At the event held last Saturday, Homer Council on the Arts provided seven community awards to artists and art supporters in the community. Recipients included:
- Sharlene Cline, Artist of the Year
- Jill Berryman, Lifetime Achievement award
- Marina Co, Youth Artist of the Year
- Kannery Grill, Business Arts Patron
- Ken Castner, Local Volunteer
- Jan Knutson, Arts Advocate
- Shellie Wolsford, Arts Educator
Members of the HCOA board of directors collected short biographical bits of information for each award and shared some of these with KBBI through Jenna Gerrety, marketing coordinator with HCOA.
- “Sharlene Cline interprets the complicated world around her through Chinese brushwork, collage, and installations. Her world travels often influence her art. After graduating from college, Sharlene moved to Taiwan and studied with renowned Chinese brushwork artist Yang O-Shi for three years. Cline has touched the lives of many in our community through her teaching and her art exhibits. Her current exhibit “Connected” is at The Pratt Museum through September.”
- “Jill Berryman Moved to Homer in 1972, fresh out of dance school. She first approached Lance Peterson with Pier One, but was told that his mother, Jean McMaster, was doing all of the choreography. That didn’t stop her. Berryman was involved in many dance opportunities in Homer and eventually started her own Modern Dance troupe that rehearsed and had classes in the Art Barn on Pioneer Ave. In the summer of 1989, her sister Jinx, who danced with the Charleston Ballet, was the one who suggested that Berryman perform excerpts from the Nutcracker Suite. Berryman started the Nutcracker Ballet in Homer and grew it into a Homer Institution with a following of people from all over the state of Alaska. The Nutcracker Ballet lives on in Homer to this day, thanks to Jill and her team that started it and poured their creative energy into it for decades.”
- Marina Co will be a high school senior in Homer this year. She has explored art projects through The Fireweed Academy, especially silk painting, collaging, filmmaking, and stop-motion animation. By high school Marina had studied art and ceramics, participated in DDF expressing creativity through improv, pantomime, and acting, and independently pursued animation, painting, and film. More recently, Marina has focused on writing and journalism, including stories published by the Homer News and broadcast on KBBI. Last year, Marina presented a proposal that Homer High School publish a regular student newspaper, which she will be implementing this coming year. She recently returned from the Yale Young Global Scholars “Literature Philosophy and Culture” program. In her scholarship application, Marina wrote “To me, art is an expression of happiness, joy, and, at its core, who I am as a person.”
- Shellie Wolsford is a retired elementary school teacher, now working for Project Grad. She has always integrated the arts, both visual and performance, into all aspects of her teaching career. Shellie wrote about her experience, “Throughout my elementary teaching career, I focused on hands-on approaches whenever possible. It was natural to allow students to explore different media like ceramics, collage, and digital photography throughout all curriculum content and not just during “art time”. Through visual art integration, students develop fine motor skills, social skills, language development, and decision-making which are essential! So, encouraging youth to express their understandings, feelings, or new learning through visual or performing arts was a common theme in my classroom.” Though Wolford was not present at the event last Saturday she provided these comments to HCOA: “Now that I am retired, I wish to rekindle my relationship with my violin, take more art classes, as well as continue to serve on the Friends of the Library board. I will always seek out opportunities to assist in supporting the arts in our community.”
