Mixed media artist Rebecca Lyon, who is Dena'ina Athabascan and Unangan, has been named the Rasmuson Foundation's Distinguished Artist for 2026, the Anchorage Daily News reports. The award, now in its 22nd year, recognises one artist annually whose work has had a lasting effect on Alaska's culture, and carries a $50,000 grant. Twenty other artists received fellowships.
Born in Cordova, Lyon has explored Indigenous rights, women's rights and the environment, from the wartime internment of Unangax people to the spread of plastics. She told the paper her work often grows from personal links, including the lives of her mother and grandmother, both Indigenous civil rights leaders. Lyon studied art at the University of Alaska Anchorage and turned to art full time in her thirties. Her work has been shown at the Anchorage Museum, Homer's Pratt Museum and a museum in France.
Source: Anchorage Daily News