BUNNELL STREET ARTS CENTER
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Mission Statement
Bunnell was created in 1991 by and for artists to sustain artists, cultivate audiences and engage a vibrant Alaskan community. Our mission is to spark artistic inquiry, innovation, and equity to strengthen the physical, social, and economic fabric of Alaska. Bunnell presents Visual Art Exhibitions, Artist in Residence, Artist in Schools, artist talks, workshops, concerts and performances of all kinds, and creative placemaking initiatives.
About This Cause
A non-profit multidisciplinary arts center located in Homer, Alaska at Tuggeht (at the shore, Dena'ina), Bunnell Street Arts Center occupies Indigenous lands currently stewarded by the Ninilchik Village Tribe in a historic building, the Inlet Trading Post. Though centered in the rural community of Homer, Bunnell serves Alaska artists and communities statewide and beyond through its programs, networks, online presence, and arts advocacy. Bunnell aspires to be a responsive organization that models stewardship, equity, creative exchange, and adaptability by offering programs to build resilience, inclusion, connection, and healing for under served artists and audiences. Bunnell inspires Alaska’s diverse and widespread artistic community to explore ways to survive and thrive as creative visionaries. Bunnell presents Artist in Residence, exhibits and a premier gallery, Artist in Schools, performances and gatherings of all kinds, artist development, and innovative community engagement projects with local, state and national partners. (1) Artist in Residence - Up to twelve residencies yearly enliven Bunnell as an interactive studio for both artist and community enrichment. Residencies sustain creative placemaking efforts through public art, workshops, artist talks and exhibits or performances. In response to community feedback, recent approaches explore "Healing and Engagement through ART," or "HEART," to promote joy, connection and skill-building. Bunnell is further developing a constellation of residencies across rural and remote Alaska to empower leading contemporary Indigenous artists in the perpetuation, adaptation and sharing of customary art forms. (2) Visual Art Exhibitions open monthly on first Friday with a free public reception and artist talk. A community tradition established by Bunnell in 1991, exhibits provide artistic awareness for the public and professional opportunities for Alaska artists. Touring exhibits such as “Protection: Adaptation & Resistance” bring Alaska artists to venues across the nation. Bunnell's retail gallery features work by contemporary Alaska artists and contributes to supporting a vibrant arts ecosystem for artists, residents and visitors. (3) Artist in Schools (AIS) - Based on the Alaska State Council on the Arts model, Artist in Schools places trained Teaching Artists in Kenai Peninsula Borough schools for one to three week arts intensives. AIS programs serve Alaska Native communities of Seldovia, Nanwalek, Port Graham, and Tyonek, as well as Homer, Russian Old Believer villages, and schools in the Kenai/Soldotna area. Recent feedback has led to increasing artist compensation, and seeking to simplify forms and reporting for artists and teachers. (4) Performances and gatherings of all kinds feature innovative, challenging and artistically outstanding talks and salons, from postmodern dance on Bishop’s Beach to contemporary theater by Indigenous Alaska artists, to Homer's Wearable Arts fashion show. Nurturing diverse art forms is a hallmark of Bunnell's reputation as an ambitious, risk-taking presenter. Bunnell is in its fourth year of collaborating with KBBI public radio to present monthly concerts broadcast live on-air. (5) Artist Development - From abundant opportunities for first time artists, to Teaching Artist Training Academies, to grant-writing workshops, to portfolio reviews, to the CSA (Community Supported Art) project, to mentorships among Indigenous artists, professional development for artists at all stages strengthen connections across this arts ecosystem. Bunnell provides fiscal sponsorship for artists and groups such as Homer Fiber Arts Collective and Łukae Tse'Taas (Fishhead Soup Comics). (6) Community Engagement - Bunnell champions arts strategies for community development, whether anchoring First Friday artwalks, serving as City of Homer liaison for Old Town and Pioneer Avenue revitalization, participating in community alliances that work to improve community health or address climate change, or managing Homer's local gallery art map. Bunnell is an active partner in caring for this place and the people who live here. Bunnell intends in 2024 to revive Dinner in the Street, a sit-down dinner for 200 in Old Town that features local seafood, performances and creative placemaking at its finest. Thematically, Bunnell strives to nurture cultural resilience in diasporic times. Indigenous lifeways have much to teach all of us about planetary stewardship and survival. Bunnell’s leading curatorial question is, what are artists doing to express resilience, innovation and strength in the context of environmental collapse, ongoing colonization, pandemic, social strife, and economic uncertainty? How do Alaska artists empower, shape and redefine cultural survival in a changing environment? How do we express care? How do we build justice? Projects are developed by responding to community and artist ideas, as well as sustaining successful ones. Bunnell prioritizes reciprocal and sustained relationships and responds to artists' proposals, often sustaining multi-year projects. Bunnell also holds open calls for applications for exhibits and residencies that are selected by diverse and inclusive juries composed of staff, board, artists, and community members, along with Bunnell's full-time Artistic Director who guides Bunnell's curatorial approach. Bunnell Street Arts Center seeks to steward a culture of artistic energy, equity, and dynamism, and to sustain a resilient, responsive arts organization that models equity and inclusion, creative exchange, innovation and adaptability.