Loddie Jones, a longtime educator from Bethel, Alaska is one of the honorees and recipients of this year’s Governor’s Arts and Humanities Awards.
Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom will present eight awards at this year’s Governor’s Arts & Humanities Awards presentation held on Thursday, May 11 at the Marriott Downtown in Anchorage. This celebration will recognize artists, educators, community leaders, and conveners from across the state.
These awards honor Alaskans who have used their creativity and passion to enrich our lives; to support, teach, and inspire others; to unite people within and across communities; and to lift up and bring others’ stories to life.
Ayaprun Ledwina (Loddie) Jones was born to Canaar (Teddy) and Arnaucuaq (Maryann) Sundown on October 2, 1947 in Scammon Bay, Alaska. She is the 6th daughter out of 12, with three brothers.
Ayaprun attended the BIA school in Scammon Bay until grade 7, and then went on to a parochial school at St. Mary’s, where she was promoted from 8th grade in ‘63 and graduated from high school in ‘67. She then got her BA in Elementary Education in 1972 from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.
From August 1972 to May 1990, Ayaprun taught Kindergarten at Kilbuck School. She taught Yup’ik as a second language at the same school from ‘90 to ‘95, and taught as a Kindergarten teacher in a Yup’ik Immersion charter school in Bethel until her retirement in May 2022. Currently, she is a part-time cultural specialist in the same school.
Ayaprun married her late husband, Tan’gaucuaq John Jones, on February 3, 1973. They raised three daughters: Jonella Jones, Sephora Lestenkoff, and Heidi Olson. They also have a son, Jerrol Jones, and have raised a grandson, Harold, and two granddaughters, Tedi Jones and Maiyahna Olson. They have 7 granddaughters, 12 grandsons and 4 great grand children.
Congratulations to Loddie and family!
The Governor’s Arts and Humanities Awards is an annual partnership between the Alaska Humanities Forum, the Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA), the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation, and the Office of the Governor. Nominations are submitted by the public each year across distinct categories and these partners make recommendations to the Governor who then makes the final selection of awardees.
“As Chair of the Alaska Humanities Forum, it is with great pleasure each year that we participate in this wonderful recognition that the Governor’s Awards in the Arts and Humanities makes possible. A quote that I saw recently stated that the humanities are especially vital in an interconnected, restless world. We are honored to be able to congratulate the very deserving winners of this year’s awards and thank them for keeping us vitally connected,” notes the Forum’s Board Chair Judy Owens Manley.
Alaska State Council on the Arts Chairman Benjamin Brown stated, “All of us at the Alaska State Council on the Arts are very excited to be honoring these outstanding individual Alaskans and organizations for their amazing contributions to the vitality and vibrancy of arts and culture here in the Great Land! It is especially wonderful that we’ll be returning to a live, in-person ceremony to see the richly-deserved honors bestowed on each recipient. Congratulations to the awardees with sincere thanks for all they have done for Alaska!”
2023 Awardees:
John Damberg – Individual Artist
Hope Studios at Hope Community Resources – Arts Business Leadership
Marjorie Kunaq Tahbone – Margaret Nick Cooke Award for Alaska Native Arts and Languages
Christa Bruce – Arts Education Leadership
Edward K. Thomas – Distinguished Service to the Humanities in Community
Ayaprun Loddie Jones – Distinguished Service to the Humanities in Education
Frances Ann “Fran” Ulmer – Distinguished Service to the Humanities in Leadership
Marie “Pipiyaq” Paul – Lifetime Award for Distinguished Service to the Humanities
Further details will be made available at https://www.akgovawards.org/awards.
