Sitka Fine Arts Camp is a nationally-recognized

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

summer camp A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ...

located in

Sitka russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. The camp was established in 1973 at

Sheldon Jackson College Sheldon Jackson College (SJC) was a small private college located on Baranof Island in Sitka, Alaska, United States. Founded in 1878, it was the oldest institution of higher learning in Alaska and maintained a historic relationship with the Presb ...

. It used other locations in the years that followed before acquiring the majority of historic Sheldon Jackson College buildings and campus in 2011.College gives campus to Sitka Fine Arts Camp
by Shannon Haugland December 26, 2012 ''

Daily Sitka Sentinel The ''Sitka Sentinel'' is an independent, family-owned newspaper published on non-holiday weekdays in Sitka, Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is ...

'' (article hosted on newsminer) It took almost four years for a

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

Rural Development loan to be transferred from the college to the camp because of a "maze of paperwork," but it was done in 2013."Sitka Fine Arts Camp Sorts Out USDA Loan"
''

'', June 14, 2013. Sheldon Jackson College

The college was established in 1878 and was the oldest institution of higher learning in Alaska. The camp enrolled approximately 700 in 2013 and offerings have expanded to include a circus program. Adult programs such as a Native Jazz Workshop and the Sitka Arts and Science Institute are also offered and have included artists such as

Jason Marsalis Jason Marsalis (born March 4, 1977) is an American jazz drummer, vibraphone player, composer, producer, band leader, and member of the Marsalis family of musicians. He is the youngest son of Dolores Ferdinand Marsalis and the late Ellis Marsalis ...

History

Founded in 1973, Sitka Fine Arts Camp is a multi-disciplinary arts camp featuring the

dramatic arts Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

literary arts Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include o ...

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

(

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

, painting,

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

, sculpture, mask making, photography, video production,

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numbe ...

arts), and

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

. The camp features four separate sessions: "mini camp" (fifth grade and below), middle school camp, high school camp, and a musical theatre camp for high school and college students. Each session culminates in final performances and visual art exhibits. The camp was founded at the

campus, moved to the

University of Alaska Southeast The University of Alaska Southeast (UA Southeast, Alaska Southeast, or UAS) is a public university with its main campus in Juneau, Alaska and extended campuses in Sitka and Ketchikan. It is part of the University of Alaska System and was estab ...

Mt. Edgecumbe High School Mt. Edgecumbe High School (abbreviated MEHS) is a public boarding high school in Sitka, Alaska in the United States. Located on Japonski Island, across Sitka Harbor from the northwestern corner of downtown Sitka, the school is situated on a por ...

campus in the 1980s, switched back to Sheldon Jackson College in the 1990s, returned to the Mt. Edgecumbe High School campus in 2006, and in 2011, after the bankruptcy of Sheldon Jackson College and the transfer of its campus to the Fine Arts Camp's parent organization, Alaska Arts Southeast, Inc., the camp returned to the SJ campus. In 2013 the United States Department of Agriculture approved the transfer of two USDA-funded buildings on the campus to Alaska Arts Southeast, and the campus is undergoing continuing renovation activities.

Recognition

* In 2004, was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts as one of ten exceptional summer arts programs in the country. * In 2004, camp executive director Roger Schmidt was awarded the 2004 Alaska Governor's Award for Arts Education. * In 2005, was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts as one of 25 exceptional summer arts programs in the country. * In 2007 received the ''Coming Up Taller Award'' from the President's Committee on Arts and Humanities at a ceremony with First Lady, Laura Bush at the White House.

Notable faculty

* Alon Yavnai * Kristin Korb * Marco d'Ambrosio, noted composer. * Brian Neal, member of

Dallas Brass The Dallas Brass is a brass quintet started by Michael Levine in 1983. Its repertoire contains patriotic music, classical, and romantic, among others. The music ensemble continues to inspire young musicians and motivates its audience through a co ...

. * Amy Butcher

External links

Sitka Fine Arts Camp

References

{{Sitka, Alaska Education in Sitka, Alaska Educational institutions established in 1973 Summer schools Summer camps in Alaska Buildings and structures in Sitka, Alaska 1973 establishments in Alaska