PRATT MUSEUM

established in 1968

Pratt Museum Receives Scholarship Grant for Staff to Attend Museums Alaska 2024 Conference in Fairbanks

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Pratt Museum Curator of Collections and Exhibitions Receives Scholarship Grant to Attend Museums Alaska 2024 Conference in Fairbanks

Homer, Alaska (August 8, 2024)
Olivia Wisnewski, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Pratt Museum, is the recipient of a $775.00 scholarship grant from the Donna Matthews Professional Development Fund

Pratt Museum Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, Olivia Wisnewski, is grateful be the recipient of a $775.00 scholarship grant from the Donna Matthews Professional Development Fund. These scholarship awards are generously supported by individual donors and auction income. This grant will allow Ms. Wisnewski to attend the Museums Alaska 2024 Conference beginning September 25th in Fairbanks, Alaska. The theme of this year’s conference is Building Community and will be a great opportunity to forge connections with museum professionals from across the state, experience hands-on learning, and expand the impact of the Pratt Museum in the Kachemak Bay Community.
About Museums Alaska In 1983, Museums Alaska became an official non-profit organization, after serving as a committee of the Alaska Historical Society since the 1970s. For over four decades, their commitment to strengthening museums and cultural centers in Alaska has grown, propelling them into a new era of growth and impact. More information is available at https://museumsalaska.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.

Homer Society of Natural History Board of Directors Elections

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The Homer Society of Natural History is looking for enthusiastic, dedicated individuals to serve on its Board of Directors. Please see our Prospective Board Member Letter and Application for more information and to apply.

Applications are due by January 10, 2024.

If you have any questions, please call Pratt Museum Executive Director Patricia Relay at 907-435-3333 or Homer Society of Natural History Board of Directors President Linda Rowell at 309-885-2734.

Alaska Beauty Peony Co-Op

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You may think of peony farming as a newer crop here in Alaska, but you may be surprised to realize it’s really just a continuation of early Homer homesteading. Many Homer farmers who established themselves in the 1940s and 50s have now begun growing peonies. Homer’s unique agricultural history has helped develop peony cultivation in the area, leading to Homer being known as ‘the City of Peonies’. Over the next couple of weeks we will share the stories of local Homer farmers as part of the 3rd Annual Peony Celebration. So, follow us on social media to follow our Peony Celebration coverage.

The Pratt Museum has teamed up with Alaska Beauty Peony Co-Op to tell these stories.  To start our collaboration we interviewed Allison with Willow Drive Gardens. As board chair and member of Alaska Beauty Peony Co-Op she was able to share some of the history of peony farming in Alaska and share with us how the local co-op is progressing. 

Why are co-ops so necessary for small farms? The co-op provides the necessary marketing and distribution that  its members need. All of the members of the co-op are small boutique farms focused on quality, it would not be sustainable for each farm to do everything themselves. Having a co-op provides necessary infrastructure, allowing members to focus on growing and harvesting their beautiful peonies! 

Alaska Beauty Peony Co-Op is currently in its 10th year of operation. As the oldest co-op of peony growers in the state of Alaska they have formed partnerships with the Homer area beekeepers association and have even received funding for food security to help fund co-op infrastructure projects. According to  Allison, Alaska peony farms are not going to reach the size and scale of the industrial farms of the Netherlands as their country has invested heavily in the mechanical infrastructure required for such large scale production. Our local Homer peony farms tend their fields by hand and use wheelbarrows to move the blooms, you won’t see tractor trailers with conveyor belts going into the fields.

The Alaska Beauty Co-Op particularly focuses on sustainability and reducing environmental impact. For instance, Allison does not use any harsh chemicals or toxic pesticides on her farm; instead utilizing lower impact substances like baking soda and potassium bicarbonate to inhibit mold growth and neem oil to inhibit thrips.

In addition to environmental sustainability, the co-op also focuses on economic sustainability. Helping their farmers stay involved and up to date by answering questions like: How does the co-op continue to succeed within the industry? What scale do they need to reach? What markets make the most sense? They aim to help their farmers by branching out and facilitating new ideas like making bath salts from imperfect blooms to reduce waste and increase profits.

Alaska Beauty Peony Co-Op is a huge part of our community here in Homer. If you are interested in supporting the co-op go to their website at https://alaskabeautypeony.com/collections/in-state. Check out our upcoming videos on Instagram and Facebook @prattmuseum to learn more.

Postcards from Unprecedented Times: Ongoing Project

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What stories will we tell about our present moment?

At the Pratt Museum, we are committed to collecting and sharing the stories of Kachemak Bay, from both the past and present. This year, we have faced dramatic changes to our way of life, and undoubtedly our world will continue to shift. We want to document this present moment with your voices. Postcards from Unprecedented Times is our way of helping our community preserve those stories and voices.

We started off this project with a First Friday craft night on August 7, but this is an ongoing opportunity to participate. We will be developing an online display of these postcards and letters in the coming weeks, so check back soon to see how others have experienced these unprecedented times!

How it works:

1: Write a letter You can use one of our postcard templates (available at the Museum!) or make something new. Fill it with words, stories, drawings — whatever you want to say about your experience in this moment.

2: Deliver it to the Pratt You can drop it off at the special mailbox in our Community Gallery  (look for the bright blue board in the Greetings from the Past: History in Postcards exhibit) or mail it to 3779 Bartlett St, Homer, AK 99603.

3: Become part of the archives! When we receive your letter, we’ll scan it into our digital archives — it will become part of the historical collection reflecting this moment. Check our website for updates as we develop an online catalog of these letters.