Rasmuson Foundation honors two UAA alumni with artist awards

The Rasmuson Foundation announced the 2026 recipients of the annual Individual Artist Awards . Twenty artists, including two UAA alumni, will receive fellowship awards of $10,000. Fellowship awards support mid- to late-career artists with the resources to immerse themselves in a creative endeavor, to concentrate on their work and to develop their artistry more fully. Since 2003, the program has invested more than $6.5 million in supporting the career development of Alaska artists.

Congratulations to all the award recipients, including the following members of the UAA community:

Ernestine Hayes
M.F.A. Creative Writing '03
Juneau - Literary Arts/Scriptworks

Hayes will complete a work in progress, submit the manuscript for review and professionally record her work. She plans to perform readings in communities around Alaska, as well as revise and record additional works.

Don Rearden
M.F.A. Creative Writing and Literary Arts '05
Professor, UAA Department of Writing
Bethel and Anchorage - Literary Arts/Scriptworks

Rearden will write an epistolary memoir composed of unsent letters addressed to the friends he buried too young, the Yup'ik monsters and the ghosts that defined his youth, reconstructing a rich and varied life in southwestern Alaska.