PRATT MUSEUM

Te`arama – Tahitian Cultural Exchange

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In partnership with regional communities and organizations, the Pratt Museum is excited to host Tahitian drum and dance ensemble Te`arama to the Kenai Peninsula, August 14-19. This Seattle-area group is the performing ensemble of Te Fare O Tamatoa, founded by Merlyna Tahutini Manuru ‘Manio’ Radford in 1964. In the spirit of the biennial Tamamta Katurlluta (the Gathering of Native Tradition), seventeen traveling performers and Tahitian elders will visit several communities in the southcentral region. Te`arama will visit and perform with the Kenaitze Indian Tribe, Ninilchik Traditional Council, Nanwalek Village, and Port Graham Village. Each of these visits will include rich opportunities to share elements of Tahitian and Native Alaskan cultures—distant yet allied traditions connected by a common ocean.

Te`arama’s Homer events are presented in conjunction with the Homer Dance and Aerial Festival coordinated by the Homer Council on the Arts. On Monday, August 14, workshops in Tahitian drumming (5:30-7pm) and dance (7-8:30) will take place at the Homer High School green room and theater stage. Lead dance instructor, Nanave Radford, comes fresh from performing with Toahiva at the annual Heiva festival competition in Papeete, Tahiti. Following their community visits, Te`arama will return to Homer to perform at the Mariner Theater on Saturday, August 19 at 7:30 p.m., as part of the Dance and Aerial Performance.

Class descriptions and registration, and performance tickets are available through Homer Council on the Arts, in person, or online (online transaction fees apply). Look under the “a la carte workshops” listing! Preregistration is required for workshops. Pratt Museum and HCOA members can take advantage of discounted workshop rates.

Please join us in welcoming these guests, and support cultural exchange activities by participating in workshops and joining us at the August 19 performance!

The Te`arama cultural exchange program was made possible by partnerships with the wider cultural, arts, and education communities. Funding was provided by the Rasmuson Foundation through a Harper Arts Touring Fund, administered by the Alaska State Council on the Arts. Additional sponsors include the Homer Foundation, Chugachmiut, Ninilchik Traditional Council, and Ninilchik Natives Association, Inc. In-kind partners include Kenaitze Indian Tribe, Nanwalek Village IRA, Port Graham Village Council, Port Graham Corporation, and the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies.

Logo feedback and roll-out

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Thank you to the 40-plus members who provided feedback on the Pratt Museum’s new logo! The clear favorite was the logo “with bones,” as it celebrates the Museum’s extensive natural history collection. A number of comments suggested that the word “dialogue” in the tagline was too abstract, academic, or trendy. With this feedback in mind, we are in the process of finalizing the graphic files and revising the tagline. A young fish-feeder drew three lucky names to receive free logo T-Shirts from our upcoming order.

With the start of summer season, we’ll be phasing this new logo into use. We’re excited that this new image conveys a sense of the present and past as well as conversation and gathering–with a touch of class as well as whimsy. Stay tuned for the first run of T-Shirts and other merchandise!

Gull Island 2017

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It must be Spring! At the end of April, Museum staff journeyed across the thankfully calm waters of Kachemak Bay to install the seasonal camera on Gull Island. We also took the opportunity to replace the batteries, re-position (and clean) the solar panels, and upgrade microphones, which should all make for better quality and consistency throughout the summer. The camera is operated by joystick in the Pratt Museum’s Marine Gallery, so if you’d like to “drive,” come on by! If you can’t make it, enjoy this live stream!

2016 Quilt Raffle Winners Announced

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Congratulations to Billie Fischer of Glendora CA, winner of “Alaskan Treasures”, the large quilt.
AND Corey Mohan of St Paul, MN winner of “Imagination”, the bonus wall hanging quilt.
Thank you to the Kachemak Bay Quilters, who create and donate the large raffle quilt each year; and the Patrons of the Pratt Society (POPS), for administering the raffle. We appreciate all who purchased tickets. Proceeds from the sale of raffle tickets benefit museum programs.

