Finding Home in Homer is a new project hosted by the Pratt Museum for young people (ages 14-24) who have lived experience with homelessness, housing insecurity/at risk, couchsurfing, unstable home environments, or car camping, or teens seeking emancipation due to parent relations. The goal of this project is to connect young people in the community with local artist mentors, workshops, and a group of peers to create art, music, and writing in response to the question “what is home?”

We hope this project provides a platform for young people in the community to share stories, make connections, and call Homer to action to work to end youth homelessness. Concluding this year’s program, youth participating have the option of submitting their artwork for the Finding Home in Homer exhibit.  This exhibit will be open to the public in our community gallery throughout the summer.

Join us at the Pratt Museum to see Alaska Positive on display in our People and Place Gallery May 7 – August 28, 2021.

Now in its 49th year, Alaska Positive is a statewide juried photographic exhibition organized and toured by the Alaska State Museum. Its purpose is to encourage the practice of photography as an art form in Alaska. Alaska Positive was on exhibit at the Alaska State Museum from December 6, 2019, through February 15, 2020, and then traveled to Cordova in 2021, and will now be on display in Homer from May through August. After Homer, the statewide tour continues, as the exhibition travels to museums throughout Alaska.

The juror for Alaska Positive was David Michael Kennedy, whose photographic career spans over 50 years. Kennedy selected 38 photographs by 26 photographers for the exhibit. Overall, 202 photographs were submitted by Alaskan photographers for the competition. The top award, the Juror’s Choice, went to Cody Swanson of Anchorage for the photograph titled Dipnetters. The Awards of Recognition went to Mike Gates of Ketchikan for Self, and Iris Korhonen-Penn of Juneau for Auke Lake, Bunchberry, Eagle Beach, and Lincoln Island. These awards are sponsored by the Friends of the Alaska State Library, Archives, and Museum.

Join us February 5 – May 29, 2021 for our newest special exhibit, Familiar Faces: Portraits of Community. During an era of social distancing, this exhibit provides visitors the opportunity to ‘meet’ our neighbors and community members throughout history, with up-close observations of individuals and the stories that surround them. Familiar Faces features special content by guest community members Joshua Veldstra, Christina Whiting, and Clark Fair, and draws on the Pratt Museum’s permanent collections to illustrate the deeper stories behind – and beyond – these seemingly simple images. We hope you take an opportunity to discover the soul of our community portrayed in this exhibit, and explore what portraits can reveal about the people of Kachemak Bay.