Alison Bremner

I speak with Alison Bremner, a Tlingit artist who blends traditional formline art with contemporary themes. I ask her about her background and mentors, and she explains how ceremony and community shaped her path. She describes learning from the Boxleys and building a career through shows, grants, and mentorship. She discusses her work in museum collections and a collaboration with Starbucks on cup designs. We also talk about her new project putting art on nails and her advice to young artists to work hard and start early. I encountered Alison Bremner as a Tlingit artist whose aesthetic practice emerges from a profound confluence of lived cultural inheritance and disciplined apprenticeship. I recall her articulation of a pivotal moment at Celebration in Juneau when the animating force of dance, language and carved transformation masks crystallized the trajectory of her work; she described purchasing a sixteen‑inch canvas immediately thereafter and commencing her first formline painting. I emphasize her lineage of mentorship under David Albert Boxley and David Robert Boxley and the manner in which those relationships instantiate a model of reciprocity: artists who sustain commercial careers while remaining integrally tethered to community obligations and ceremonial responsibilities. Throughout our dialogue she delineated two discrete but interdependent currents in her oeuvre—the public, commercial practice that circulates on social platforms and in galleries, and the private, traditional corpus that is retained for ceremonial use and community replenishment—thereby rendering visible the ethical architecture that governs her choices as a culture bearer and professional artist.Takeaways:I grew up Tlingit in Yakutat and my coming-of-age ceremony changed my life and art direction.I apprenticed with David Albert Boxley and David Robert Boxley for four years which taught me traditional practice and community responsibility.We balance traditional formline rules with contemporary subjects by composing shapes in traditional ways and telling modern stories.I built my career by applying to local shows, small grants, open calls, and learning from mentors and peers.I advise young artists to use the pre-family years to work hard and to dedicate time to their craft.I collaborated with Starbucks after initial contact through Instagram and careful meetings that led to a cup project released after a year.I trained in nail technology to make press-on nails so people can wear our art daily and connect with collectors often.We emphasize that established artists should keep doors open and that mentees must embrace discomfort and learn with humility.Companies mentioned in this episode:Burke Museum of Natural History and CultureBritish MuseumMusée des beaux-arts de MontréalHood Museum of Art (Dartmouth College)Sealaska Heritage InstituteJuneau Arts & Humanities CouncilGrunt GalleryStarbucksStarbucks Art ProgramInstagramTikTokFacebookThreadsBlueskyArt of the RuralSubstackElevenWarriorArts