Lighting the Way: A Solar Future for the Anchorage Museum

Jan. 23, 2026

What if sunlight powered more than our galleries?

Here in Anchorage, we’re used to thinking about light and how it shapes our days, our stories, and our seasons. Now, we’re planning to harness the power of Alaska’s midnight sun to support something new: a solar installation that helps power the museum with clean, renewable, and reliable energy.

The Anchorage Museum seeks to join a growing number of cultural institutions worldwide that are aligning their values with how they operate. The Exploratorium in San Francisco produces more energy than it uses with its rooftop solar array. The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao has integrated solar technology into its iconic building. And at Rio de Janeiro’s Museum of Tomorrow, solar panels are part of a design built entirely around sustainability and climate consciousness.

These museums and many others are modeling a future where institutions not only tell stories of change but also participate in it.

A practical step toward long-term care
Here in Anchorage, we’re starting with a first step. With support from the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative, we’ve already raised $75,000 toward a 120-panel rooftop array that will reduce our environmental impact and save nearly $600,000 in energy costs over the next 25 years. These savings allow us to do more of what our visitors love: share exhibitions, support local artists, and welcome the community into spaces for learning and reflection.

Through this spring, we’re inviting our community to help bring this project to life through a special fundraising campaign. Gifts of $250 or more will help light the way, and donors at this level will have their name permanently added to the solar array as a lasting symbol of a commitment to this place and to the future we’re building together.

This is more than an energy upgrade. It’s a step toward long-term stewardship, grounded in the environment that inspires us and the values we hold. Museums aren’t just caretakers of the past. They can help model what’s possible and light the way forward.

For more information on our solar panel campaign or to make a gift, visit our website.