 Tonight, the Ski Boy and I got all gussied up and headed off to the 2003 Governor's Awards for the Arts & Humanities.
The Fourth Avenue Theatre was packed with well heeled Arts & Humanities types. The only three Republicans in attendence had to be the Governor, his wife, and the Lite Governor. Definitely not friendly territory.
The event was actually quite enjoyable - frequently these rubber chicken galas can be total torture. But this soiree really drove home Alaska's uniqueness and strength. The awards celebrate both urban and rural Alaska.
The thirteen award winners represented a broad cross section of Alaska culture: a noted Japanese-American-Alaskan who was interned in WW II, a university cutural historian, a native basketry master, a native story teller and humorist, a seventy year old Jesuit priest, etc. Peter and I were there as a part of the Anchorage Concert Association contingent - the Concert Association received the Governor's Award for outstanding arts organization - a real honor!
The acceptance speechs were short but absolutely wonderful and individualistic. Hands down, the most moving speech was Sylvia Kobayashi's. In the space of a few minutes, she effectively conveyed the horror, hurt, shame, and bewilderment of the Internment - and yet she is still proud to be an American. Very powerful stuff. There were several damp eyes and sniffles following her speech.
My favorite line of the evening was uttered by James Barker, a Yukon-Kuskokwim photographer who has spent 25 years photographing Yup'ik people on the Y-K Delta. His book: Always Getting Ready: Upterrlainarluta (there's a name...) is going to be used in Anchorage Schools as part of an Alaskan cultural history class. Barker's new motto is: "Leave No Urban Child Behind."
The Concert Association was the last honoree. Our Board President, Joe Kirchner, gave a very nice speech. At the end of the speech, he asked the Concert Association staff, volunteers, and board members in the audience to stand. That was actually a very special moment - it was a tremendous honor to stand and be included with the evening's other award winners.
10:35:01 PM 
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