This Fall the architects and engineers begin refining the building design and are working towards construction drawings. Thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities,the exhibit designer is at work translating the exhibit concept work from the last year into detailed designs. The architect and exhibit designer met with staff in September to begin coordination of structural elements in the exhibit spaces. We look forward to a busy winter developing design details and preparing for the initial site work.
Jo Going: Reliquary
Reliquary
by Jo Going
June 27 – September 21, 2014
Opening Friday, June 27, 5-7 pm; Artist Talk at 6 pm
How does one define the sacred? Nearly 30 years ago, artist Jo Going knelt beside a caribou skeleton on the tundra of the Alaskan Interior. She realized that “bones carry the spirits of the animals, a lasting essence of presence, that they are relics, holy and venerable.” Going continued to collect bones from the taiga and incorporate them into her own work. Paleolithic and Neolithic art, as well as Italian church reliquaries venerating the bones of saints, inspired Reliquary, an exhibit nearly three decades in the making. Reliquary invites visitors to connect with the spirit presence of animals, and contemplate our shared sacred impulse.
The Dena’ina Way of Living
Invisible in their own homeland. About half of Alaska’s residents live in traditional Dena’ina territory, but there is little awareness of the indigenous people who have called Southcentral Alaska home for more than 1,000 years. Meet the Dena’ina through film, life-size re-creations, images, hands-on learning stations, audio and original artifacts, as well as a rich series of special events.
The Pratt Museum is proud to be the first site to host this traveling exhibition, and the only venue outside of Anchorage to feature original artifacts.
The exhibition, Dena’inaq’ Huch’ulyeshi: The Dena’ina Way of Living, was organized by the Anchorage Museum. Major support for traveling the exhibition has been generously provided by the Rasmuson Foundation. Additional support for the Pratt Museum installation has been provided by Apache Alaska Corporation, The CIRI Foundation, Ninilchik Traditional Council, Seldovia Village Tribe, Alaska State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and the City of Homer.
April 25 and 26, 2014
Exhibit Planning Workshops
You are invited to join us for this important exhibit planning workshop! The Pratt Museum’s consulting exhibit planner and exhibit designer will be at the Museum sharing the preliminary exhibit plans for the new Pratt Museum. This is your opportunity to provide feedback and suggestions before we move to the next phase of development. We have scheduled two separate events so that as many community members as possible will be able to attend either one. The workshops will be: Friday, April 25, 5:30 – 7 pm and Saturday, April 25, 2 – 3:30 pm.
We hope you will have the opportunity to look over the following pdf documents before these workshops.
These comprise the focus of our conversation:
We look forward to your input!
April 2014
Creek Project Update and Feedback Request
Part of the long-term vision for the Pratt grounds includes daylighting the section of Woodard Creek that currently runs through a culvert under the parking area behind the museum building. This project is in the planning stages now so that it meshes with the site work plans for the capital project to build a new museum building. Opening up this 150 foot section of creek will make a dramatic change in visitor experience, providing stream-based education opportunities as well as benches and outdoor gathering spaces near the creek. Design considerations begin with handling both low and high water flows.
Watch the video to learn more about the project and the different configurations that the stream design may take.
We are currently seeking feedback on the design concept including the placement and type of drop structures (there is an 11′ elevation change over the length of the culvert), and the stream bed profile. We are also beginning to consider vegetation options. This video shows several possible structures and gives a sense of what they might look and sound like. We are collecting feedback on the concept through April 25th. Please send you comments to director@prattmuseum.org, drop them by the museum, or mail to Pratt Museum, 3779 Bartlett Street Homer, AK 99603. Thank you.
Key Ingredients: America By Food
Key Ingredients: America By Food
April 4 – May 15
What are kolaces, spaetzle and pierogies? Most of don’t give a second thought about the wealth of history and culture that shapes our dining habits and taste preferences. Our recipes, menus, ceremonies, and etiquette are directly shaped by our country’s rich immigrant experience, the history and innovations of food preparation technology, and the ever-changing availability of key ingredients.
Through a selection of artifacts, photographs, and illustrations, Key Ingredients examines the evolution of the American kitchen and how food industries have responded to the technological innovations that have enabled Americans to choose an ever-wider variety of frozen, prepared, and fresh foods. Key Ingredients also looks beyond the home to restaurants, diners, and celebrations that help build a sense of community through food.
