Chilkat weaver among master artists named by National Endowment for the Arts

Tlingit weaver Clarissa Rizal of Juneau is among 10 artists named as National Heritage Fellows by the National Endowment for the Arts on Thursday.

A press release from the national organization described Rizal as "a multitalented artist who has contributed to the revival and perpetuation of the Chilkat blanket weaving."

The art of Chilkat weaving was nearly lost in the last century and only saved from extinction by a small group of determined Southeast Alaska women, including Jennie Thlunaut. Thlunaut, a National Heritage Fellow in 1986, was among Rizal's mentors.

In a biography of Rizal supplied by the Endowment for the Arts, Aldona Jonaitis, director of the University of Alaska Museum of the North, wrote, "These difficult and time-consuming twined robes made of wool and cedar bark depict highly stylized images of the crests which embody a clan's history and eminence."

Rizal is known for her paintings, collages, drawings and weaving in the geometric Ravenstail style, as well as the more familiar Chilkat blankets, also called robes. One of her pieces, "Copper Woman," currently on view as part of the "Our Story" exhibit at the Anchorage Museum, combines both Ravenstail and Chilkat elements.

She is the organizer of the Biennial Northwest Coast Native Artists' Gathering and the Shaax' SaaniKeek' Weavers' Circle of Chilkat and Ravenstail weavers. She recently created "Weavers Across the Water," a Chilkat-Ravenstail robe composed of squares woven by 54 weavers. Rizal sewed the pieces together to create a blanket that will be used in celebrations of Northwest Coast canoe launchings and other ceremonies. She has also taught the traditional skills to many students.

Rizal's weavings have been named Best in Show at the Heard Museum Indian Art Fair, the Santa Fe Artists Market, the All Alaska Juried Art Show and the Sealaska Heritage Invitational Art Exhibit.

The Heritage Fellowships recognize master artists in folk and traditional arts. The award comes with a cash prize of $25,000. The class of 2016 also includes Byran Akipa, a Dakota flute maker; Milly McComskey, an Irish button accordionist from Baltimore; Michael Vlahovich of Tacoma, a shipwright, and Native American basket makers Theresa Secord and Leona Waddell.

The awards will be presented at a ceremony on Sept. 28 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.