Department of Art
Art Rooted in Knowledge and Place
Explore Native Art Studio Courses
View thesis projects that showcase the creativity, research and artistic vision of students in UAF's BFA and MFA programs.
Discover how Native Art Professor Da-ka-xeen Mehner uses art and storytelling to explore identity, culture and belonging.
[Da-ka-xeen Mehner] has all these really cool skills鈥攃arving and all these different things to do with Native arts鈥攖hat I've been learning. ... UAF and their support of the Native Arts program, and Da-ka's support of me, has helped me prepare to think about what it would look like to attend grad school. ... Having Da-ka as a mentor really has helped me put my toe in that door."Ayona-Reily Dixon '26 B.F.A., Art
Students work in the Native Art Center, a studio space equipped with Indigenous and contemporary carving tools. The center supports a wide range of artistic practices, including wood, ivory, stone and bone carving, woodblock printing, skin sewing, beadwork, basketry and mixed media. Beyond the studio, students benefit from workshops, demonstrations and artist residencies featuring Alaska Native artists and Elders from across the state.
Native Art Studio students learn from experienced artists and cultural practitioners who bring professional expertise, traditional knowledge and contemporary perspectives into the classroom. Through mentorship, hands-on instruction and cultural exchange, students develop artistic skills while exploring Indigenous materials, techniques and creative practices.
Native Art Studio students share their work through exhibitions, public showcases and community events. These opportunities help students present their artwork, engage with audiences and contribute to ongoing conversations about culture, identity and artistic expression.
3 Credits Offered As Demand Warrants
Fundamentals of weaving taught through basic techniques and processes for four-shaft loom woven structures. Includes loom terminology and function, warping and threading, basic pattern drafting and designing, color and texture. Introduces tapestry techniques.
Attributes: UAF Degree Humanities Req
Continuation of ART F127. Exploration of color and texture in loom structures. Includes basic fiber technology and color theory. Topics vary each semester and include blocks, units, laces, twills and R.A.G.S. recycle. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Prerequisites: ART F127. Attributes: UAF Degree Humanities Req
3 Credits Offered Fall and Spring
Studio art course exploring the practice of traditional and contemporary Alaska Native art forms; including design, technology, and cultural expression. Rooted in experiential learning, students will learn by creating and utilizing tools specific to Alaska Native cultures. A strong emphasis will be placed on gaining technical skills and traditional knowledge.
Cross-listed with ANS F268. Attributes: UAF Alaska Native Theme, UAF Degree Humanities Req
Examination of art as a medium of cultural criticism, knowledge, wisdom, learning, and expression of social, spiritual, ecological, and aesthetic relationships in Indigenous societies of North, Central and South America, Africa, Eurasia, Australia and Oceania, and the Arctic.
Cross-listed with ANTH F360. Attributes: UAF Degree Humanities Req
3 Credits Offered Spring Even-numbered Years
The material culture of Alaska Native people from pre-colonial times to the present. Students will explore the effects of colonialism on the art forms of different Alaska Native cultural groups. Students will have an opportunity to contribute to the ongoing histories of Alaska Native art through group research projects.
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or higher. Cross-listed with ANS F365; ANTH F365. Attributes: UAF Alaska Native Theme, UAF Degree Humanities Req
Arts of the Northwest Coast Indians and the place of art in their culture.
Cross-listed with ANS F366; ANTH F366. Attributes: UAF Degree Humanities Req
3 Credits Offered Fall
Indigenous art from Northern Alaska, Canada, Greenland and the Bering Strait region of Russia, from the earliest known to contemporary.
Cross-listed with ANS F367; ANTH F367. Attributes: UAF Alaska Native Theme, UAF Degree Humanities Req, UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
This course is a continuing exploration of the designs, technologies, and meanings of the diverse Alaska Native arts. Through the creative process, students will start examining the complex issues of creating art within a cultural context. A strong emphasis will be placed on developing a student's individual style.
Prerequisites: ANS F268 or ART F268. Cross-listed with ANS F368. Attributes: UAF Alaska Native Theme, UAF Degree Humanities Req
This course examines the images of the peoples and landscapes of the Circumpolar North. It centers on documentary and artistic goals, translations from original sketches to published images, the relationship between Arctic imagery and prevailing historical styles, and the influences of changing worldviews on modes of Northern representation and expressions.
