PRATT MUSEUM

established in 1968

Living Alaska: A Decade of Collecting Contemporary Art for Alaska Museums

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Aurora Borealis

February 26 – April 23, 2016

Opening Reception: February 26, 5-7 p.m.

For more than a decade, the Rasmuson Foundation has been giving annual grants to Alaska’s museums to acquire contemporary art. This unique program has allowed museums throughout the state, to purposefully build their collections. In its first ten years, the Rasmuson Art Acquisition Fund distributed 173 grants to 33 museums to purchase works by 436 artists.

Living Alaska shares the far-reaching impacts of the fund and a sample of the artwork it has preserved for the public. Curated by Sven Haakanson, Jr. and designed by the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, the exhibition contains 25 pieces loaned from 12 different museums.

The exhibition, “Living Alaska: A Decade of Collecting Contemporary Art for Alaska Museums,” was organized by the Anchorage Museum. Major support for traveling the exhibition has been generously provided by the Rasmuson Foundation.

Image: Aurora Borealis I, II, III
Ron Senungetuk, 2006
Silver maple and oil stain
Pratt Museum, Homer
22″ x 56 ¾”

Alaska Native Art from the Pratt Collections

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Extended, February 2 – 20, 2016
(Following annual museum closure during January)

For the extended run during February, additional works from the Pratt collection will be added to this already-stunning exhibit!

Explore the Pratt Museum’s diverse and rarely seen collection of Native Art from across Alaska, featuring fine and functional art from St. Lawrence Island to Southeast, archaeological finds to contemporary works.

Join us for the opening reception, Friday November 13 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and hear a special presentation at 6 p.m. by Port Graham artist Jim Miller: “Second Life: Spiritual Restoration Through Traditional Art.”

On November 14, Jim Miller will also present a bone a jewelry making workshop from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration is required. For more information visit the event page.

Ritz Art Preview

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October 9 – November 3, 2015

Opening Reception: Friday, October 9, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

2015 Ritz Poster copyVisit the Pratt Museum Special Exhibits Gallery during October to preview artwork to be included in the 30th Annual Ritz Art & Experience Auction. The dinner and auction event, which will be held on Saturday, November 7 at Wasabi’s, will include a live and silent auction, featuring artwork and other items donated by artists, businesses and individuals throughout Alaska. All funds raised at the Ritz will help the Pratt Museum continue to increase the diversity and quality of its exhibits and programs.

For this 30th Anniversary Ritz, we’ll be celebrating Havana Nights! Ritz at the CopaCabana. Celebrating the 1940s and 50s that was Cuba in its heyday, this year’s Ritz will include Cuban food, music, dancing, diamonds, pearls, bright lights, rum, and cigars (to take outdoors)!

For more information, call Michele Miller at 435-3342 or e-mail mmiller@prattmuseum.org.

Museum Macabre: Darkest Secrets of Kachemak Bay

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October 9 – 31, 2015

Some stories from Kachemak Bay have been lost to common knowledge, swept under the rug and into collections storage at the Pratt Museum. Now is your chance to learn about the dark days of our past through original artifacts and rare images:

Museum Macabre 2015

  • Silver bullet casting molds from the werewolf outbreak of 1934
  • Taxidermy mount of the now-extinct native scorpion forest squirrel
  • Various and frightening specimens preserved stuffed (fanged hare and parasitic fish crab) or in alcohol (giant huntsman spidermoose and assorted viscera)
  • Relics from the vampire wars of the 1970s, including impaling stakes, fangs, and desicated vampires (in bat form)
  • The brain (cast) of a 3-legged land whale
  • Kandorian “siren” eel extracted from Homer Pennock’s leg

This special exhibit is only up through Saturday, October 31, after which the specimens shall be appropriately forgotten…

Capital Update – August 2015

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This month was a busy one for building design. A two-day workshop with the architects, engineers, building committee and staff was held to discuss systems for managing temperature and humidity (a very important consideration for collections care and conservation), lighting, flooring, ceiling forms and dozens of other structural and functional considerations.

Work on design details will continue through the fall, and the capital campaign continues with staff and committee members meeting with prospective major donors and foundation funders.

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.

 

 

Capital Update – June 2015

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Just in: Updated Renderings of the Building Exterior, Floor Plan, and Site!

Over the past few months, Pratt project architects, engineers and staff have been developing the new building design and site plan.

One change to the previous schematic design includes the location of air handling systems, creating a new roof line. Tweaks have also been made to remove the need for pillars in the main gallery and gain more overhead space for the gray whale. To better account for existing slopes and handicapped access, the Phase 1 Site Plan has been modified.

Design Development will be completed in early August, and construction drawings will be completed in the fall. We will be shovel-ready by the end of the year!

Substantive planning work on aquaria and exhibit design is in the works and we’ll have some exciting drawings to show off very soon! Exhibit design will continue through 2016.

Fundraising also continues. We expect the State’s budget situation will delay the construction timeline. We are working on other sources of funding in lieu of the remaining piece of the State appropriation that was originally requested.

Ocean Treasure, Ocean Trash

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August 7 – September October 4, 2015
Opening Reception: August 7, 5-7 p.m.

Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies,
in celebration of the 30th Annual Kachemak Bay CoastWalk

Fishing NetThe ocean is a treasure that connects everyone in this world; it circulates through winds and currents, carries nutrients from one bay to the next, and houses an abundance of life. This hands-on exhibit shows how we fit into this watery world, how we impact the life within it, and how we can be the solution to ocean pollution.

This exhibit is supported in part by Apache Alaska Corporation, Alaska State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and City of Homer.

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Gull Island Camera Installation

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On April 30, 2015, Pratt Museum staff and consultants made the annual trek to Gull Island to install the camera used to view nesting seabirds. Over the summer, visitors to the museum can remotely control the camera to view kittiwakes, common murres, puffins, guillemots, cormorants, sea otters and more. This year’s trip included replacing the solar array used to power the camera. We decided to document this entire process and create a time-lapse view of the work. Here is an abbreviated look at a couple of hours spent on the island.

cam cam_play

As of this post, May 6, the SeeBird Camera is online at the Pratt Museum. There are already numerous murres rafting offshore, and some kittiwakes on the island. Visit the Pratt Museum’s Marine Gallery to explore the island for yourself!

Watermark

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June 4 – August 4, 2015
Opening reception: Thursday, June 4, 5-7 p.m.

 

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Asia Freeman and Michael Walsh present a duo show depicting their connections to the local landscape through painting and moving images. Freeman presents new oil paintings. Walsh presents new digital videos. The two artists have shared a studio for several years. They also share a sensual language of mark making with a focus on water as media and muse. Explore Kachemak Bay’s vast, ethereal waterscapes, places that are near yet remain elusive and enigmatic due to Alaska’s volatile weather. Islands rise like mirages from mist-shrouded shorelines, light bursts through translucent layers of color to create a mysterious sense of place. Investigate the tension between the solidity of paint, the realism of photography and the instability of form in fleeting light and motion. Watermark centers on artwork that hovers between pure abstraction and natural realism.

This exhibit is supported in part by Holland America Line, Alaska State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and City of Homer.