CURRENT News
Bank of America - Museums on Us
Beginning February 4, 2012, and continuing on the first Saturday of the month thereafter Bank of America and Merrill Lynch cardholders will gain free general admission to the museum as part of Bank of America’s nationwide Museums on Us program.
The Anchorage Museum will be the first Alaska museum to take part in this program. Other participants include The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Chabot Space & Science Center, the Motown Museum and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum many many more.
The program brings new audiences and attention to participating organizations, which range from some of the nation's most celebrated museums to regional gems, and include art, science and history museums, as well as zoos and aquariums. To qualify for Museums on Us, customers simply present their Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit or debit card along with a photo ID to gain free general admission on the first Saturday of the month.
Anchorage Museum Teams Up With Doodle 4 Google
We are excited to announce the Anchorage Museum is the Alaska partner in this year’s Doodle 4 Google competition! This is an amazing opportunity for K-12 students to re-design the Google logo. The winning doodler in the nation will take home a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology grant for his or her school.
The top 10 finalists from Alaska will be featured on Google’s homepage and in a special Anchorage Museum exhibition this summer. Click here for all the contest rules. Entries must be postmarked by March 23. So get doodling!
Anchorage Museum's Summer Camps Accredited
The Anchorage Museum's Imaginarium Explorer Camps have earned accreditation from the American Camp Association (ACA). Accreditation is independent and voluntary, giving parents the best evidence the museum's camps offer an educational, safe, and nurturing environment for children ages 6 to 12.
The museum offers weeklong, full-day camps in June and July appealing to a wide array of interests including robotics, archaeology and painting.
The ACA evaluated the museum'camps on more than 300 health and safety standards, including staff qualifications, program design and emergency management.
Registration begins April 2 for summer camps. Starting in March, find camp descriptions and registration information at anchoragemuseum.org/camp.
Access More Than 10,000 Museum Images Online
Nearly 4,000 of the Anchorage Museum's historical images were added recently to Alaska's Digital Archives. Now researchers can find more than 10,000 of the museum's images online at http://vilda.alaska.edu.
These newly scanned images come from the Steve McCutcheon Collection (Alaska Native people, statehood, politics and villages), Sidney Hamilton Collection (roadhouses, train depots, and Southcentral Alaska scenery) and Redington Family Collection (Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race).
This project was funded in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services though the Library Services and Technology Act administered by the Alaska State Library, Alaska Community Foundation Anchorage Statehood Project, and Rasmuson Foundation.
MEMBERSHIP DEAL
Renew early and get one month free
As a special thank you to our valued members, the Anchorage Museum is offering a free gift with membership renewal. Renew your membership before the expiration date, and the museum will give you one additional month of membership free.
That's one more month you can bring the family to the Imaginarium Discovery Center, explore touring exhibitions, enjoy member discounts at Muse and the museum shop, and more! This is a limited time offer.
For more information, email membership@anchoragemuseum.org
PICK.CLICK.GIVE
Don't miss a great way to support the Anchorage Museum when applying for the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend in 2012. Save these dates:
- Jan. 1: The date you can file online for your PFD and Pick.Click.Give.
- March 30: The last day to file for your PFD.
- Today: The perfect time to become an important force in improving our community by picking, clicking and giving.
When you go online to sign up for your dividend, you will see an option to Pick.Click.Give. Follow the easy instructions to make a gift. Please take the extra step after donating and provide your contact information. We want to acknowledge your generous support, and this is the only way we know it's you making the gift.
For those of you who already support the museum, we appreciate your gifts and hope you will use this option to make an additional donation.
Find more information at www.pickclickgive.org or (888) 785-4438.
COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE SEEKS VOLUNTEERS
The Anchorage Museum seeks people with backgrounds in Alaska history, fine art, anthropology or museology to serve a three-year term on its collections committee.
The volunteer committee meets bi-monthly and is responsible for collections policy, planning, acquisitions and de-accessions.
Interested parties should send a resume and letter of interest to mshah@anchoragemuseum.org, (907) 929-9240 (fax) or Anchorage Museum, attn. Monica Shah, 625 C St, Anchorage, AK, 99501.
