About Our Exhibitions and Programs
We believe museums are places of ideas, exchange, and sharing multiple perspectives.
The works the Anchorage Museum exhibits or presents may awe, illuminate, challenge, unsettle, confound, and provoke. To present a work of art or idea for discussion is not to endorse the work or the vision, ideas, and opinions of the artist or presenter, but rather to uphold the right of all to experience diverse visions and views. The Anchorage Museum welcomes public discussion and debate as integral to the exchange of ideas and the sharing of perspectives.
A particular work is often perceived in different ways by different people. These moments can be a catalyst for discussing topical subjects; images can be openings for thought or discussion about personal values, art or whatever connotations it raises for an individual.
By bringing people together in ways that build bridges within and across communities, museums have the ability to strive towards supporting our living culture in making room for deep personal reflections, public dialogue and human action. Artworks, history, science, storytelling, shared spaces, and more can help provide the spark for these processes.
Our goal is to facilitate exploration and meaning-making, from many different perspectives.
A note on terminology and spelling:
The Anchorage Museum uses currently accepted terms for Alaska’s Indigenous culture groups. Recognizing that culture is not static and respecting that there are regional and generational variations in spelling and preferred terms, the Museum strives to be inclusive of self-identification. As such, terminology and spelling within Anchorage Museum text may vary due to preferred independent standards.
Museum Exhibition Materials Pledge
We are committed to make more informed choices around equity, health, and sustainability in designing and building museum exhibits and to using the latest sustainable design practices and products wherever possible. We’ve joined museums around the country in taking the Museum Exhibition Materials Pledge and pledge to:
...support human health by preferring products that support and foster life throughout their life-cycles and seek to eliminate the use of hazardous substances;
...support social health & equity by preferring products from manufacturers that secure human rights in their own operations and in their supply chains, positively impacting their workers and the communities where they operate;
...support ecosystem health by preferring products that support and regenerate the natural air, water, and biological cycles of life through thoughtful supply chain management and restorative company practices; and
...support climate health by preferring products that reduce carbon emissions and ultimately sequester more carbon than emitted.
Focus on Climate and Sustainability through Responsible Stewardship
The Anchorage Museum is committed to pursuing sustainable practices that positively impact people and place. We work throughout our organization and with many individuals and organizations to address the ways climate change is impacting lifeways.
We accept financial support from a diverse group of funders who respect our organizational values. Our individual and corporate donors believe in our mission, but they do not shape it. As we adapt to our changing world, we commit to continuing conversation about these complex issues and the ways we all, as nonprofits and community members, can align around shared values and what it takes to be financially viable while living our values for the benefit of the communities we serve.