Meet our Summer Art-Changers!
/Artchange is excited to welcome two new Art-Changers to Sitka for internships this summer!
Anna Wane
Anna Wane is an Art major, in the Filmmaking concentration at Yale University. She is from Dakar, Senegal and the story of how she ended up in Sitka is not as exciting or interesting as the stories she has heard since coming here. Her story has to do with curiosity and a desire to see the world outside of her Dakar – New Haven route, but mostly of doing what she loves, which is to tell stories. When she saw the internship posting, Anna thought it was perfect: Documentary Filmmaking and Social Practice, two things she was interested in. She applied and found herself in Sitka a few months later. Anna is enjoying working with Ellen Frankenstein and watching her unusual ideas come to life. She is currently working on videos about the Community Ride, and is pleasantly surprised that making videos about buses can be so fun.
Anna is interested in the stories of marginalized communities and in giving voice to the voiceless. This is why she enjoys working in documentary filmmaking. In addition, she is interested in less traditional forms of visual storytelling, such as experimental film and video art, which she feels give her freedom to explore different narratives in unexpected ways.
You can see some of her work at vimeo.com/annaxkarima
Ellie Schmidt
Ellie is a visual artist from Denver, CO. She first came to Sitka last summer for the Island Institute’s Sitka Fellows residency program, during which she made a short film shot underwater around Sitka called I Follow Rivers. In the fall, Ellie picked up some work on a troller fishing boat after the residency and fell in love with the people and landscapes of Sitka.
a still from Ellie's project "Northfield USA: a goldfish portrait" 2015
A lionsmane jellyfish around sitka
Ellie is interested in the intersection of marine ecology, women’s stories, and the emotional side of living with climate change. Over the last winter she has followed projects to the factory farms of North Carolina, the mining capital of the world in British Colombia, and the Wolf Project of northern Yellowstone. She is ecstatic to be back in Sitka and excited to work with Ellen, who she admires as an amazing female filmmaker and friend. Ellie is working on several projects with ArtChange, including podcasts for Frankentweet and shooting underwater footage for the Uprivers documentary.
Ellie swims in a traditional salmon sein in Ketchikan with the uprivers documentary
a screen grab from ellie's footage.
Ellie is also working on a zine about women and climate change. The Selkie Zine seeks to create space and community for thought about the relationship between womanhood and world stewardship. The Zine is rough, lo-fi, and process-focused. Ellie invites everyone to check out the Selkie Zine and to submit a piece of art or writing at cargocollective.com/selkiezine.
