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skill on every project. It’s not just doing a spoon or a mask, it’s gaining confidence in whatever they are doing.


J: There is a lot on coast families that followed a carving tradition through the ages. Do you find member of those families in your school? S: No, the ones that have the families are still working together. We do have students who have come out of workshops with a lot of the prominent carving families. A lot of our students don’t have access


come from their own family and their own research into what they have studied through their elders, through their communities, books and the internet.


J: How are your students integrating into the community? Are their artworks becoming an integral part of the community again? S: Yes, each year I hear from different students and how they are being accepted (in the communities) as teachers doing cultural work, and then there are students who have broken into the art market.


to those prominent family carvers as artists and mentors. That is what we are trying to do, give them enough skills and fundamentals that it is easier for a mentor to take them on if they are successful through the school program.


J: Is much attention paid to traditional family crests? S: We have an art history course that introduces them to their own history. We stick to the basics of the crests and designs. Any story attached to them will


J: How many artists do you have on staff? I think I counted four? S: Yes, there’s myself, Ken McNeil, Dempsey Bob, he’s here part time and is our senior advisor, and Dean Heron, a new instructor who has been through our program.


J: How many students do you have on campus now? S: We have 12 in the first year and 12 in the second year. This year we have a year and a half of a wait list.


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