Local artists gather at Palmer Museum for 2020 Rasmuson Foundation’s 2020 Individual Artist Award Workshop

PALMER — It’s grant season.

Rasmuson Foundation representatives stopped by the Palmer Museum of History and Art Jan. 16 in the midst of their annual tour across Alaska.

As they go through each community, they offer informational workshops for local artists, offering guidance and raising awareness for Rasmuson’s 2020 Individual Artist Awards.

Rasmuson program officers Enzina Marrari and Sharity Sommer led the two-hour informative session.

Attending artists from across the Valley learned about the application process as Marrari and Sommer outlined the various steps involved with plenty of tips and tricks in between. Attendees also had the chance to break into teams for group exercises.

Valley Arts Alliance founder Carmen Summerfield was one of several dozen attending artists present Thursday evening.

“I was glad they took an effort to come all the way to the Valley and talk about the program. It’s so much nicer to have people explain it to you,” Summerfield said.

Individual Artist Awards winners receive grants, professional development, promotional opportunities, and other accolades for their efforts.

On top of the financial support and developmental resources, the clout gained from winning an award from any category typically serves as an effective way of jump starting a professional career in the arts or bolstering an existing portfolio.

“It’s a really good idea. To grow as an artist, sometimes it’s hard to make that match with the finances if you have the Rasmuson Foundation to fill in that gap, that’s good,” Summerfield said. “It’s very important because arts are important… It’s hard to get support for the arts in general.”

Rasmuson is increasing their outreach efforts this year,according to Marrari. She said the foundation wants to reach more artists, especially in more rural and underserved areas.

“We definitely want to expand beyond Anchorage to places like Palmer,” Marrari said.

The Palmer session was one of many interactive workshops across the state, including remote villages.

“We hope to see applications from a more broad reach of Alaska and Alaskans. We really want to see diversity in applications,” Marrari said.

The draft deadline for applications for review is Feb. 14 for the initial review for completeness.

The final deadline is March 2

For more information about the Individual Artist Awards, visit rasmuson.org/grants/individual-artist-awards/

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com