Application deadline is Jan. 15, 2012.
For more information, contact Monica Shah at mshah@anchoragemuseum.org.
MUSEUM ACQUIRES WWII POW PHOTOS, LEGACY DOCUMENTS
The Anchorage Museum has expanded its World War II holdings by purchasing the mementos of Etta Jones, an Alaskan who spent three years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp.
A teacher and nurse, Jones worked in remote Alaska villages for 20 years alongside her husband, Foster. In 1941, they took their last assignment: Attu. On June 7, 1942, Japanese forces invaded the Aleutian Island of Attu. Jones was taken prisoner and held captive for 39 months. She suffered but survived, returning to the United States after the war and living in the Lower 48 until her death in 1965.
This new museum collection features Jones' unpublished manuscript chronicling her POW experience. The manuscript was the basis for Last Letters from Attu, published in 2009 by Jones' great-niece, Mary Breu.
The collection includes Jones' photographs, letters and internment-related documents. There are Alaska Native baskets she packed in the one suitcase she was allowed to take to Japan. The purchase also included handmade greeting cards and folk art Jones received from fellow prisoners as the women struggled to keep up morale.
Together, these objects and archival materials help tell the compelling story of Alaskans' experiences during World War II. The collection is available to the public for research and may be displayed in the Alaska History Gallery in the future.
IT'S EASY TO PICK. CLICK. GIVE.
Don't miss a great way to support the Anchorage Museum when applying for the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend in 2012.
The Pick.Click.Give. PFD Charitable Contributions Program provides a safe, secure and quick way to donate to qualified Alaska nonprofit organizations, including the Anchorage Museum. The program is available to all Alaskans who file online for a PFD. Nearly 19,000 Alaskans pledged more than $1.5 million in charitable gifts to Alaska nonprofits during this year's regular PFD fi ling season.
By making an additional gift through this program, you can support the museum's exhibits, programs and educational outreach. To donate, apply online at the Alaska Permanent Fund website and follow the easy instructions. You may give all or part of your dividend.
The museum appreciates whatever level of additional support is appropriate for you. Find more information at www.pickclickgive.org or (888) 785-4438.
IN MEMORIAM - REMEMBERING JOHN HOOVER
John Hoover always liked to say that his first sculpture was the fishing boat Aldebaran, which he built with hand tools in his backyard in 1960. The story is indicative of his ties to the sea, to his craft, and to his expansive view of life and art.
His most distinctive work featured imagery and tales from various Alaska Native traditions, which he carved into cedar using bas-relief techniques, often creating diptychs and triptychs by hinging panels together. The work successfully bridged the gap between traditional and contemporary art. His large sculptural work can be seen throughout Anchorage, including at the Egan Civic and Convention Center, Alaska Native Medical Center and Alaska Native Heritage Center. The Anchorage Museum organized a major retrospective of his work in 2002.
As artist and storyteller, Hoover exemplified dedication, perseverance and mastery of craft. Hoover died Sept. 3, 2011 in Washington state at age 91. He will be missed.
ANCHORAGE MUSEUM NAMES SOLO EXHIBITION RECIPIENTS
The Anchorage Museum has chosen eight Alaska artists to present solo exhibitions in 2012-15. The Patricia B. Wolf Solo Exhibition Series is one of many ways the Anchorage Museum supports Alaska artists and encourages the creation of new art. The museum's solo artist exhibition program is highly competitive: These artists were chosen from a pool of about 70 applicants. Selected artists are:
Annette Bellamy, Halibut Cove: Bellamy works in ceramics, focusing on large-scale installations. Her solo exhibition history includes the Alaska State Museum, Juneau. She received a Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Award in 2006.
Ashley DuRoss, Petersburg: DuRoss is a painter, working with oil, acrylic and charcoal on canvas. She has had solo exhibitions at the Clausen Museum, Petersburg. She is an art teacher at Petersburg High School.
Mariano Gonzales, Anchorage: Gonzales has worked in metal, sculpture, collage and digital media. This will be Gonzales' second Anchorage Museum solo exhibit; his first was in 1989. He received an Anchorage Mayor's Arts Award for Outstanding Individual Artist in 2010. He chairs UAA's art department.
