ALUTIIQ ALVIN ELI AMASON NAMED RASMUSSON FOUNDATION DISTINGUISHED ARTIST
Raised by his bear guide grandfather in Kodiak, Alaska (AK), Amason earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Central Washington University (1973) & Master of Fine Arts from Arizona State University (1976). After chairing Navajo Community College’s Art Department (1976-78), Alvin lectured at University of Great Falls in Montana. He took positions at the University of AK (UA) in 1984 & Visual Arts Center of AK in 1989. From 1992-2009, Amason was Director, Native Art Center, UA Fairbanks, then helped the Art Department at UA Anchorage develop an AK Native Arts curriculum. He has served on the AK State Council on the Arts and on boards of the Institute of AK Native Arts & the AK Native Arts Foundation. In 2018, Amason received both the Governor’s Individual Artist Award for Arts and Humanities, as well as being named Rasmuson Foundation’s Distinguished Artist. His works are in: Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, Denmark; UA Museum of the North; and AK State, Smithsonian American Art & Heard Museums.
Sources: “Alvin Eli Amason,” Rasmuson Foundation. Retrieved 10/21/2021, Alvin Eli Amason | Rasmuson Foundation Wikipedia Image: Alvin Amason (1979). “Bull.” Courtesy of Smithsonian American Art Museum.
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