Art

Art in the Making

ART IN THE MAKING
(May 2012 - December 2012)

This exhibit follows five Fairbanks artists as they take their work from inception to completion.

The production team visited the artists as they worked out of doors and in their homes and studios.

The artists talked to the filmmakers about their successes and fears, the sacrifices, and the challenges that come with the pursuit of a creative vision.

PAINTING

Alfred Skondovitch, who died during the filming of this exhibit, was born in England to Russian Jewish immigrants. In the 1950s, he visited friends in Alaska and met his wife, Patti. They raised their family in Alaska. Alfred spend 60 years painting in this studio in downtown Fairbanks.

I produce my art because I have to, the way other people breathe.

WOODCUTTING

Glen Simpson was born in Atlin, British Columbia of both Tahltan-Kaska Indian and pioneer Canadian heritage. He is interested in reinterpreting traditional Alaska Native forms in materials that are nontraditional and often unexpected.

Heeinterpreting traditional Alaska Native

Simplicity is very important to me, cutting things down to the essence. I don't like things that are worked and worked.

PRINTMAKING

Sara Tabbert was born in Ohio and raised in Fairbanks. She lives in the Goldstream Valley with five sled dogs and is an avid skier and blueberry picker. Sara has worked with students across Alaska in the Artists in the Schools program.

Sara has worked with

I think there is an idea that with art you start with a product in mind, but I rarely start with a fixed idea. Frequently, the thing that I want to talk about comes to me in the middle of making something.

CERAMICS

Teresa Shannon was born and raised in Fairbanks. She divides her time between teaching ceramics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and making pots in her home studio.

making pots in her home studio.

Pots have a life of their own once I've made them. They go into people's homes. People wrap their hands around them and touch them to their lips. They become integrated into people's lives.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Adam Ottavi was born in Iowa and currently lives in Fairbanks, where he teaches art and photography at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and runs an organic garden. While Adam uses contemporary cameras, he is primarily interested in historic and alternative methods of photography.

of photography

I try to create a private, intimate feeling in my photographs. The play between the private moment of how the photograph is made and the public nature of displaying it is fascinating to me. It is like revealing secrets.