Alaska News

Juneau students make 'Alaska action figures' at museum

The Juneau Empire reports that an estimated 60 elementary- aged school children took part in a free Alaska State Museum workshop to make "Alaska Action Figures" on Tuesday.

So what exactly is an "Alaska Action Figure," anyway? The state museum says they're "miniature human figures and replicas of traditional tools and clothing like those on display at the museum."

The children participated in two different sessions -- one for older kids and one for youngsters -- where they learned to make the miniatures.

The children were given pipe cleaners, tape, wire, cotton balls, paper, fabric, wood, beads and other material in which to construct their own action figures after viewing the museum's various displays for inspiration.

One girl asked if her action figure could be a canoe. Lisa Golisek, the museum's visitor services manager, gave her the official go-ahead.

The workshop, Golisek said, was devised to better engage children in the whole museum and expose kids to the wide range of Alaska art, history and cultures it exhibits.

Golisek said, "What we're doing ... by making these Native 'action figures,' we're exposing these kids to some of the cultural regalia and tools and equipment that people have used for hundreds of years in Alaska, by having them make miniatures of these tools."

Read more, here.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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