OUR 40TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR!
'DOUBLE FEATURE':
MATCHING CAMPAIGN 2013 
Last week, we received the thrilling news that an anonymous donor had made a gift to the Fine Arts Camp in the amount of $150,000 towards the completion of Richard H. Allen Memorial Hall and the Odess Theater. We can't thank our community of friends and volunteers enough for their support in time, effort, and resources; our shared vision for the SJ campus comes closer to reality every day thanks to your unfailing generosity and enthusiasm.

 
That's why we're incredibly excited to announce an opportunity unlike one we've ever had before: in honor of the Fine Arts Camp's 40th Anniversary, our recent donor has offered to match every donation made during the summer of 2013, up to $100,000, towards the restoration of our historic campus. We are already $25,000 towards our goal, but need your help. Any gift from now until the end of the summer - no matter what size - will have twice the positive impact on our ability to keep offering top-quality arts programs and to continue renovating our home here on Sheldon Jackson College Campus.  Click the link on the right to help us reach our goal, and thank you once again for your support! 
 Basic Arts Institute Teachers 
Learn, Create, Collaborate 
We've been joined on campus this week by the students and instructors of the Basic Arts Institute, an Alaska Arts Education Consortium program in partnership with the Sitka Tribe, the Sitka School District, and the Sitka Fine Arts Camp. 
 
Led by program director Nancy Douglas, Arts Institute attendees take classes in the arts and Native Alaskan culture with the aim of introducing new skills and traditions into the classroom. They have also been hard at work painting a mural that will be displayed at the Tribal Youth Center on Baranof Street. This week the teachers will join up with our elementary campers to observe, learn, and create together - we're sure glad to have them with us!
 It's Camp Time!
Energy is high as kids from grades K-6 thrive in one of the three ongoing children's camps: elementary camp, strings camp, and circus camp. In the elementary camp, kids take four classes each day in music, theater, movement, and visual arts. The strings camp is designed specifically for elementary students who strive to expand their experience on violin, viola, cello or bass. Circus camp is a day camp designed to let elementary students get in touch with their inner clown as they learn skills like juggling, acrobatics, physical comedy, imaginative storytelling, and improvisation. Members of the Strange Attractor Theatre Company are leading this camp. The showcase circus performance by the campers is on Friday at 12:30 pm. Taught by guest instructors from across the nation, students are exposed to skilled professionals in every field. We are excited to explore what our students can learn in five days of fast-paced fun!

Art is a broad field that welcomes people of all ages! The members of adult arts camp are busy in evening classes, reinventing themselves and exploring their inner artists. Adult camp features offerings in theater, Athabaskan beading, music appreciation, African drumming, poetry, painting, ceramics, and animation. 
We're 1/4 of the way there -
help us reach our goal!
Volunteer Spotlight: Road Scholars 
This past May, 13 senior volunteers from the Road Scholar program travelled to Sitka from as far away as Massachusetts. They assisted with several work projects on campus and spent some time learning more about the rich culture and history of our community. 

Formerly known as Elderhostel, the Road Scholar program operates all over the globe, combining travel with learning and service. The visiting volunteers to the SJ campus last month helped by planting flowers, painting, spackling, cleaning, and doing many and sundry odd jobs - including sewing curtains for Whitmore Hall!

We were happy to have them as our guests and colleagues in the ongoing restoration effort. Thanks, Road Scholars!







View our videos on YouTube

Click here to see members of the Basic Arts Institute learning about traditional drum music! 
An Anniversary Series: 40 Years of History (Part 1 of 4)
To celebrate the 40th summer since the incorporation of Sitka Fine Arts Camp in 1973, our June newsletters will feature historical highlights on SFAC and the Sheldon Jackson Campus.   

Richard H. Allen Memorial Hall

Designed in 1910 by the architectural firm Ludlow & Peabody - the partnership that later undertook the 1922 renovation of Times Square in New York City - Allen Memorial Hall is the heart of the Sheldon Jackson campus and a registered National Historic Landmark. Its iconic façade is an homage to the English Tudor architectural style, but the building also incorporates elements from the Eastern Stick, Bungalow Craftsman, and Adirondack Lodge movements. 

After the Sitka Fine Arts Camp was founded in 1973, Allen Auditorium became the site of its inaugural performances in addition to those of the newly organized Sitka Summer Music Festival. In the fall of 1989, however, Sheldon Jackson College closed the Hall to public use, and the Sitka Fine Arts Camp (then known as the Alaska Fine Arts Institute) relocated to Japonski Island. It wasn't until 2012, a year after SJ transferred its historic campus to the Fine Arts Camp, that Allen Hall once again opened its doors to the people of Sitka.

Today, Allen Hall is the focus of a herculean effort on the part of the Sitka community. Night or day, you can find carpenters, painters, polishers, sweepers, and Jacks of All Trades hard at work on the elegant spaces that will soon restore Allen to its former glory as one of Sitka's finest venues for performance and arts education. 

If you are interested in contributing to the restoration of this historic building, please follow this link to donate to its renovation or contact our office at 907.747.3085 to learn how to volunteer. Tune in next week for a focus on another historic campus building, the Power Plant!