The mission of Alaska Arts Southeast Inc., better known as the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, is to build community in Alaska by providing opportunities in arts, culture and recreation in an inclusive, educational and inspirational environment.
Our Story
Sitka Fine Arts Camp was founded in 1973 as an initiative of Sheldon Jackson College faculty. The Camp was created to provide exposure and training in a wide variety of the arts to Alaska youth. Participants came from Sitka and from rural villages throughout Alaska where school art programs were less available.
Building from its original mission, Sitka Fine Arts Camp has become a nationally acclaimed program that has served generations of aspiring artists of all skill levels. In 2012, over 700 students attended camp. They came from 37 Alaskan communities, 22 states, and several other countries. In addition to class work, students attend live evening performances and presentations by the talented Camp faculty. For many of our rural students, this is their first exposure to professional artists.
In recent years, Sitka Fine Arts Camp has developed beyond its flagship program to offer year-round opportunities in the arts for all ages. In 2001, Sitka Fine Arts Camp began organizing public concerts. This evolved into the current Performing Art Series, which draws world-renown performers, as well as to host public workshops and master classes. Since 2006, with the support of the Sitka School District and the Alaska State Council on the Arts, Sitka Fine Arts Camp has worked to bring artists to local elementary and middle schools through Artists in Schools (AIS) residencies. In 2008, Sitka Fine Arts Camp’s director travelled to the White House to receive the presidential Coming Up Taller Award, honoring youth organizations that make extraordinary contributions to arts and culture in their communities.
In 2011, the Sheldon Jackson College Board of Trustees gave the historic campus to Sitka Fine Arts Camp. At the time of the transfer, the campus had been closed for four years, and was in desperate need of repair. Sitka Fine Arts Camp has since overseen the revitalization of this historic landmark. Hundreds of volunteers have contributed over 25,000 volunteer hours and generous donors have provided support to bring the Sheldon Jackson Campus back to life.
Having a home to call our own has also allowed the Sitka Fine Arts Camp to grow in previously unimagined ways. In 2012, Sitka Fine Arts Camp launched five new summer camp programs, including art forms as diverse as musical theater and native jazz, serving everyone from elementary strings players to adults of all experience levels. Students can continue their art education throughout the year by taking After School Arts classes. In 2011, our organization received an ArtPlace Award as “one of the most dynamic examples of Creative Placemaking in the Country,” and it is our challenge to continually invent new ways to be a positive force in our community by drawing on the resources of our organization’s own history, the legacy of the Sheldon Jackson Campus, and the strength of the Sitka community itself.
Sitka Fine Arts Camp is operated as a project of Alaska Arts Southeast, Inc., which received its federal non-profit 501(c)3 status in 1975.
Building from its original mission, Sitka Fine Arts Camp has become a nationally acclaimed program that has served generations of aspiring artists of all skill levels. In 2012, over 700 students attended camp. They came from 37 Alaskan communities, 22 states, and several other countries. In addition to class work, students attend live evening performances and presentations by the talented Camp faculty. For many of our rural students, this is their first exposure to professional artists.
In recent years, Sitka Fine Arts Camp has developed beyond its flagship program to offer year-round opportunities in the arts for all ages. In 2001, Sitka Fine Arts Camp began organizing public concerts. This evolved into the current Performing Art Series, which draws world-renown performers, as well as to host public workshops and master classes. Since 2006, with the support of the Sitka School District and the Alaska State Council on the Arts, Sitka Fine Arts Camp has worked to bring artists to local elementary and middle schools through Artists in Schools (AIS) residencies. In 2008, Sitka Fine Arts Camp’s director travelled to the White House to receive the presidential Coming Up Taller Award, honoring youth organizations that make extraordinary contributions to arts and culture in their communities.
In 2011, the Sheldon Jackson College Board of Trustees gave the historic campus to Sitka Fine Arts Camp. At the time of the transfer, the campus had been closed for four years, and was in desperate need of repair. Sitka Fine Arts Camp has since overseen the revitalization of this historic landmark. Hundreds of volunteers have contributed over 25,000 volunteer hours and generous donors have provided support to bring the Sheldon Jackson Campus back to life.
Having a home to call our own has also allowed the Sitka Fine Arts Camp to grow in previously unimagined ways. In 2012, Sitka Fine Arts Camp launched five new summer camp programs, including art forms as diverse as musical theater and native jazz, serving everyone from elementary strings players to adults of all experience levels. Students can continue their art education throughout the year by taking After School Arts classes. In 2011, our organization received an ArtPlace Award as “one of the most dynamic examples of Creative Placemaking in the Country,” and it is our challenge to continually invent new ways to be a positive force in our community by drawing on the resources of our organization’s own history, the legacy of the Sheldon Jackson Campus, and the strength of the Sitka community itself.
