Nome-based Inupiaq artist Katie O’Connor is helping visitors see the Anchorage Museum in a new way. Invited to design a large, three-panel display celebrating Dena’ina culture and language, her work now welcomes guests into the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center home to more than 600 Alaska Native heritage pieces.
Born and raised in Nome, O’Connor is a mother, photographer, and designer whose art reflects the spirit of rural Alaska – its land, language, and traditions. Her flowing black- and-white linework portrays Dena’ina life before the Alaska Railroad, from the Susitna Flats to Eklutna Lake. Visitors can also hear Dena’ina words for the wildlife and places in her designs.
O’Connor first connected with the museum through a Yup’ik coloring book project supported by the Rasmuson Foundation. Impressed by her creativity, curators invited her to help reimagine how Dena’ina stories are told. The collaboration challenged her to master new design tools and immerse herself in the culture she was depicting.
“It was all a learning experience,” O’Connor said. “Every challenge became an opportunity.” She hopes her work encourages young artists – especially those in rural Alaska – to keep creating. “I started drawing in kindergarten and never gave up,” she said. “Our cultures are magical – they deserve to be represented.”
As for what’s next, O’Connor smiled: someday, she’d love to design an Alaska Airlines plane celebrating Inupiaq culture – “but they haven’t asked me yet.”
Photo by Laura Davis Collins.
