Linguit master carver Wayne Price is returning to the University of Alaska Southeast as part of his Northwest Coast art program.
“All branches of Northwest Coast Native Art are receiving attention. I really feel supported here in the UAS,” Price said.
He will teach engraving courses and formline design classes.
There are introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses in both art forms, but some classes are combined. Price says the Formline class is intense.
“In my Formline class, they were sweating,” Price said. “It looks like they were trying so hard.”
Price said he only learned last week that he would be teaching the term, but he expects his classes to fill up fast. Students in the beginning carving class will be making paddles, while intermediate and advanced students can choose their own projects.
“So they have the advantage of an artist who’s got 50 years of Northwest Coast art under my belt. And I bring all of that here at the University of Alaska, at Áak’w,” Price said.
Price has previously taught at the UAS. since then, he has Carved Dugout Canoes with High Schoolers – Ya Yaqov Unveiled throughout Southeast Alaska and most recently at Twin Lakes in Juneau, a healing totem was created in Remembrance of missing and murdered indigenous women.
Price lives in Haines with his wife, but he moves to Juneau for the semester. He said he does not yet know if he will teach in the fall.
“I’m taking it one semester at a time,” he said. “And let’s see how it goes.”
A UAS spokeswoman said that anyone who is interested in taking one of Price’s classes can call the registrar’s office to inquire if space is available.