Sitka Fine Arts Camp is operated as a project of Alaska Arts Southeast, Inc., which received its federal non-profit 501(c)3 status in 1975.
The Team
Roger Schmidt has been the Executive Director of Sitka Fine Arts Camp (Alaska Arts Southeast, Inc.) since 2000. During this time, the summer program has grown from a two week camp serving 40 adolescent students to a ten week program serving 1,000 students ages five to adult. In 2010, Roger negotiated the donation of the historic Sheldon Jackson School which had closed its doors in 2007. Subsequently, he has overseen the restoration of the campus by harnessing the support of thousands of volunteers and donors. Under Roger’s leadership, the Camp has grown to include a year long arts advocacy program that offers a performing arts series, a statewide teacher training institute, after school arts classes for all ages, and a vibrant young performer’s theater program. In addition, the Campus has become an important part of the economic future of Sitka as a home for many conferences and conventions.
Roger grew up in Sitka and attended the Sitka Fine Arts Camp as a student from 1980-1984. The arts have been a central part of Roger’s life. He graduated from Oberlin College and Conservatory with degrees in philosophy and trombone performance with additional music studies at the Aspen Music Festival, Pierre Monteux School and internationally in London and at the Bruckner Conservatory in Austria. As a musician he has worked in the San Francisco Bay area as well as toured throughout Alaska and other parts of the United States.
Roger is also an avid traveler and adventurer. His trips have included a 3-month solo kayak trip from Vancouver B.C. to Sitka, Alaska, a kayak crossing of the Bering Strait, a Patagonia Ice-Cap ski crossing, and a year-long sailing trip from Siberia to Uruguay. He is the 2004 recipient of the Governor’s Award for Arts Education and in 2007, under his direction, the Camp received the Coming Up Taller Award at the White House. In 2012, he was inducted into the Alaska Hall of Fame and received the Sitka Arts Advocate of the Year award. Roger is also a fellow of the National Arts Strategies’ Chief Executive Program and a graduate of the Aspen Executive Seminar.
Roger Schmidt Executive Director Roger SchmidtRoger Schmidt has been the Executive Director of Sitka Fine Arts Camp (Alaska Arts Southeast, Inc.) since 2000. During this time, the summer program has grown from a two week camp serving 40 adolescent students to a ten week program serving 1,000 students ages five to adult. In 2010, Roger negotiated the donation of the historic Sheldon Jackson School which had closed its doors in 2007. Subsequently, he has overseen the restoration of the campus by harnessing the support of thousands of volunteers and donors. Under Roger’s leadership, the Camp has grown to include a year long arts advocacy program that offers a performing arts series, a statewide teacher training institute, after school arts classes for all ages, and a vibrant young performer’s theater program. In addition, the Campus has become an important part of the economic future of Sitka as a home for many conferences and conventions. Roger grew up in Sitka and attended the Sitka Fine Arts Camp as a student from 1980-1984. The arts have been a central part of Roger’s life. He graduated from Oberlin College and Conservatory with degrees in philosophy and trombone performance with additional music studies at the Aspen Music Festival, Pierre Monteux School and internationally in London and at the Bruckner Conservatory in Austria. As a musician he has worked in the San Francisco Bay area as well as toured throughout Alaska and other parts of the United States. Roger is also an avid traveler and adventurer. His trips have included a 3-month solo kayak trip from Vancouver B.C. to Sitka, Alaska, a kayak crossing of the Bering Strait, a Patagonia Ice-Cap ski crossing, and a year-long sailing trip from Siberia to Uruguay. He is the 2004 recipient of the Governor’s Award for Arts Education and in 2007, under his direction, the Camp received the Coming Up Taller Award at the White House. In 2012, he was inducted into the Alaska Hall of Fame and received the Sitka Arts Advocate of the Year award. Roger is also a fellow of the National Arts Strategies’ Chief Executive Program and a graduate of the Aspen Executive Seminar. |
Kenley Jackson has been working at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp since the Fall of 2008. She grew up in West Virginia and earned a B.A. in Biology from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. She has dabbled in many visual art forms and especially enjoys printmaking. Her Art Book called “Once Upon a Time I Hated Birds” has been featured in special exhibits in Minnesota and Iowa. When not working for fine arts camp, she enjoys exploring the wilds of Sitka and cooking.
