Every year the NEA National Heritage Fellowships recognizes people in varied artistic pursuits who have shown artistic excellence. The National Endowment supports the continuing contributions to our nation’s traditional arts heritage. This is our Nation’s highest honor in Folk Art. One of the 2016 NEA National Fellows is Clarissa Rizal. What follows is Clarissa’s story.
CLARISSA RIZAL
“After learning Chilkat, I gained the art of patience, the way of gratitude, and the act of compassion. The universe opened its doors with a flood of information; the kind of information not definable, yet powerfully written in our Native art, in the ways of our people, and in our commune with nature.”
Clarissa Rizal, member of the Raven T’akDein Taan (black-legged kittiwake) Clan of Hoonah/Glacier Bay, Alaska, is a highly respected cultural leader and a multitalented artist who has contributed to the revival and perpetuation of the Chilkat blanket weaving. These difficult and…
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