The exhibition addresses farming, table manners, history, markets, and kitchen gadgets in a lively presentation that stimulates comparisons of back then and right now, over there and right here. The exhibition will engage audiences everywhere, creating conversations and inspiring community recollection and celebration.
Putting By: Food and Identity on the Kenai
May 16 – June 22
In northern climates, the vast majority of local food is only available during the short summer months. Food cultivation, hunting, and gathering must be coordinated and the harvest made to last through winter. Safely stored food is not just consumed, but used in trade, given as gifts and shared at potlucks. In some cases, winter preservation is necessary for the subsequent growing season.
During the exhibition Key Ingredients: America by Food, museum visitors reflect upon food traditions and seasons. Putting By combines visitor feedback, the content of public events including a community conversation, historical photographs and food-reflective artworks to explore the importance of Putting By for our region, and how our own food traditions reflect our identities.
The Living Tertiary
Opening reception Friday, Feb. 7, 5-7pm
Fossil Day : Saturday, February 22, 1-3pm
Explore the prehistoric Tertiary Period through plant and sea life fossils set alongside their modern-day examples. Paleontology shows just how drastically our local environment has changed—and hints at the importance of understanding our fossil history.
This exhibit is supported in part by Alaska State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, City of Homer, ConocoPhillips, and Petro Marine Services.
When Crab Was King:
from Kodiak to Kachemak Bay
November 8 – December 31, 2013
Opening reception Friday, November 8, 5-7 pm
This special exhibit combines
Kodiak Maritime
Museum’s When Crab Was King: Faces of the Kodiak King Crab Fishery 1950-1982, with stories of the king crab fishery in Kachemak Bay.
When Crab Was King: Faces of the Kodiak King Crab Fishery 1950-1982 features portraits of 24 individuals that experienced the boom years of the Kodiak King Crab fishery, as well as oral histories presenting each of their stories. In the Pratt Museum’s presentation, you’ll also be able to view historic films, hear stories from local fishermen, learn about the biology of the local fishery and recent efforts to re-establish king crab, and inspect a live brood of juvenile crabs in our own saltwater tank.
This exhibit is supported in part by Kodiak Maritime Museum with support from Alaska Humanities Forum, Alaska Sta
Ritz 2013: Art Preview Exhibit
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Ritz 2013: Art Preview Exhibit October 4 – October 30, 2013 Opening Reception: First Friday, October 4, 5 pm – 7 pmRitz 2013: Moulin Rouge Dinner, Music, Art & Experience Auctions Saturday, November 2, 2013 6:30 pm – 10 pm at Wasabi’s |
October 2013
Pratt Museum Garners Excellence in the Museum Profession Award
At the Museums Alaska annual conference in Haines last month, the Pratt Museum was honored as the recipient of the association’s Excellence in the Museum Profession Award for the Gray Whale Project. This is the only exhibit or project award given by the association, and recognizes the Pratt once again as a leader among the state’s 80-plus museum institutions.
“More than just an exemplary exhibit, the Pratt Museum’s Encounters: Whales in Our Waterssurpassed the level of public involvement and investment normally considered possible in a community museum exhibition,” said Museums Alaska President Angela Linn. The exhibit project started 14 years ago, in 1999, when museum volunteers collected the carcass of a juvenile gray whale found in Kachemak Bay. Its bones were cleaned by volunteers, catalogued by visiting students, conserved, studied, and finally, during the summer of 2012, articulated under the guidance of local bone expert, Lee Post. In January 2013, the large components (backbone, tail section, skull, flippers), were transported by more volunteers, who carried them into the special exhibits gallery where the whale was suspended—whole again after 13 years.
The only shortcoming to Encounters is that it was, in fact, too short. Although this exhibit lasted six months (longer than any recent exhibit at the Pratt) and caught the early summer visitors, many urged for it to stay in place indefinitely. Luckily, the gray whale’s role in community building is not done. In a couple of years, many of those volunteers are hoped to return to help move their 1773-pound whale once again. When the museum throws open the doors of a new building, the whale will be waiting, in a new permanent installation, to greet its many supporters.
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