Prerequisites: WRTG F111X; WRTG F211X, WRTG F212X, WRTG F213X or WRTG F214X. Cross-listed with ACNS F425. Stacked with ART F625; ACNS F625.
Students will refine their artistic practice guided with in-depth mentorship from faculty. Through individualized study, students will continue their exploration and development of their artwork within a cultural context. Strong emphasis will be placed on the individual development of a body of artwork inspired by the cultures they draw from.
Prerequisites: ART F368. Cross-listed with ANS F468. Attributes: UAF Alaska Native Theme, UAF Degree Humanities Req
3 Credits Offered Spring Odd-numbered Years
This class provides a foundation of practical information for students as they begin to consider various career options in the visual arts. Topics include documentation, websites, promotion and description, exhibit installation methods, marketing, developing application materials for residencies and grants, as well as issues of health and safety.
Prerequisites: Junior standing. Stacked with ART F688.
1-6 Credits Offered Fall and Spring
Through individualized study, students will refine their artistic practice guided with in-depth mentorship from faculty. Through the creative process and deep critical feedback, students will learn to define how their artwork is connected to the cultures they draw upon. Students will develop critical dialogue along with their studio practice.
Prerequisites: graduate standing.
In addition to studio course offerings, the Native Art Center serves as a clearinghouse for information and services on and about Alaska Native art, reaching both the University and Native community of 四虎影院 and Alaska.
Each semester the Center strives to expose students to the diversity of Alaska Native arts by providing lectures, demonstrations, workshops and residencies by visiting Alaska Native artists. The Native Art Center also presents workshops off-site in coordination with statewide art and village-based programs. Faculty and staff also assist in coordination and development of special projects including exhibitions and conferences.
The Native Art Center has been in existence for over 50 years offering art studio courses, workshops with Native Artists and elders, and artists-in-residence programs including outstanding Yupik, Inupiaq, Athabascan, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Alutiiq and Aleut artists from throughout Alaska.
The Native Art Center was established in the 1965 under the direction of Ron Senungetuk who brought together Alaska Native artists from rural communities to study Alaska Native art at the 四虎影院. Over the past forty years, the Center has evolved to become an academic-based program including courses in studio art and Native art history and special workshops and symposia on topics including mask making, bentwood traditions, basketry, sculpture and carving. For the past fourteen years, the Native Art Center has been directed by Alvin Amason, continuing the tradition of providing workshops and residencies in the studio, with Native elders and artists from throughout Alaska. Mr Amason retired in 2008.
Your generous donations give the Native Art Center the opportunity to do some amazing things! Support art at UAF by donating below.
Da-ka-xeen Mehner
Professor of Native Art
FINE ART 308
Da-ka-xeen Mehner (b. 1970) is a transdisciplinary artist whose work explores Indigenous identity, and equity and examines power structures through a lens of personal narrative. His work has been exhibited internationally and can be found in numerous public and private collections.
Da-ka-xeen received his A.A. from the Institute of American Indian Arts, and his B.F.A. from the University of New Mexico. From 1994-2000 Mehner served as the founder and director of Site 21/21, a contemporary art gallery in Albuquerque, NM, and was a founding member/owner of the (Fort) 105 Art Studios in downtown Albuquerque in 1998. Da-ka-xeen returned to Alaska in 2000 and earned his M.F.A in Native Arts from the University of Alaska 四虎影院 in 2007.
Mehner has been recognized for his work with several fellowships including the Rasmuson Foundation Fellowship, Native Arts and Culture Fellowship, Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, and the United States Artists Fellowship 2015
Mehner鈥檚 home studio is located in the vast boreal forest outside 四虎影院 Alaska where he lives with his family. He is currently the Director of the Native Art Center and Chair of the Art Department at the 四虎影院.
Ready to create? Apply to UAF and develop your artistic practice while working alongside faculty and fellow artists.
Have questions about the program? Connect with our department and learn more about degree options, studio concentrations and opportunities for emerging artists.
Explore scholarships and funding opportunities available to art students.
