Master carver and island resident Israel Shotridge is widely regarded as one of today’s finest Tlingit carvers. Well known for both his traditional and contemporary artwork, Shotridge recently presided over the dedication of two pieces of his public art — native Alaskan artwork at Swedish Medical Center, Cherry Hill Campus and a totem pole in Washington, D.C.
When Swedish Medical Center expanded its Cherry Hill Imaging Center last year, three exhaust vents became a central focus of the entrance plaza. Islander John Jex, Vice President of Callison RTKL, the architectural firm that designed the expansion, saw the mechanical system as an opportunity for a public art feature. He asked Shotridge to create the image of a salmon, symbolizing and celebrating the cycle of life.
“It is an uplifting piece,” said Sue Shotridge, Israel’s wife and co-owner of Raven’s Nest Gallery.
Linda Carrol, manager of medical imaging and transport at Swedish wrote in a press release, “We believe this installation provides benefit to the local community by creating an enjoyable environment for patients, staff, neighbors and visitors in one of the open outdoor spaces on our campus.”
In 2005, the U.S. Forest Service commissioned Israel Shotridge to create a totem pole to be displayed at its headquarters in the Yates Building in Washington D.C. Shotridge carved the pole on Vashon, then shipped it to its new home, but it wasn’t until this year that the pole’s dedication was held. Shotridge and Sue performed a traditional ceremony along with three other tribal leaders from Alaska.
“We called in several people from Juneau,” Shotridge said. “If it had been in Alaska, (the ceremony) would have involved a lot of elders as the pole was to commemorate the carvers.”
The carvers were the Native artists of the three tribal nations of Southeast Alaska — the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian — who restored and replicated totem poles in Southeast Alaska from 1939 to 1953 under the Civilian Conservation Corps Totem Pole Restoration Program. One of those carvers created a totem pole in Seattle’s Pioneer Square during the 1930s.
“It was made by my mother’s cousin, Charlie Brown,” Shotridge said. “I’ve since replicated many of his totem poles.”
In a recent interview, Shotridge explained that the animals on totem poles often represent tribal crests, chosen when the tribe’s hunters experience a significant encounter with an animal. Native societies follow a matrilineal line, so from his mother, Shotridge is a member of the Teikweidee Taantwaan Bear Clan of the Tongass Tribe.
“I think about honoring my mother and my mother’s mother when I carve those poles,” Shotridge said. “My grandmother was 106 in 1960. It was like walking into the past with her. She was a spunky gal. She spoke mostly Tlingit, which is how I learned who I am tribally. I didn’t know I was Tlingit until high school,” Shotridge said.
The master carver grew up not knowing his lineage until curiosity provoked him to ask his father, “What am I? Haida, Tsimshian, Tlingit?”
“I didn’t know I was Tlingit because my parents didn’t know who they were,” he said. “They were raised in government boarding schools, which acculturated our people.”
It was then, as a teenager, that Shotridge began carving and learning about his rich cultural heritage.
Shotridge’s next big work will be a 40-foot oceangoing canoe — carved from a single tree — that he plans to make on Vashon and sail up to Alaska.
“He’s carving it out of the generosity of his heart as a gift to the tribe that adopted me, our daughter and granddaughter,” Sue said. “A lot of artists on the island want to help. We’ve not decided where to carve it; we are looking for a large enough place. It is a really big project and will be lots of fun.”
