Sitka Fine Arts Camp

Sitka Fine Arts Camp
Sheldon Jackson College's Richard Allen Memorial Hall
LocationSitka, Alaska, United States
Coordinates57°03′07″N 135°21′06″W / 57.0519°N 135.3517°W / 57.0519; -135.3517
TypeDrive In
Websitefineartscamp.org

Sitka Fine Arts Camp is a nationally-recognized fine arts summer camp located in Sitka, Alaska. The camp was established in 1973 at Sheldon Jackson College. It used other locations in the years that followed before acquiring the majority of historic Sheldon Jackson College buildings and campus in 2011.[1][2] It took almost four years for a USDA Rural Development loan to be transferred from the college to the camp because of a "maze of paperwork," but it was done in 2013.[3]

Sheldon Jackson College in the summer of 1991 in a Historic American Buildings Survey photograph[4]

The college was established in 1878 and was the oldest institution of higher learning in Alaska. The camp enrolled approximately 700 in 2013 and offerings have expanded to include a circus program. Adult programs such as a Native Jazz Workshop and the Sitka Arts and Science Institute are also offered and have included artists such as Jason Marsalis.[5]

  1. ^ Will Swagel, "Alaska Arts Southeast: thriving Sitka cultural community." Alaska Business Monthly, July 1, 2011
  2. ^ College gives campus to Sitka Fine Arts Camp by Shannon Haugland December 26, 2012 Daily Sitka Sentinel (article hosted on newsminer)
  3. ^ "Sitka Fine Arts Camp Sorts Out USDA Loan", Daily Sitka Sentinel, June 14, 2013.
  4. ^ "Sheldon Jackson College, Lincoln Street, Sitka, Sitka Borough, AK". Historic American Buildings Survey. Library of Congress. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
  5. ^ New summer programs boost Sitka Fine Arts Camp enrollment by Robert Woolsey, KCAW, January 22, 2014.