Kenley Jackson Program Director Kenley JacksonKenley Jackson has been working at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp since the Fall of 2008. She grew up in Colorado and West Virginia before earning a B.A. in Biology from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. When she was six, she surprised herself by drawing a mermaid that actually looked like the picture in her head. Since then she has dabbled in many art forms from glass bead making to printmaking to paper cutting. She loves color and texture and experimenting with new techniques, especially working on graphic design projects for SFAC. Since 2011, she has worked on the transformation of the Sheldon Jackson Campus and developed new programming to serve more students each year as well as increasing access to financial aid. In 2016, she started the Sitka Arts and Science Festival and enjoys the challenge and creativity of interdisciplinary programming. On the weekends you'll find her hiking on the Sitka trails with her husband, a former SFAC camper from 1996-2003, visiting the library, and experimenting with new recipes. She serves on the boards of Raven Radio and Coast Alaska and is passionate about volunteering to support public media to keep local news and community voices on the air.
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Rhiannon Guevin graduated summa cum laude from University of Puget Sound’s School of Music, where she received a BM in Vocal Performance with Honors in Music. During her time at Puget Sound she performed in opera scenes and full-scale productions, including the roles of Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, Miss Titmouse in Too Many Sopranos!, and Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance. She was the fall 2011 winner of the University of Puget Sound’s Concerto/Aria Competition. In summer 2011, she traveled to Kunming, China, where she played The Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte for the China Yunnan Opera Festival. More recent roles include Zerlina in Juneau Lyric Opera’s production of Don Giovanni, Olive Ostrovsky in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Cathy Hyatt in The Last Five Years. Rhiannon has studied voice with Dr. Dawn Padula and Joseph Evans. In addition to her administrative duties with the camp, Rhiannon teaches opera at SFAC’s High School Camp and provides vocal coaching for SFAC’s Musical Theater Camp. During the year, Rhiannon serves as the Musical Director for SFAC’s Young Performers Theater program and teaches private voice lessons. Rhiannon has served as an adjudicator for the classical voice sections at Alaska’s State Solo and Ensemble Music Festival.
Rhiannon Guevin Operations Director Rhiannon GuevinRhiannon Guevin graduated summa cum laude from University of Puget Sound’s School of Music, where she received a BM in Vocal Performance with Honors in Music. During her time at Puget Sound she performed in opera scenes and full-scale productions, including the roles of Sophie in DerRosenkavalier, Miss Titmouse in Too Many Sopranos!, and Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance. She was the fall 2011 winner of the University of Puget Sound’s Concerto/Aria Competition. In summer 2011, she traveled to Kunming, China, where she played The Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte for the China Yunnan Opera Festival. More recent roles include Zerlina in Juneau Lyric Opera’s production of Don Giovanni, Olive Ostrovsky in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Cathy Hyatt in The Last Five Years. Rhiannon has studied voice with Dr. Dawn Padula and Joseph Evans. In addition to her administrative duties with the camp, Rhiannon teaches opera at SFAC’s High School Camp and provides vocal coaching for SFAC’s Musical Theater Camp. During the year, Rhiannon serves as the Musical Director for SFAC’s Young Performers Theater program and teaches private voice lessons. Rhiannon has served as an adjudicator for the classical voice sections at Alaska’s State Solo and Ensemble Music Festival.
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Jennifer Lynn Carter has been a professional art educator since 1992. She was born and raised in NYC and graduated from the High School of Art and Design. She received her B.F.A. from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts of Boston and Tufts University in photography, printmaking and art history and her M.S. in Art Education from The Florida State University. Jennifer founded The Arts Academy visual arts magnet at Savannah High School and went on to develop the visual arts program at SAIL (School for Arts and Innovative Learning) High School in Tallahassee, FL. She has also worked extensively as a consultant in developing art curricula and museum exhibits. Jennifer’s work at Sitka Fine Arts Camp has allowed her to develop a variety of arts integration teacher training programs including the SFAC Summer Teacher Institutes and Teaching Artist Residencies in several Alaskan school districts. For her personal artistic expression, Jennifer enjoys working in photography and being a student of traditional Alaska Native art forms.
