, Makati, and Utkiagvik, Alaska. He is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Sonia Guiñansaca is an international award-winning queer migrant poet, cultural organizer, and social justice activist.

Alice Qannik Glenn is an Iñupiaq born and raised in Utqiaġvik, Alaska and the creator and host of the podcast Coffee & Quaq to celebrate, share, and explore the collective experience of contemporary Native life in urban Alaska.

Since 2004, Rasmuson Foundation has supported art and culture in Alaska by directly funding Alaskan artists’ projects through Individual Artist Awards, totaling $5 million across 552 grants (and counting).

Considering Cultural Appropriation