Scott Burton, KTOO - Juneau

Gov. Michael Dunleavy’s impending budget cut proposals loomed large at the Governor’s Arts and Humanities Awards last week in Juneau.

A collaboration of producers and artists from across the country present a new opera about a local tragedy: “The Princess Sophia.” Can art help us process the worst maritime disaster in Alaska history? Listen now

This week, we're hearing from Janene Driscoll in Gustavus. Driscoll was one of the founders of the Gustavus Community Garden. Listen now

Sealaska Heritage Institute says the Dance of the Deer Foundation exploits shamanism. Listen now

Kindred Post, a post office, gift shop and gathering space in downtown Juneau held a recent art contest. The prize? 10 winners will now get their art printed on the shop’s postcards. The selections came from around the state, and from a purposely diverse group of artists. Listen now

Tlingit poet, scholar and culture bearer Nora Marks Dauenhauer has passed away at age 90.

Juneau poet Ishmael Hope has released his new book of poetry titled “Rock Piles Along the Eddy. KTOO’s Scott Burton spoke with Hope and brings us this preview of the new collection two years in the making. Listen now

A new Juneau-based comedy troupe called Club Baby Seal is gaining momentum in the capital city. Listen now

The Juneau Public Library recently celebrated the addition of 30 audio interviews to their collection. The recordings were done in Juneau, Haines and Klukwan. Many focus on Alaska Native education. Listen Now

A new plywood cut-out of a person in front of city hall is part of a national effort to bring awareness to homelessness. The social art project began in Charleston, South Carolina where the city collaborated with a design firm to create 430 plywood figures—the estimated number of homeless people in the city at the time. The figures were then placed in park in front of their City Hall. Now, the project has gone national and every state capital has been asked to put a figure in front of their city hall in solidarity.

Martin Sensmeier, a 32-year-old actor from Yakutat, is co-starring in the major motion picture “The Magnificent Seven.”

As 2015 came to a close, Juneau artist MK MacNaughton finished a art project that portrayed 52 of her fellow community members—or, a portrait a week for a year. MacNaughton picked her subjects not for how they look, but for what they do, where they do it, and how hard they work at it. Download Audio

Norio Sasaki of Japan is kicking it in Juneau this weekend on his round-the-world walking expedition. You can recognize him by his 175-pound rickshaw, his big smile, or the index card he hands out to people explaining his mission -- world peace.

“In those days Harry didn’t recognize that the price of admission to the life he wanted was surrendering the tickets to all the other lives he might have had.” That’s the opening line of Juneau resident Stuart Cohen's new novel “This Is How it Really Sounds.” This is Cohen’s sixth book and it's hitting bookstores now. While the opening line hints at the novel’s theme, Cohen says the book revolves around three main characters. Download Audio:

There are a bazillion blogs these days but what does it take to write one people will actually read? Juneau writer Libby Bakalar has figured out the formula with her blog “One Hot Mess.” Bakalar mixes it up when she writes- using humor, self-deprecation, social media and even a Stephen Colbert-like character to connect with her audience. Her most-read post, titled “Alaska Airlines-to-English Dictionary,” received more than 8,000 hits, and the blog is getting national attention too. Boston’s Women in Comedy Festival has asked Bakalar to submit to their blog. Download Audio

NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series has become anything but tiny since its inception in 2008. And this year, the series began a contest, open to all, where the winner gets to travel to NPR in Washington DC and play a concert at the tiny desk. In this inaugural year, the contest received over 7,000 entries, including 17 from Alaska. Download Audio

Celebration begins this evening at 6 o’clock with the Grand Entrance procession to Centennial Hall. The four-day cultural event of Southeast Alaska Natives includes 50 dance groups. Among them is All Nations Children’s Dance Group of Juneau. The group formed in 1995 and has about 80 members. Download Audio