From Sitka to the White House lawn

Tue, December 11, 2007
Posted in Alaska News

An ornament handcrafted by Sitka artist Tommy Joseph is adorning this year’s White House Christmas tree.

Melissa Marconi-Wentzel, KCAW - Sitka

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Comments

4 Comments to “From Sitka to the White House lawn”

Eve Griffin on December 15, 2007 at 10:43 am

Nice story, but I wish at least SOME mention had been made of the SIXTEEN OTHER ALASKAN ARTISTS who were honored at the White House along with Mr. Joseph. As one of them, I know I sure could have used the publicity.

Eve Griffin
White House ornament artist for
Klondike Gold Rush NHP, Skagway
mpb on December 15, 2007 at 2:00 pm

I would like to hear about all the ornaments. A brief Google search shows local newspaper accounts but nothing statewide about all the artists. The White House just says–

* The tree is decorated with 347 ornaments hand-created by artists whose designs represent America’s national parks, memorials, seashores, historic sites and monuments

and a Flash slideshow of the ornaments themselves (no artists) that doesn’t work on dial-up but no listing
http://www.whitehouse.gov/holiday/2007/index.html
Eve Griffin on December 16, 2007 at 9:35 am

Photographs of all the ornaments can be viewed on a web page set up by the Public Affairs Office of the National Park Service, at:

http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/whho2007/WebPage-Thumb.00001.html

Otherwise, information about individual ornaments and their artists should be available from each National Park. Go to http://www.nps.gov to find contact information for each park.
John Proffitt on December 16, 2007 at 1:04 pm

Thanks Eve and Pamela! I’ve forwarded your comments to the full list of APRN reporters statewide. I don’t know if it will lead to additional stories before the holidays, but it might.

And thanks for sharing the links — that’s really helpful.