Margo Klass, Fairbanks: Klass' sculptural work, mostly in the form of box constructions, is composed of found objects, both natural and fabricated. In 2008 she received a Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Award.
Keren Lowell, Anchorage: Lowell is a multimedia artist working in diverse fiber forms. Her solo exhibition history includes the International Gallery of Contemporary Art, Anchorage. She is an art instructor at UAA.
Da-ka-Xeen Mehner, Fairbanks: Mehner's work focuses on the constructs of Native American identity. He uses a variety of media including steel, concrete and photography. He is an assistant professor of Native Arts at UAF and the director of UAF's Native Arts Center.
Edward Timothy Remick, Anchorage: Remick works with large-scale photography, using a 4x5 camera primarily. This month he opens a solo exhibition at the Alaska State Museum, Juneau.
Stron Softi, also known as Stephen Jackson, Ketchikan: His father, Nathan Jackson, trained him in traditional carving techniques. He uses a combination of materials, including wood, animal fur, paint and digital media. In 2009, he had a solo exhibition at the Alaska State Museum, Juneau.
This solo exhibition series is made possible by the Alaska State Council on the Arts; the National Endowment of the Arts, a federal agency; the Municipality of Anchorage; and the Anchorage Museum Foundation's Alaska Airlines Silver Anniversary Fund.
NASA GRANT
Thanks to a $980,000 grant from NASA, the Anchorage Museum will provide climate change educational outreach to Alaska's rural schools and communities.
This new program is designed to increase knowledge about climate change, dispel common misconceptions, and stimulate community-wide conversations about science education. Museum educators will travel with a digital globe that illustrates regional climate change data and its impact on rural Alaska.
The museum is working with grant partners The Challenger Learning Center of Alaska, Kenai, and the University of Alaska Museum of the North, Fairbanks.
Partner organizations now are surveying programming and curriculum needs in Alaska school districts and rural communities. The resulting K-12 outreach programs and community science festivals will be delivered during the next two years.
ANCHORAGE MUSEUM RECEIVES HIGHEST NATIONAL RECOGNITION
The American Association of Museums (AAM) announced today the Anchorage Museum has again achieved accreditation, the highest national recognition for a museum.
Accreditation is an entirely self-motivated process, and is no small task, said Ford W. Bell, AAM president. Accreditation is clearly a significant achievement. But put simply, it means the citizens of the communities served by these museums have in their midst a truly outstanding museum.
AAM's museum accreditation program is the field's primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation and public accountability. Of the nation's estimated 17,500 museums, 775 are currently accredited.
AAM accreditation places the Anchorage Museum among the top 5 percent of museums in our nation, said James Pepper Henry, Anchorage Museum Director and CEO. It provides the credentials necessary for our institution to host some of the most exciting exhibits and programs the world has to offer.
Accreditation signifies that a museum fulfills its obligations to the public as set forth in its mission. The Anchorage Museum was initially accredited in 1979. All museums must undergo a reaccreditation review at least every 10 years to maintain accredited status. For the newly expanded Anchorage Museum, accreditation recognizes a commitment to excellence, accountability, high professional standards and continued institutional improvement.
Accreditation is a rigorous but highly rewarding process examining all aspects of a museum's operations. A museum must conduct a year of self-study and then undergo a site visit by a team of peer reviewers. AAM's Accreditation Commission considers the self-study and site visit report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation. The process can take up to three years.
MUSEUM AWARDED LIBRARY GRANT
The Anchorage Museum has been awarded an $18,840 grant to increase digital access to its photograph archive, both internally and online for the public. The Interlibrary Cooperation Grant was funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Alaska State Library.
Previous grants have allowed the Anchorage Museum to scan in 10,000 archival photographs and negatives. This new grant helps the museum translate related paper files into digital captions, so staff can work with these images electronically.
By next June, 2,000 of these images will be available to the public online through the Alaska Digital Archive, a site that allows people to research historical images from several different Alaska institutions. About 6,000 of the museum's images are already available on this site.
The museum's long-term goal is to make all 10,000 of these new records available to the public online.
625 C Street; Anchorage, AK 99501
