Local poet receives Rasmuson Fellowship

The Rasmuson Foundation was created in 1955 as an organization to support Alaskan arts and culture, health, and social services, among other things. They do this through a number of different ways, including offering financial support to Alaskans in the form of grants and fellowships. According to their website, since their founding the foundation has made $400,000,000 charitable payments.

Earlier this month, the Rasmuson Foundation brought together several creative Alaskan artists for their 2019 Individual Artist Awards.

One winner of this award was local poet Vivian Faith Prescott.

"Their Individual Artists Award is one of the most prestigious and generous awards in Alaska," Prescott said in an email. "The grant is intended to support the time, reflection, immersion, or experimentation that benefit's the artist's work. I received the fellowship as a mature artist to focus my attention on writing poetry."

This is not the first time Prescott has been recognized by the Rasmuson Foundation. She first received an award from the foundation in 2015, which she said allowed her to spend a year in Wrangell and focus solely on her poetry. She produced a poetry manuscript titled "Old Woman with Berries in her Lap." It has received accolades in contests, she said, but has yet to find a publisher.

The Individual Artist Award offers $18,000 to mid-career or mature artists to really sit down and focus on their work. Prescott said that she already has a plan for what she intends to do with her time, thanks to this award. She wants to use her poetry to look at ways climate change is changing the world of Southeast Alaska.

"I will focus on writing poetry as a 'climate witness,'" she said in an email. "I'm documenting my relation to the changing climate in Alaska and will inquire into what's happening to the glaciers in my backyard, the LeConte Glacier and Shakes Glacier and to our salmon through the lens of my indigenous Sámi values. I will complete a poetry manuscript of about 60 poems."

There were 36 Individual Artist Award winners this year. Prescott and her entourage travelled to Anchorage for the ceremony by ferry and RV. There were several differences in the ceremony from the last time she won the award, she said. In 2015, the ceremony was more akin to a graduation while this year it was more of a celebration with friends, family, and good food.

"I'd like to say a big giitu, thank you, to the Rasmuson Foundation for believing in me and for seeing the value in poetry," Prescott said. "It's wonderful to see a diverse group of artists this year receiving the award; LGBTQA, indigenous artists, women, and artists from smaller communities are well represented. If you're an artist or writer in rural Alaska I'd encourage you to apply for a Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Award ... I'd like to see more Wrangell artists and writers applying for the Rasmuson Individual Artist Awards. We have some great artists living and working here!"

Prescott added that she is more than happy to offer advice to any artists considering applying for the award, or to answer any questions. She can be reached via Facebook message or by email, at doctorviv@hotmail.com. Some of her work can be found online at http://www.vivianfaithprescott.com.