After a long hiatus the Denali Arts Council is opening its doors to host an in-person, public event. Artist and photographer, Katie Writer will be at the Sheldon Community Arts Hangar this Saturday to kick off an exhibition of her work.
Talkeetna resident Katie Writer has been flying around Alaska for almost two decades. As an airplane pilot, she has a unique view of Alaska’s wild lands and she’s noticed some disturbing changes over the years. The effects of climate change, from hotter, dryer summers, to changes in glaciers and rivers were noticeable. She began bringing along a camera to visually document what she was witnessing. Katie showed me some of her photos and she told me why they are significant.
“This is an image from July and you can just see there’s these little rivers running through the glacier and how sunburnt that looks. I think people in this area remember 2019 as a standout year, the heat we had. In fact that photograph, there, the Chulitna River, joining the Susitna River is really a standout photo because that high water there is so unusual. And that was during a drought. And so all of that water coming down is from the glacier melting, the glacier melt coming out of the Alaska Range.“
The display of photographs winds around the Sheldon Community Arts Hangar, each one conveying something meaningful about the way the environment has changed over time.
“They all kind of have a little story and I’ll be having name tags on each photo, to show people, you know, why is this significant on, you know, a climate change topic. The one right there shows, you know, fall colors, there’s Christiansen Lake and it’s not frozen. And so that’s a kind of an indication that we are getting a longer summer or fall before the lakes are freezing.“
Through flying and snapping photos, Katie accumulated a fairly large collection of climate-themed work. Then COVID hit and Katie used her time to organize and document her work. She wrote a feature article for Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) magazine and submitted some of her photos. The magazine not only published the story; it recently won third place for “Best Feature Story” from the Alaska Press Club this year. Katie says she feels grateful to be able to tell her story.
“Being a pilot and the flying that I’ve done, I find that I’ve been really fortunate to have my own airplane and be able to fly and go discover things. I feel like I see so much, and so it’s a way to share my passion of being able to be the eyes above the ground.“
But the show does not feel dire. It’s actually a celebration of beauty as well.
“You know, I thing the topic of climate change can be a little overbearing, I mean how do you explain it to the next generation and how it’s here, it’s happening and it’s not going away. So I found that it was helpful for me to focus on the beauty of the natural world, to use the photography as a messenger and also an appreciation of what we have right here around us in Talkeetna.“
Katie Writer’s exhibit will be displayed at the Sheldon Community Arts Hangar for most of the summer, so people can wander in at their own convenience.
The opening for the art show will be held May 15th, from 4 to 6 pm. Masks will be required and the doors to the hangar will remain open for air flow. The public can also view Katie’s photos at katiewritergallery.com.
