PRATT MUSEUM

established in 1968

Pratt Museum to Host Rarefied Light Exhibition

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Pratt Museum to Host Rarefied Light 2023

Homer, Alaska (July 17, 2024)

The Pratt Museum will host Alaska Photographic Center sponsored Rarefied Light 2023 Exhibition

Our final special exhibition of the year will open in our Main Gallery on October 1st, 2024 and be on display through January 5, 2024. A First Friday opening reception will be help at the Pratt Museum on Friday, October 4th, 2024 from 4-6pm.

Rarefied Light is Alaska’s largest annual fine art photography exhibition. Each year the Alaska Photographic Center seeks out a nationally recognized artist to jury the Rarefied Light show and present a public lecture and workshop. This year guest juror, Jennifer Spelman, selected 46 photographs by 35 artists for inclusion in this year’s exhibition, from a field of 391 entries by 65 artists.

About the Alaska Photographic Center Formed in 1983, the Alaska Photographic Center (APC) is a statewide organization with a mission to promote fine art photography in Alaska.  More information is available at http://akphotocenter.org/.

About the Pratt Museum The mission of the Pratt Museum is to strengthen relationships between people and place through stories relevant to Kachemak Bay. It fulfills its mission by facilitating engagement between community members and strengthening understandings of our shared place. Through these activities, the unique relationship between the people and places of Kachemak Bay will be sustained far into the future. The Museum is open daily from 10am-6pm from Memorial Day to Labor Day and Tuesday-Saturday from 11am-4pm the rest of the year. Visit the Pratt Museum at 3779 Bartlett Street in Homer. Tel (907) 235-8635. More information is available at http://www.prattmuseum.org/.

Contact Whitney Harness, Visitor Services, Store and Communications Manager, tel (907) 435-3328, email wharness@prattmuseum.org

Download a PDF of this press release, here.

Next Generation Fund of the Roy A. Hunt Foundation Grant Award Appreciation

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Homer, Alaska (January 23, 2024) – The Homer Society of Natural History, Inc. DBA Pratt Museum is incredibly grateful to be the recipient of a $5,000 Next Generation Fund of the Roy A. Hunt Foundation Grant. This contribution will allow for the repair of museum display cases in the permanent exhibits of the Pratt Museum, including the case of drawers relating to the popular “Gull Cam” exhibit in the Marine Gallery. Each drawer in the case pulls out to reveal specimens from the Museums extensive collection, including feet, wings and eggs of various species of local shorebirds. The Gull Cam itself allows visitors to the Museum to observe life on Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, with a limitless view of glaucous-winged gulls, kittiwakes, cormorants, and more. Gull Island is owned and managed by Seldovia Native Association, Inc. The Pratt Museum is granted a conditional use permit to place camera equipment on the island for educational and scientific purposes.

About the Pratt Museum The Pratt Museum was founded by The Homer Society of Natural History, Inc. in 1968. The mission of the Museum is to strengthen relationships between people and place through stories relevant to Kachemak Bay. It fulfills its mission by facilitating engagement between community members and strengthening understandings of our shared place. Through these activities, the unique relationship between the people and places of Kachemak Bay will be sustained far into the future. The Museum is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11am to 4pm. Visit the Pratt Museum at 3779 Bartlett Street in Homer. Tel. (907) 235-8635. More information is available at www.prattmuseum.org

 

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CLICK HERE to register for Summer Workshops!

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CLICK HERE for our Summer Workshops & Events Schedule!

 

As always, on behalf of the board and staff at Pratt Museum & Park, thank you for your support! We are so grateful to have such passionate members and patrons in our community. We are so excited for the 2023 season and we look forward to seeing you at the Pratt soon!

 

Cross-Cultural Conversations Series – Fall 2022

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Cross-Cultural Conversations Series – Fall 2022

This series will offer several Community Cross-Cultural natural science presentations and conversations over the course of several weeks. These will be early evening events designed to fit the schedules of as many people in our community as possible, so we can gather to share and learn more about some of the current natural resource research and discoveries taking place in our region. 

The purpose of these conversations is to acknowledge and include all of the cultures that make up our community and contribute to the knowledge about the world we share together. We would like to discuss how we can best take care of the many vital natural resources that we depend on for our happiness and survival. We welcome your participation and questions!

The presentations and conversations will take place at the Pratt Museum and Park, located on Bartlett Street in Homer. The first event of the series takes place this Thursday October 27th from 6:00 – 7:30 PM. The museum is supported by donations, grants, and entrance fees, and therefore we appreciate any contribution that you can make at the door. 

The speakers and facilitators this Thursday are Dr. Fred Sharpe of the Alaska Whale Foundation and Kenneth O’Brien of the Pratt Museum and Park. Their presentation is titled “Connecting Cultures Across the Pacific: Humpback Whales – Bringing the Aloha from Kona to Kachemak Bay.”

Dr. Sharpe and Mr. O’Brien have worked together for the past decade, investigating questions about the antiquity of the North Pacific population of humpback whales, including records and evidence shared from sources with Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Topics that they’ll address include the biology and history of this population of whales, as well as some of the cultural connections that the humpbacks embody as they travel back and forth across the wide ocean. They’ll share some of the findings of their work and discuss questions that are being explored regarding the current and future ecological challenges faced by these impressive marine mammals, such as problems with plastic debris, and warming seas that are increasing in acidity. Fred will also discuss his research on some of the unique cultural characteristics of the whales, including their uses of bubbles as tools for their survival, communications, and entertainment.  

The second event in the series will be presented on Thursday, November 3rd by Olga Von Ziegesar and Shelley Gill from Winged Whale Research group just down the road in Fritz Creek. Their talk will be titled “Long Term Fishing Relationships Among the Winged Whales.” They’ll share some of their remarkable discoveries concerning the cooperative behaviors of these Hawaiian and Mexican marine giants, the humpback whales.

We hope you can join us for these and future presentations and take part in the ongoing discussions about the well-being of the species with whom we share this lovely area of Kachemak Bay.