ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A unique program is helping Alaska Natives become skilled carvers and – in some cases – earn enough to get off the streets.
The Alaska Art Alliance is located on Fourth Avenue, sandwiched between a bar and a small grocery store. Seven days a week, 365 days a year, the hum of drills can be heard from a studio in the back, where Alaska Natives carve ivory.
Leon Kinneeveauk founded the Art Alliance in 2018 after spending more than 12 years in prison. Originally from Point Hope, Kinneeveauk said he became disoriented after moving to Anchorage and only really began to connect with his culture while in prison.
“When I was incarcerated, I started learning about indigenous culture. Sobriety was a big thing for me,” he said.
Kinneeveauk was released in 2015 and by 2018 was so successful selling his carvings that he decided to open a space where other Native people could come and carve for free.
“I don’t charge them for rent,” he said. “I know how hard it is to be a carver, and how hard it is for some of them who are either from the village or have been released from prison or are just struggling with certain things: homelessness, addiction.”
For the first few years, Kinneeveauk paid his expenses out of his own pocket, but when COVID hit, it set him back.
At this point, the Alaska Native Heritage Museum stepped in and funded the program.
Emily Edenshaw, president of Native Heritage, said donors recognized the value of giving Aboriginal people a place to get off the streets and engage with their art and culture.
“Every single Alaska Native, no matter where they live, has a right to access their culture and for us that means healing,” Edenshaw said.
Edenshaw said the program primarily serves homeless or displaced Alaska Native men and can be a safe haven for those living on the streets, especially during the winter.
She said the program is important in ways other than just accommodation.
“Accommodation is one component, but we also need to address the mental health scars. We need to create a space where people feel productive and can do their work,” Edenshaw said.
The carvers sell their work throughout the city, including at the Alaska Native Heritage Center.
Kinneeveauk, who has his own business, often buys artwork from the men and sells it at events around the state and country. He said the income is important, but the carving studio is also a place where people can feel productive and accepted for who they are.
Many of the men who come there simply need a chance, he said.
“I think opportunities are created in some shape or form by people who can provide opportunities and not just a job,” Kinneeveauk said.
The Alaska Art Alliance is located at 328 West Fourth Avenue and the carving workshop is at the rear of the building.
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