Juror's Choice Award: Margo Klass, Fairbanks, body of work titled "Book of Good Intentions," porcelain, pochair, coptic binding. (Photo courtesy the artist.)

While most of the tourists have already cleared out -- and any still around will be gone shortly -- there are some great things going on at the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center.

One of the most popular events at the museum is the biennial craft exhibition "Earth Fire and Fibre," which opens on Friday. The exhibit is open through Jan. 3. Below is a press release from the museum about the event. If you haven't made it to the new musuem, this is a good reason to get there.

-- Steve

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“Earth, Fire and Fibre XXVII” opens at the Anchorage Museum with a First Friday reception 7 to 9 p.m. Sept. 4. The Anchorage Museum’s biennial craft exhibition is one of the state’s longest running juried exhibitions. It showcases Alaska artists working with materials such as clay, glass, metal or wood. Selected artworks often challenge the usual preconceptions, blurring the lines between art and craft.

Fairbanks artist Margo Klass won the $1,000 Juror’s Choice Award for a series of books hand-made through the pochoir process, a meticulous method in which a series of stencils is used to create a print.

Winners of the six $500 prizes: Anne Lingener-Reece, Anchorage, body of work in silver; Diane Melms, Anchorage, body of work in textiles; Rika Mouw, Homer, body of work in multimedia; Paula Rasmus-Dede, Chugiak, body of work in beads; Wendy Smith-Wood, Sutton, “River Pebble Stole,” Arashi shibori, China silk; and Rebecca Starry, Anchorage, body of work in multimedia.

Entries included 313 works of art from 113 Alaska artists. For the exhibition, juror Patricia Watkinson selected 82 works from 50 artists. Watkinson is the former executive director of Pilchuck Glass School. She has served as a reviewer for many state and national art agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts.

“The intimacy and innate communication of the handmade object is something rare in our modern lives,” Watkinson wrote in her juror’s statement. “It is why the crafts, however broadly they are defined and however keenly debated, continue to maintain their meaning for artist and viewer alike.”

After it closes in Anchorage, “Earth, Fire and Fibre” will tour the state for one year. This exhibition is funded in part by a grant from the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

For a complete list of artists accepted into the exhibition, visit www.anchoragemuseum.org.

The Anchorage Museum is the largest museum in Alaska, and one of the top 10 most visited attractions in the state. The museum’s mission is to share and connect Alaska with the world through art, history and science.