PRATT MUSEUM

established in 1968

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Brooks Fish

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Thirty Years of Counting Fish at Brooks Lake,
Katmai National Park and Preserve
February 1 – March 29, 2015Brooks lake fish racks 1940

The Bristol Bay Investigation’s temporary tent camp and fish weir established at the outlet of the Brooks River in 1940. Photographed by Robert Hacker. “Brooks Camp Interpretive Collection,” KATM Photo Archives, Records of Katmai National Park and Preserve, Anchorage, Alaska.“One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Brooks Fish” shows visitors how counting fish at the outlet of Brooks Lake helped develop the management methodology used to regulate one of the most important sockeye salmon fisheries in Alaska. Thanks in part to the scientist’s eye for detail, the composition of the photographs are compelling and engaging. Most importantly, this exhibit underscores the conclusion that salmon-pursuing human beings have been an integral force that have profoundly shaped the salmon resource since the Brooks River formed nearly 4,500 years ago. Contrary to most salmon and people stories, the fish runs of Bristol Bay remain healthy, they serve as the ecological engines for an entire ecosystem, and support an industry that employs a high number of Alaskans. Simply put, this is a resource management story Alaska got right.

Biologists find the perfect balance for photographing salmon near the weir site in July 1959. “Theodore Merrell Collection,” Records of Katmai National Park and Preserve, Anchorage, Alaska.

Curators Kathryn Myers (Katmai National Park and Preserve) and Katherine Ringsmuth (Anchorage Museum, formerly Katmai National Park and Preserve) will give a curators’ talk as part of the Pratt Museum Annual Meeting: Tuesday, February 3 at 6pm.

This exhibit is supported in part by Icicle Seafoods, Alaska State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and City of Homer. Developed in partnership with the National Park Service.

Women Who Run with the Tides

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New Work by 29 Women – 25 Years
November 7 – December 31, 2014
opening reception Friday, November 7, 5-7 pm

An Invitational Art Exhibition

Women Who Run with the Tides

“…Several of us were reflecting on our early days in Kachemak Bay 25-35 years ago. We chatted about how our experiences then significantly impacted who we were becoming as young women artists. From that conversation a plan was hatched to invite this dynamic group of about 30 current and former Kachemak Bay women artists to create new work for an art exhibition to be held at the Pratt Museum in Homer, Alaska.”

– Kim Terpening and Nancy Wise, exhibit curators

In conjunction with the exhibit, the Pratt Museum has produced a catalog featuring new work by each artist in the show. The catalog is 66 pages, full color, and retails for $24.95. Copies will be available at the Pratt on November 7.

Jo Going: Reliquary

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reliquary card

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

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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.

IMG_5865The 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.