Spill, Artists, Writers revist tragedy </MCC HEAD>

Story last updated at 9:03 PM on Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Spill, Artists, Writers revist tragedy

BY MICHAEL ARMSTRONG
STAFF WRITER

Next Tuesday Alaskans and the world remember that dark day 20 years ago

when the Exxon Valdez "fetched up hard aground" on Bligh Reef, as Capt. Joe Hazelwood's famous words put it. Every Alaskan here then has a spill story some amusing, some frightening and many emotionally devastating. Homer writer Sharon Bushell and Anchorage editor and writer Stan Jones have gathered many of those stories in "The Spill: Personal Stories from the Exxon Valdez Disaster" including a rare and frank interview with Hazelwood.

Photo by Michael Armstrong

Celia Anderson's "Tap Dancing on Water"

As part of statewide events on the spill, two exhibits in Homer try to understand the unimaginable. At Bunnell Street Arts Center through March 31, 30 artists present works from the sacred to the profane on the spill. Opening Tuesday, "Reflections of a Spill" at the Pratt Museum shows student and adult artist perspectives. A candlelight procession from the Pratt to Bunnell Street Arts Center connects the two exhibits, with an evening of sharing by Alaska writers and performing artists at 8 p.m. at Bunnell.

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