Art in the Arctic

The Art in the Arctic art show will open with a First Friday event from 5 to 8 pm on Oct. 2. The show will remain up for the month of October. This event is hosted by the Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges.

The Art in the Arctic show will be held at Black Spruce Brewing Company, Fairbanks’s most decorated brewery and a strong supporter of the local arts community. The casual, fun taproom space commonly hosts local artists, with established followings and those just starting out.

This show is held each year in Fairbanks, Alaska. It bridges the worlds of art, nature, and conservation, with a spotlight on three of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s northern Refuges: Arctic, Kanuti, and Yukon Flats. The scale, expanse, and wildness of Alaska’s Refuges distinguish them from most other Refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System. These Refuges protect habitats for all species, as well as extensive landscapes for subsistence uses and outdoor adventures. Through a tapestry of artistic expressions, Art in the Arctic unveils the narratives, beauty, and challenges these Refuges encapsulate, urging audiences to immerse themselves in their stories.

This year, Art in the Arctic will highlight the artist, their artwork, and the networks, visible and invisible, that sustain Arctic landscapes—and us.

2026 THEME: Connected North: Threads of Life in Northern Refuges
Across the Arctic, life moves through networks—rivers that braid across tundra, invisible corridors of migration overhead and under ice, and relationships among people, cultures, and the lands that sustain them. Connected North: Threads of Life in the Northern Refuges invites artists and audiences to discover how connectivity and interdependence shape the health and resilience of Arctic, Kanuti, and Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuges, and why these connections matter to all of us.

Why connectivity matters: Northern refuges are among the world’s last large, connected ecosystems. Their rivers, wetlands, and wild spaces form essential pathways for wildlife and support Indigenous lifeways that have endured for millennia. As climate change and other pressures reshape the Arctic, maintaining these connections is crucial for the health of the entire ecosystem—and for communities across Alaska.

Art in the Arctic 2026 affirms the enduring value of National Wildlife Refuges as places that safeguard these connections. The show showcases not just art, but possibility: a reminder that our choices and our communities play a role in sustaining the North. Viewers are invited to see themselves as part of the ecosystem—not outside of it—and to consider how everyday choices and community action help maintain the networks that life depends on. This show is an invitation to learn, to connect, and to care for the living systems that connect the Arctic to Alaskan communities and far beyond.

EXHIBIT & SALES: Artwork may be available for sale to the public. Artists set their own prices for their work. Sale pieces are subject to a 15% “hanging fee,” which Black Spruce will donate to Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges, the nonprofit organization sponsoring this show. The remainder of sale prices go to the artists.

Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges at arctic_art@alaskarefugefriends.org.