Ulmer addresses Valley arts crowd

PALMER — University of Alaska Anchorage Chancellor Fran Ulmer was the keynote speaker at the Palmer Arts Council’s annual meeting on Friday.

Speaking to a full house of 100 friends and members of the PAC at the Red Beet Restaurant in Palmer, Ulmer discussed the importance of local, state and national financial support for the arts and encouraged all attending to open up checkbooks to support artists and art organizations.

Ulmer emphasized the importance of creative thinkers in articulating a thrilling vision of what a meaningful, healthy community can be for all people and how the arts can help make it so.

Ulmer was impressed with the PAC’s plans for the second annual Palmer Poetry Month (April) which prompted her to share a poem that she wrote “under a full moon, wearing a headlamp, on the banks of the Colorado River, down in the Grand Canyon.”

Longtime Palmer resident and piano teacher Sally Hitchcock was the recipient of the first Palmer Arts Council Lifetime Achievement Award for her decades-long dedication to the art of teaching the piano to generations of Palmer youth and adults. Ulmer was the daughter of a piano teacher and grew up in a household filled with music. She congratulated Hitchcock and presented her with a CD featuring the UAA music faculty.

Sen. Linda Menard also addressed the PAC gathering and highlighted her support for arts funding and keeping arts education in elementary schools. Menard also congratulated Hitchcock and noted that “decades ago” she took piano lessons from Sally so she could play more than two songs.

The gala event included music by the Impromptu String Quartet, a display of Eric Deeter’s art, and a sensational performance by percussionist Meggie Aube on the snare drum and marimba.

The annual report to the membership outlined the successes, challenges and goals for the new year and decade.