NEA leadership meets with Alaskan Native, JBER artists in Anchorage [Video]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The 13th chair of the National Endowment for the Arts paid a visit Wednesday morning to the Alaska Native Heritage Center, part of a busy day of site visits in Alaska’s largest city.

As Yup’ik dancers’ music echoed throughout the open space, Maria Rosario Jackson, the first African American chair in NEA’s history, listened along with audience members, part of a wider lesson on the strong influence of art on Alaska Native culture.

“To learn about what’s happening here in Alaska and what we might be able to lift up for others to understand,” Jackson said. “[Alaska is] a beautiful place, it’s a very unique place, a rich place, culturally very rich, and to be able to understand how things work here, so we as a federal agency can show up in ways that are helpful and supportive.”

Jackson traveled from Los Angeles, California, this week, …