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Lily Hope (born in 1980 in Juneau, Alaska) is an amazing Alaska Native artist. She is also a designer, teacher, and weaver. Lily is best known for her incredible skill in weaving special Northwest Coast ceremonial clothes. These include beautiful Chilkat robes and outfits. She has her own studio in downtown Juneau called Wooshkindein Da.àat: Lily Hope Weaver Studio, which opened in 2022. Lily Hope is a busy mom of five children and works six days a week.

About Lily Hope

Lily Hope, also known as Lily Lalanya Hudson, was born in 1983. She grew up in Juneau, Alaska with parents who were full-time artists. She proudly identifies as Tlingit Indian. She belongs to the Raven group from her grandmother's clan, the T’akdeintaan. This clan came from Snail House in Hoonah, Alaska. Her Tlingit name is Wooshkindein Da.àat.

Lily learned how to weave from her mother, Clarissa Rizal, and artist Kay Parker. Both were well-known artists from Juneau. Clarissa Rizal (Tlingit, 1956–2016) was a talented weaver, painter, and sculptor. She was one of the last students of the master Chilkat weaver, Jennie Thlunaut (1891-1986). In the 1990s, Jennie Thlunaut was one of the few artists still making Chilkat weaving.

Jennie knew so much about formline design that she could create her own patterns. These patterns followed the traditional rules. She taught this to Clarissa, who then taught Lily how to weave in the formline style. Lily and her mother had a very strong bond. They even worked together on an outfit and won first place at an art show!

Lily's Education and Teaching

Lily studied communications and theater at the University of Alaska Southeast. She attended from 2002 to 2007. After college, she quickly became a famous Chilkat and Raventail weaver and teacher. She also acted in Alaskan regional theater. She worked with Perseverance Theatre, which aims to create professional theater for Alaskans. This theater group valued community, working with different cultures, and local voices. This shows how much Lily cares about her hometown.

Today, Lily teaches weaving in Juneau, the Yukon Territory, and along the coast of southeast Alaska. She shares her knowledge with many students.

Lily Hope's Weaving Creations

Lily Hope creates amazing woven artworks. Many of her pieces are special ceremonial robes and outfits. Each one tells a story and connects to her Tlingit heritage.

Copper Child (2012)

Copper Child was Lily's first Ravenstail outfit. She made it in 2012 with her mother, Clarissa Rizal. This beautiful ensemble includes a robe, a headdress, and an apron. It is made from soft Merino wool, rabbit fur, sea otter fur, and shiny copper cones. The outfit is designed to fit a child. It is meant to be worn for celebrations.

The robe features a "standing at the top of the mountain" pattern. This pattern repeats across the robe's body. It also includes Lily's "shaman eyes" design from 2002. Her mother's traditional "lightning" and "Haida spider web" designs are also part of it. Copper Child was shown in many exhibits. It won first place at the Sealaska Heritage Institute's Juried Art Show in 2012. Now, it is a permanent part of their collection.

Little Watchman (2014)

Little Watchman (2014) is a Chilkat outfit made for a child. It includes a headdress, leggings, and a wool jacket with special shoulder decorations. The back of the jacket has a Chilkat face design. This piece shows how Lily mixes Ravenstail and Chilkat weaving styles.

Chilkat robes use a special Northwest Coast formline design. Lily weaves them by hand on an upright frame. She uses only a tapestry needle to tuck in the braids. Little Watchman is currently on display. You can see it in the "Reflections: Native Arts Across Generations" exhibition. This exhibit is at the Fralin Museum of Art. It brings together old Native American art with works from modern Native artists.

Lineage Robe (2017)

The Lineage Robe (2017) is a part of the Portland Art Museum's collection. It is made from thigh-spun Merino wool, cedar bark, hand-dyed merino wool, and beaver fur. In the Northwest Coast, tribes like the Tlingit believe that humans and animals could switch forms.

A Chilkat blanket is a woven cape. Important tribal members wore these capes during special events and ceremonies. Only wealthy people could make or own them. Both men and women helped create these blankets. Men designed the patterns, and women provided the cedar bark. Making a Chilkat blanket was a great honor.

Traditional Chilkat blankets usually have a white background. They feature a bold black border and fringe at the bottom. They use the formline style, which is a main design from the Northwest. This style includes dark outlined shapes called ovoids. Ovoids are shapes like U or V. The blankets are typically black, white, or red. However, with the Lineage Robe, Lily used traditional Chilkat designs but added color to make it more modern.

Heritage Robe (2017)

The Heritage Robe (2017) is Lily's first Chilkat robe made for an adult. It took her 17 months to complete, from 2016 to 2017. She spent over 1,700 hours working on it at her loom. This robe is one of four robes in an exhibition at the Portland Art Museum. These robes are all connected by the same teaching lineage. The Heritage Robe has the same outlined shapes and features as the Lineage Robe.

Lily worked on this robe at the Sealaska Heritage Institute's Delores Churchill Artist-in-Residence Studio. While she was working on it, her mother, Clarissa Rizal, passed away. Lily created this robe to help people around the world learn about Chilkat weaving. She hopes Tlingit children and grandchildren can learn more about their family history through it.

Giving Strength Robe (2019)

The Giving Strength Robe (2019) is a special project. It is made from 5-inch-by-5-inch squares. Many Chilkat and Ravenstail weavers from all over North America worked together to create this traditional Indigenous robe. The idea for this project came from Heidi Vantrease. Lily Hope, Deanna Lampe, and Ursala Hudson helped organize it. Ursala Hudson is Lily's sister. She is an artist and graphic designer who also takes photos and paints.

The goal of this project is to bring weavers together. It aims to create strength and help survivors heal. This project was partly inspired by Clarissa Rizal's "Weavers Across the Water's robe." That project also brought weavers together to create a robe for a special cause.

Exhibitions

  • "Sharing Honors and Burdens: Renwick Invitational 2023," Renwick Gallery Smithsonian Institution. May 26, 2023 - March 31, 2024.
  • "Exhibit On The History Of Northern Northwest Coast Weaving," Alaska State Museum. May 1- October 10, 2020.
  • "Reflections: Native Arts Across Generations," The Fralin Museum of Art. May 24, 2018 - January 27, 2019.
  • “The Art of Resilience: The Continuum of Tlingit Art," Portland Art Museum. 2016 - 2017.
  • "Interwoven Radiance, Center for Contemporary Native Art," Portland Art Museum. November 10, 2017 – June 24, 2018

Collections

Lily Hope's artwork can be found in these public collections:

Awards

  • 2022 Artist-in-Residence at Institute of American Indian Arts, January 20 - Feb 8 2022
  • 2021 SHIFT award from Native Arts and Cultures Foundation “Protecting the Material Sovereignty of Our Indigenous Homelands"
  • 2018 Mentor Artist Fellowship
  • 2017 Bill Holm Research Grant
  • 2012 Sealaska Heritage Institute's Juried Art Show

See also

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