Local artists spin colorful fish stories

WASILLA — A handful of Valley artists have quite a fish story to tell.

But what that message is exactly is in the eye of the beholder who sees the “Fish On!” exhibit at the Dorothy G. Page Museum in Wasilla.

Some may be inspired by C. Ryan Pierce’s “Salmon Trio,” a large giclee on canvas featuring a trio of colorful and in-your-face salmon. Perhaps their imaginations will be sparked by the mother-daughter duo of Colleen and Sierra Wake, who each have a piece in the exhibit. Even a proud grandmother gets into the act, with a photo and description of her granddaughter posing with her first salmon.

“We’re celebrating the salmon fishing we have here in the Valley,” said museum curator Bethany Buckingham. “These are all local artists. We were trying to find things that relate to our local culture, and fishing is something everyone loves. We were hoping summer would come a little bit sooner. We’re trying to get people jump-started and excited about fishing. We wanted to highlight our local culture and the salmon fishing we’re known for.”

When the call went out for the exhibit, which runs through May 3, one of its most striking and talked-about pieces came from 8-year-old Sierra Wake. Her sculpture titled “The Incredible Mr. Limpet Goes to the Fair” won grand champion at the 2012 Alaska State Fair for the Shaw Elementary School second-grader and helped inspire her mother, also an artist, to come up with something fishy.

“I think it’s totally awesome,” Colleen Wake said of her daughter’s sculpture, which measures about 24 inches long and features a large-mouthed fish covered in colorful feathers. “I wish I could put it outside as yard art, but the feathers would fly.”

Positioned above “Mr. Limpet” at the museum is “Fly Fishing Over the Moon,” a work by Colleen Wake that features three fish on lures made from painted aluminum.

“We do a lot of things at the recycling center and we do a lot of art exhibits,” she said about why she worked with old aluminum cans. “If you can go cheap or free, that’s always great. It’s fun to take something unusual and do something with it that’s not expected. It’s a lot of fun to see the different things and the colors and textures and see what you can get out of it.”

Even mom can tell that her daughter’s work is the eye-catcher of the show.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “She’s always been very creative. She was coloring in the lines with no scribbles when she was, like, 3. She’s definitely a very gifted artist, so I encourage her in any way.”

Some of the art is also available for purchase, Buckingham said, including “Salmon Trio” and another work by Pierce, “Sockeye,” a large oil/pastel on canvas.

More at the museum

Along with “Fish On!” the Wasilla museum is also hosting a traveling exhibit marking the centennial anniversary of the state’s oldest Alaska Native civil rights organization, the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood.

The exhibit, from Sitka, “talks about the interesting struggles of Alaska Natives and forming this group to combat the negativity of the 1900s against Native Alaskans,” Buckingham said.

In May, the museum will continue its Wednesday Night at the Museum series, focusing on gardening throughout the month, Buckingham said. Also, the 2012 Alaska Positive photography exhibit will be on display for the summer, May 10 through Aug. 30. And for those mothers in the area, a special Mother’s Day Tea promises a lot of fun and pampering for Wasilla moms, she said. Families can celebrate Mother’s Day with a traditional tea. There will be two sittings, 2 p.m. and 3:45 p.m., and tickets are $10 for mom and a guest.

For more information about programs and exhibits at the Dorothy G. Page Museum, call 373-9071 or visit cityofwasilla.com/museum.