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Nome-based Inupiaq graphic artist Katie O’Connor was recently invited to design a new three-panel, large format display celebrating Dena’ina culture and language at the Anchorage Museum.
O’Connor’s dynamic linework now welcomes visitors into the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, a gallery that houses over 600 Alaska Native cultural heritage pieces on loan from the Smithsonian Institution.
Katie O’Connor was born and raised in Nome. She’s a mother, a wife, a photographer, a small business owner, and a graphic designer. Her art is rooted in the culture and subsistence lifestyle of her home. O’Connor said she’s been working to get more exposure as an artist.
“That's exactly what I want to do with my art– is level up to the next biggest thing, you know. And me being from Nome, not on the road system, that said a lot, that they reached out to me,” O’Connor said.
Assistant Curator at the Anchorage Museum, Alex Taitt, said the museum learned about O’Connor through a recent collaboration on a Yupik coloring book project funded by the Rasmuson Foundation.
“In the Yupik ABC coloring book that she did with Nikki Corbett, we really loved her line work and her attention to detail, and thought that that would be a perfect design style to portray these scenes,” Taitt said.
The staff worked closely with O’Connor through the design process to create three massive panels, two of which were over 70 feet long. But O’Connor says the process wasn’t without hiccups.
“It wasn't until a week after creating, designing the first wall, that we established I needed to completely switch directions. The software that I was using originally, and knew like the back of my hand, was based on pixels,” she said.
And O’Connor’s pixel-based software couldn’t create a large enough file for the panels. So O’Connor taught herself how to use a new, vector-based program to create expandable designs. But technology wasn’t the only thing O’Connor had to learn. As an Inupiaq artist from northwest Alaska, she needed to understand more about the Dena’ina culture as well.
“They're not my culture. They're not what I'm used to. They're not western Alaskan coastal cultures. So working from a distance, the Anchorage museum staff, they were really instrumental, really prepared, and they gave me all the files that I needed with all of the resources I needed for each individual wall," O'Connor said. "So for a huge project, the biggest one I've ever taken on myself, working virtually went as smooth as it possibly could."
Taitt agreed that working from a distance created challenges. But, she said the technology also created opportunities for connection and collaboration. And no problem was insurmountable.
“Distance doesn't always help with that, because we couldn't just meet up with her, you know, but she was very excited to work through these things and learn how to overcome some of the technology issues. And we ended up with three beautiful scenes,” Taitt said.
At the exhibit
In black and white linework, O’Connor crafted three subsistence scenes depicting life prior to the arrival of the Alaska railroad to southcentral Alaska. Each scene captured a distinct area in the Dena’ina region: the Susitna Flats, Ship Creek and Eklutna Lake. The exhibit also involves audio for visitors to hear the Dena’ina names for wildlife, places and subsistence activities depicted in O’Connor’s work.
Senior Anchorage Museum Curator, Aaron Leggett, said the back and forth development of the scenes helped create a more rich and educational experience.
“They're not just looked at as sort of pretty scenes, but it really tells the history of the Dena’ina people. The visitors are exposed to the Dena’ina language, and they get a sense, hopefully, that the Anchorage Museum sits on Dena’ina land,” Leggett said.
O’Connor said she was inspired by the technology that equipped her to take on this big project.
“The fact that we are able to do it almost all the way virtually just kind of shows that any artist, no matter where you're at, can be involved in a big job like this. So it was a really, really awesome opportunity,” she said.
O’Connor encouraged everyone with an interest, from kindergarten to adulthood, to keep creating. She said even rural residents have opportunities for their talent and culture to be put on a statewide stage.
“I remember being in kindergarten and starting my art adventure and never giving up. I just want to encourage kids to stick with it. You can go places and do things with your artwork in the future. There's so many resources and funding out there. Our cultures are so magical, they need to be represented,” she said.
O’Connor said she would keep working and taking on new jobs, with one of her goals being to design an Alaska Airlines plane representing the Inupiaq culture of northwest Alaska. They just haven’t asked her yet.
