ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Alaska Native Heritage Center (ANHC) is seeking proposals from Indigenous artists for the creation of a Veterans Monument to be installed in ANHC’s Community Healing Garden. This opportunity is part of the Ngiisdla Project (Haida, “to heal, recover, and get well again”), generously funded by The Mellon Foundation.
The Veterans Monument has been requested by community members who recognized the importance of memorializing and honoring Alaskan veterans. Over the past 18 months, ANHC has held a series of community engagement sessions to shape the vision for this monument. To hear directly from participants and learn more about the project, watch our overview video here: https://youtu.be/PqIqaIu1i54.
ANHC invites Indigenous artists from around the United States to apply to develop, create, and install a public monument honoring the service and sacrifices of all Veterans, with special emphasis on Alaska Native and Native American Veterans. The opportunity has a budget of $85,000 and while artists are encouraged to collaborate and include an apprentice in their proposals, individual submissions are also welcome. The call is open from June 11 to July 11, with jurors reviewing proposals from July 18 to July 31, 2025. Artists can find the full call for entries here: https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=15452. For assistance navigating the Call for Entry system, artists can email [email protected] or call 303-629-1166. For questions related to this opportunity, artists are welcome to reach out to ANHC team members Marilyn Balluta ([email protected]) or Angie Demma ([email protected]).
“This milestone for the project is very important. We are at an incredibly exciting stage where we get to involve artists in the community-based work we’ve been doing for the past two years. The new design of the garden space is underway and the renovation to the garden is expected to occur soon.” said Senior Manager Marilyn Balluta. “We are incredibly grateful to the Mellon Foundation and to all the Veterans who have been helping us throughout this process.”
This project is generously funded by The Mellon Foundation through its Presidential Initiative, known as The Monuments Project. The Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities, guided since 1969 by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through their grants, they seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at www.mellon.org. Additional support for this project has been provided through partnerships with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Kawerak Inc.
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About the Alaska Native Heritage Center:
The Alaska Native Heritage Center is a nonprofit organization that preserves and strengthens the traditions, languages and art of Alaska’s Native Peoples through statewide collaboration, celebration and education. To learn more, visit www.alaskanative.net.
Media Contact: Rachel Ruston
Communications & Development Manager
[email protected] | 907-330-8071
