Two Anchorage-based journalists have an exhibition opening at Akela Space this month exploring the first three decades of life: “girlhood, adolescence, and our 20s.”
“Saltwater Swans,” a show that combines creative writing, photography and textile art, and will be on display for the month of December, from journalist Victoria Petersen and photojournalist Emily Mesner.
“This project is a whimsical and vulnerable tribute to our inner children and recognizes our place and culture, incorporating elements of our Alaskan and midwestern heritages,” Mesner said.
Mesner says that her love of photography began back in high school. She had a teacher whose teaching style propelled her to pursue her passion, she says.
“His classroom really made me believe I could do this work as a career,” Mesner said.
Mesner formerly worked as a photojournalist for the Anchorage Daily News, as well as the National Park Service at Denali National Park and Preserve and the Western Arctic National Parklands in Kotzebue. Petersen is a freelance journalist living in Anchorage, a former fellow at The New York Times and a High Country News intern. The two met while both were reporters and became quick friends.
“Creating has always just been a part of my life, and I think I owe a lot of that to my mom,” Mesner said. “She’s just so creative and made a lot of mundane moments in my childhood so special through those creations, and this show was a way to really channel those early creating days.”
Most pieces in the show will be for sale, as well as additional bags, earrings, prints and keychains for the First Friday event on Friday, Dec. 6 from 6-9 p.m.
The duo plans on creating a book of their body of work in 2025.
Editor’s note: Victoria Petersen is a contributor to The Alaska Current.
Sam Davenport is a writer residing in Anchorage. She's a leo and a plant-person, and loves spending quality time with her dog, Aspen. She is a Real Housewives fan and has been called a Bravo historian.