Forest Trails Now Connect to Pioneer Avenue

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trail workA big “Thank You” to all who turned out on August 13 for the Pratt’s Trail Party – the newest section of Pratt Museum trails looks fantastic! If you haven’t already, come check out the Woodard Creek additions, including a relaxing creekside path and access to Pioneer Avenue. Look for the forthcoming signs at the Pioneer entrance.

If you missed last trail day, don’t fret! Art has a lot of volunteer projects that need to be completed before winter. If you are interested in helping out, or would like a bit more information about Museum grounds work and improvements, please contact Art Koeninger (907) 435-3323.

Museum Director Search

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The Pratt Museum seeks an energetic, creative, and compassionate professional to lead our award-winning museum of culture, science, and art.  In addition to administrative responsibilities, the Director is responsible for outreach, operations, and program oversight, including strategic planning, development, and completion of a major capital campaign. Applicants should have minimum three years administrative experience in museum or comparable nonprofit setting and possess strong financial management, marketing and fundraising skills, with the ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders. See full job description here. Salary: DOE. Send CV with letter of interest to: Search Committee, Pratt Museum, 3779 Bartlett St.  Homer, AK  99603 or searchcommittee@prattmuseum.org. Deadline to apply: August 31, 2016 (open until filled).

Studying Seabirds on Gull Island

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IMG_8267The Pratt Museum was recently approached by researchers at the US Geologic Survey regarding planned research on seabirds in the Gulf of Alaska. Thanks to the capabilities of the digital camera now installed, and the hard work of museum volunteer Jason Sodergren, the Pratt Museum’s Gull Island camera will regularly record a series of nesting locations on the island. These programmed recordings will take place outside of museum hours, so will not impact gallery control of the camera. The Pratt is proud to partner with USGS and the Seldovia Native Association to better understand our fragile seabird populations. Following is a project abstract from the researchers:

In response to an unprecedented and widespread seabird die off in the Northern Gulf of Alaska in 2015-2016, as well as the need to monitor seabird populations and forage fish in potential oil and gas lease areas of interest to the Department of the Interior, the USGS is undertaking research on seabirds and forage fish in summer 2016. This collaborative effort to quantify seabirds and forage fish in the Northern Gulf of Alaska will include support from USGS Alaska Science Center, BOEM, and USFWS. One objective of the work is to monitor Black-legged Kittiwake and Common Murre breeding habits (population trend, timing, nest success, food) at their colonies and compare them to similar work done in the 1990’s. With help from the Pratt Museum’s Gull Island camera, we have a unique opportunity to monitor the nesting behavior of seabirds at fixed plots each day. This data will be used to better understand the timing of nesting (incubation and hatching dates, chick rearing, fledging) and prey deliveries (quantity, quality) by seabirds at each plot.

Woodard Creek Arts & Culture Complex

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Collaborative Planning is Underway

The Pratt Museum and Homer Council on the Arts (HCOA) are pleased to announce that our two organizations are in conversation about the possibilities of collaborating to make use of the existing museum building as a performance, art and activity space.

The future Arts and Culture Complex, to be located on the Pratt Museum’s 9.8-acre property, is envisioned to include the new Pratt Museum building, the newly-defined performing arts and community building, and the existing historic cabin and shop. This newly-defined space would also serve the region by providing a location for meetings, events, and workshops.

SITE PLAN 7.1.15Last fall, the Pratt Museum reexamined the idea of re-purposing its existing building, based on the positive collaborative work that has been occurring throughout the community within the last two years. In response to ongoing dialogue, results of the Parks Art and Recreation (PARC) survey released earlier this year, and the number of nonprofit organizations on the Lower Kenai Peninsula, the two organizations saw this as a unique opportunity to meet community needs. Both are excited to move forward with planning and collaborative work to implement this vision.

The Phase 1 Site Plan is shown here. Phase 2 is a future project to open up the part of Woodard Creek that currently flows underneath the Museum’s parking lot behind the existing building. The Pratt and HCOA will be working diligently over the next several months to further develop this vision of an arts and culture complex. We invite the community’s ideas ̶as well as a commitment to join us ̶ in creating this important and vital center for our community.

 

 

Free Admission during December

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mooseThanks to individual donors and the City of Homer, the Pratt Museum is offering complimentary admission throughout the month of December. Enjoy your community museum during the holiday season!