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Savannah has been interested in stage management from a very young age, as it allows her to combine her passion for theatre with her penchant for pragmatism and organization. She comes from a theater involved family, and has found a deeper connection to them in her work over the years. She graduated from USF with a BA in Theatre Arts, traveled with the 2012 Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, built sets in Midland Texas, worked as a Production and Stage Manager for a 500 seat not for profit theatre in Florida for many years, and now finds herself working at a beautiful Fine Arts Camp in Alaska.
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Victor Wong Maintenance and Events
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Nathan Lafriniere Maintenance and Facilities
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Zeke Blackwell has been involved in over 80 productions as a director, actor, writer, designer, and technician, and has had the joy of making theater in Sitka, Fort Worth, New Haven, New York, and Costa Rica, where he directed the world premiere of the Spanish-language version of Once on this Island! With over a decade of improv comedy experience, he’s performed/taught improv around the country, and most recently at the Boston Comedy Arts Festival. His original play, Still Life, was produced in the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival. He graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in Cognitive Science. He served two years on the board of directors for Far Corners Community Musical Theatre, a non-profit dedicated to providing arts opportunities for underserved youth in isolated regions of the world. Once, he beat-boxed for Lin-Manuel Miranda. This is his fourth season year-round at SFAC as the Young Performers Theater Director.
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The Board
Sam SkaggsSkaggs is a Registered Investment Advisor and financial planner dba Verdant, LLC, with his partner Amy Volz. Sam has over 30 years’ experience managing investment portfolios and offering financial planning advice. He received his BA in Environmental Studies from Hampshire College, in 1975 then promptly moved to Fairbanks to manage a musk ox farm with the University of Alaska. Like most Alaskans, Skaggs has many work experiences before settling on finance, including: a building contractor of super-insulated homes and making the StrollerPack- made to- last child carriers out of welded aluminum and sold worldwide with Juneau inventor John Ingalls. Sam has been president of his family’s small foundation since 1986 which has granted over $2.5 million to Alaskan non-profits. Skaggs has extensive nonprofit Board experience including: The Nature Conservancy of Alaska, Musk Ox Development Corporation, Alaska Conservation Foundation, Pacific GIS/ Ecotrust, and the Juneau Sailing Foundation where we co-started a US sailing youth program serving 100 kids a year. When not working inside, Skaggs is an avid skier, hunter, hiker, and sailor. Sitka is now home, and 3 of his children attended SFAC starting in middle school through high school. “Working with the Board and Staff of the Sitka Fine Arts Camp is one of the best experiences of my life” Skaggs says. |
Mollie Kabler Vice President Mollie Kabler Mollie Kabler is a non-profit media executive at CoastAlaska and Alaska Public Broadcasting Inc. who loves living in Sitka and working with Alaskans that care about arts, education, and public media. Mollie earned her bachelor’s degree at Carleton College as a biology major and a Master’s in Public Administration from University of Alaska SE. Mollie has been active in many facets of the Sitka community including 12 years as an elected school board member. She was appointed by Governor Knowles to the Alaska Public Broadcasting Commission and served as co-chair. Her leadership on the Sitka Performing Arts Center committee helped to create community support to build our beautiful facility. Her daughters spent many happy hours every summer at Sitka Fine Arts Camp and have helped in the community rebuild of the SJ Campus. We are a commercial fishing family and love spending time on the waters around Sitka. Mollie loves camping, hiking and gardening. Her seasonal radio shows about how to garden in southeast Alaska has been on the air every spring for over 25 years. |
Susan LitmanSusan Litman is the co-owner of Precision Boatworks, a boat repair and boat building business in Sitka. She lives on an island and commutes to town by skiff. She is on the board of Friends of the Performing Arts and is treasurer of the Sitka Jazz Festival. Her son attended the Sitka Fine Arts Camp and is a video editor in New York City. She enjoys long distance walking and gardening. |
Mary GoddardMary Goddard, Board Secretary is an Alaska Native Artist. Her art includes contemporary carved and woven jewelry using traditional material and metals, it includes installation art, film and television projects and her blog Plantguru.org which shares knowledge and cooking tips about indigenous plants. Mary received a degree of completion at school at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. She worked on various film television productions such as Fireproof, The Grace Card, ABC’s show Lost, and she was also a Producer and Camera Woman for the show Coast Guard Alaska. Mary not only has a passion for the arts, but also for youth, she worked as a Family Teacher for Father Flanagan’s Boys and Girls Home and she continues to be involved with community outreaches. Currently Mary lives in Sitka with her husband Lucas and her son Ryker. She is continuing to work on art and film projects. You can follow her at www.alaskamary.com |
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