Learn how to make grass dance fans with Neva Mathias (Cup'ik). Mathias is the second artist in the 2024 Alaska Native Artist Residency Program. She is a doll maker and grass basket and dance fan weaver and will be at the museum July 23 - August 9. She will be working at the museum most days Monday-Friday. During her residency, she will focus on weaving, teach a grass dance fan class and a beading class, and offer a dance performance with her daughter and granddaughter.
The grass dance fan class is July 26 and August 1 & 2, with two sessions per day at 11 am-12 pm and 2-3:30 pm. Students are asked to attend all six class sessions at the museum. Mathias will provide material packets on the first day. The class is free, but a $25 materials fee applies. Please make a check out to Neva Mathias when you sign up. Class is for 18+ and limited to 8 students.
Neva Mathias first began making baskets in 1979. By 1985, she was an expert at her art form. She learned to make baskets and dolls, including how to prepare the raw materials to make them, from her mother. She makes her dolls during the winter months, using seal and rabbit fur, seal skin, and kuspuk materials. She makes grass baskets during the summer while she is at fish camp, collecting grasses from the beaches of Hooper Bay. Neva is employed as a teacher in the Chevak Middle and High Schools. When she is not teaching at school, she teaches doll making workshops and focuses on her art.
The Alaska Native Artist Residency Program is underwritten by the Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum and is made possible with support from the Friends, the National Endowment for the Arts, Alaska Airlines, the Baranov Lodge, and private donors. To find out how to support the residency program or for future calendars of events and details, visit friendsofsjm.com.
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