PRATT MUSEUM

established in 1968

Curators’ Closet

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February 1 -April 28, 2018

The Pratt Museum’s current and former Collections Department staff collaborate to create an exhibit based on each curator’s “favorite things.” This retrospective exhibit highlights items in storage that visitors may not see often, gives some insight into the role and nature of the museum’s collections, and invites visitors to think about what they value as individuals and, collectively, as a community.

This retrospective look at the Pratt Museum’s collections will also be a springboard to discuss the collection moving into the future.

Stay tuned for a schedule of community conversations, workshops, a call for art, and curricula in local K-12 schools!

New Acquisitions

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February 1 – March 31, 2018

Come see what’s new in 2018! The annual recent acquisitions show in the lower level Art Gallery features contemporary Alaska art acquired through donations and the Rasmuson Foundation’s Art Acquisition Fund, as well as select donations in the areas, cultural history and natural sciences.

ROOT Mail Art Show

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ROOT International Mail Art Exhibit

In conjunction with a site-specific installation by local artist Lynn Marie Naden, the Pratt Museum is excited to host the ROOT International Mail Art Exhibit. We are rooting out participants!

Artists from across Alaska and around the globe are invited to mail original artwork via U.S. Postal Service, on the theme of Roots. All works are considered a donation and will be auctioned for the Pratt Museum (a tap root of our community) at the December 30 closing, with starting bids set at the cost of postage.

The root of Mail Art is attributed to the New York artist, Ray Johnson, correspondence artist founder (Oct. 1927-Jan. 1995).

ROOT by Lynn Marie Naden

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November 3 – December 30, 2017

Lynn Naden’s “ROOT” will be a multi-component installation in the Pratt’s Special Exhibits Gallery. ROOT explores interconnections and ancestry. The central structure will be built up from strips of paper containing community-sources perspectives on roots. Visit the Pratt Museum to contribute your own story and be part of this multilayered installation.

As John Muir once stated, “When you tug at a root, you’ll find that everything else is connected.”

Following its premiere at the Pratt Museum, ROOT will also travel to Naden’s ancestral homes: Central California and Serbia.

Ritz Preview

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October 6-20

In anticipation of Ritz Noir – A Night at the Museum, visit the lower galleries and mezzanine of the Pratt to previous artworks which will be up for auction. Additional artworks, items, and experience packages will be available at the event on October 21st!

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.

cARTography

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August 4 – October 20, 2017

Exploring maps, wayfinding, and related artworks from the Pratt Museum collections, along with recent geospatial and interactive products of Kachemak Bay.

Opening reception: Friday, August 4, 5-7 p.m.

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!