Applications are open for the 2027 Ursa Major Fund, with $60,000 designated to support ten artist-led, risk-taking and public-facing projects in 2027. Alaska artists and arts collectives can apply from September 1 through October 15, 2026.
Its 2026 mid-project highlights offer concrete examples of work already underway. The Tukuuludaa Collective, a Bering Sea-based design and education collective led by Garrett Iĝayux̂ Pletnikoff and Hannah Atsaq Zimmerman, retold Rudyard Kipling’s ‘White Seal’ from a modern Unangan perspective using art, Indigenous language, an audiobook and an installation, ‘Sirgiiyax̂ kayux Laaqudam quhmaa (Sergie and the White Seal)’. Amber Webb is making a caribou tooth belt and carving a mask for a September ceremony at Kanakanak Beach, intended to tell Anna Yukluk’s story.
On Douglas Island, Rachael Juzeler is constructing a glass furnace at her studio to advance her glass work and create a space for Alaskan and international artists to join in artwork creation. Prospective applicants can attend a statewide online information session on September 9 at 7 p.m.
