Developing a Catalogue for Native Alaskans to Market Their Own Arts and Crafts Developing a Catalogue for Native Alaskans to Market Their Own Arts and Crafts I. TOPIC Cottage Industry Arts and Crafts II. LOCATION Rural Alaska III. SUBJECT Developing a Catalogue for Native Alaskans to Market Their Own Arts and Crafts IV. SUMMARY Among Alaska's population of 1 million people, live more than 160,000 native Alaskans. These native peoples live in 200 rural villages scattered across the state's 586,000 square miles. Unemployment in these villages often ranges from 65 to 75 percent. Most native Alaskans still live in hunter-gatherer societies. While they are self-sufficient in many ways and can barter for some goods and services, native Alaskans have a pressing need for cash to obtain what are often emergency goods and services, e.g., flying to the nearest doctor or hospital or obtaining prescription medicines. Alaska has a large potential growth economy the arts and crafts its native peoples make and sell to tourists, traders, outside buyers, and merchants in Alaska and other locations to which the artists travel. The artists, however, do not always get the best prices for their work. In 1992, a consortium of artisans asked the Rural Alaska Community Action Program (RurAL CAP) to help them market their arts and crafts in a catalogue. Using part of its Community Services Block Grant, RurAL CAP produced a high-quality catalogue in 1993. RurAL CAP bought mailing lists, advertised in news and entertainment magazines and Alaska Airlines' frequent flyer mailings, and received significant press coverage. It sent catalogues to 180,000 people and generated $240,000 in sales. In 1994, RurAL CAP produced its second catalogue, which generated $260,000 in sales. V. SUCCESSFUL PRACTICE Rural, low-income, native Alaskans used their existing skills, marketed their own work, maintained and promoted their cultural heritage, and involved all age groups in a creative effort to increase their incomes dramatically without having to leave their villages or learn a new language or skill. VI. CONTACT Jeanine Kennedy, Executive Director Rural Alaska Community Action Program (A Community Action Agency) P.O. Box 200908 Anchorage, Alaska 99520-0908 907-279-2511 907-278-2309 (FAX) VII. CASE STUDY The Problem: Rural, native Alaskans live mostly in small, isolated villages scattered across Alaska's 586,000 square miles. Their lifestyles do not require much cash because they manage to remain mostly self-sufficient through hunting, farming, and bartering for goods and services. However, when they do need cash to purchase expensive goods or pay for travel to a doctor or hospital, money is hard to raise. Unemployment often ranges between 65 and 75 percent in these villages. A major source of income for these villagers has been selling the arts and crafts that they have been making as a part of their daily lives for thousands of years. Unfortunately, they do not always get a fair price for their goods. Traveling to Alaska's few cities, or to cities in the "lower 48," is expensive and time-consuming, and the cost of travel is not factored into the price of the goods. Wholesale dealers in arts and crafts visit the villages to purchase goods, but they often come in the spring, when the need for cash is highest because the winter has depleted the villagers' resources. Therefore, these wholesalers are able to buy at low prices. The Approach Adopted: A group of artists recognized the growing popularity of catalogues and thought this might be an effective way to sell their goods. In addition to making money using existing skills, they saw this a way to (1) control how their goods were marketed; (2) portray positive native values; (3) inform the public about Alaska; (4) allow broad participation among age groups; and (5) overcome the language barriers that often impede trade. How They Implemented The Approach: The artists asked the Rural Alaska Community Action Program (RurAL CAP) to help produce and distribute a catalogue targeted at upscale, educated buyers. The state approved RurAL CAP's proposal to produce a high-quality catalogue using Community Services Block Grant funds. RurAL CAP consulted with other catalogue producers, e.g., Save the Children, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Sundance Foundation, and learned that catalogue production is advanced and high-tech. RurAL CAP hired an expert in catalogue production and distribution to head the project. Results: In 1993, RurAL CAP produced 180,000 copies of a high-quality catalogue, Aurora, Expressions of Alaska, that included the arts and crafts of about 60 native Alaskan artists. RurAL CAP distributed the catalogue though mailing lists, advertising in magazines and Alaska Airlines' frequent flyer mailings, and requests generated by newspaper and magazine articles about the catalogue. The catalogue produced more than $240,000 in sales and received the Direct Marketing Association's award for "Best New Catalogue" of 1993. In 1994, RurAL CAP put out a second issue of Aurora, Expressions of Alaska. This time it produced 380,000 copies, but it used only mailing lists to distribute the catalogue. Despite the greater number of catalogues, the second issue of Aurora generated $260,000 in sales. RurAL CAP attributes the relative decrease in sales to its more narrow distribution methods. VIII. OBSTACLES Because catalogues have become so popular and their production so advanced, producing them has become more and more expensive. Accurate representation in photos requires expensive color separation, and quality printing is also expensive. Therefore, start-up costs can be quite high. Order fulfillment can also present problems. In the case of Aurora, fulfillment was handled by a company in California that also produced its own catalogue. Many orders for goods in Aurora went unfilled. RurAL CAP believes the company did not concentrate on orders for Aurora's products. In the future, RurAL CAP will move fulfillment to a site in Alaska. As mentioned above, distribution methods play a key role in the success of a catalogue. Although RurAL CAP produced more than twice as many catalogues in 1994 as it had in 1993, the second edition of Aurora generated only $20,000 more in sales. This indicates that a broader, more diversified distribution network is better. The greatest obstacle Aurora has faced is competitive pressure that may cause RurAL CAP to discontinue producing the catalogue. The producer of another arts and crafts catalogue in Alaska has challenged the legitimacy of using government funding to assist for-profit endeavors. Her objections have reached the level of state decision makers, and RurAL CAP, not wanting to jeopardize its position and funding for other projects, has tentatively decided not to publish Aurora in 1995. RurAL CAP is evaluating other options, such as securing other funding or encouraging the artists to publish the catalogue themselves. IX. KEY WORDS Arts Catalogues Community Action Agency Community Services Block Grant Cottage Industries Crafts Growth Economies Hidden Economies Marketing Native Alaskans Self-Sufficiency