McKinley Donates $15,000 to Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus
SHI giving a tour of its building in Juneau to McKinley Capital and McKinley Research Group officers. From back, SHI Marketing and Development Director Ricardo Worl; McKinley CEO Rob Gillam; SHI President Rosita Worl; SHI Chief of Operations Lee Kadinger; and McKinley Research Group President Susan Bell.
Kai Monture | SHI
An Alaska firm has donated $15,000 to help build Sealaska Heritage Institute’s (SHI) Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus, currently under construction in Juneau.
The contribution was made by McKinley, owner of McKinley Capital Management and McKinley Research Group (formerly McDowell Group), and puts the project one step closer to raising the remaining funds for the campus, which is scheduled to open later this year.
The gift marks the first time the group, which is based in Anchorage, has made a donation to a Juneau entity through its charity program.
“We’ve found that our year-long Charity of Choice partnership allows us to both focus our corporate giving and provide our staff with meaningful opportunities to share their skills and talents,” says Rob Gillam, CEO of McKinley.
“It’s been well received by both staff and nonprofits, and we’re excited to partner with Sealaska Heritage Institute as our first Juneau Charity of Choice. This year, our Anchorage staff is supporting Covenant House Alaska, and our Chicago team is working with an addiction treatment program called Above and Beyond. We value the opportunity, and really the responsibility, to give back to the communities in which we live and work. It’s part of our core values at McKinley.”
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The donation is a boost to SHI’s larger goal, says SHI President Rosita Worl.
“We are in the final stretch of raising funds for construction of the campus and are grateful to McKinley Capital for contributing to the project, which is part of our vision to make Juneau the Northwest Coast arts capital of the world,” Worl says.
The campus, which will encompass approximately 6,000 square feet, will house indoor and outdoor space for artists to make monumental Northwest Coast art pieces, such as totem poles and canoes; classrooms for art programming and instruction in areas such as basketry and textile weaving and print making; and space for performances, Native art markets, an art library, artists-in-residence, faculty, and public gatherings.
Instruction will be offered for both non-credit and credit for students seeking art degrees through SHI partners, the University of Alaska Southeast, and the Institute of American Indian Arts. It will also have capabilities for distance learning.
The contribution includes $10,000 in in-kind research services, which SHI routinely uses to measure and evaluate its programs.
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