Last week, GCI awarded a fellowship to two Alaska Native artists in collaboration with the Walter Kaitz Foundation. One of those artists grew up here in Chefornak.
Phillip "Ossie” Kairaiuak is a Yupik artist and a member of the well-known indigenous music group Pamyua. He’s a composer, playwright, and storyteller who is currently writing a feature-length screenplay entirely in Yup'ik. He was awarded the GCI-Walter Kaitz Fellowship on December 10 in Anchorage.
Kairaiuak and his fellow award winner, filmmaker Anna Hoover from Naknek, will fly to Los Angeles in February and attend the Walter Kaitz Foundation’s 9th Annual Hollywood Creative Forum where they will be given the opportunity to network with leaders in the media and entertainment industries.