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Anchorage Museum

@anchoragemuseum

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To be a museum of people, place, planet, and potential, in and of the North, with creativity and imagination for what is possible.

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Before becoming one of the defining figures of abstract expressionism, Mark Rothko explored mythology, the human figure and the uncertainties of a rapidly changing world.

National Gallery of Art (@ngadc) Associate Curator Adam Greenhalgh will visit Anchorage to present “On the Edge: A Lecture on Mark Rothko,” exploring the artist's evolution and how the tensions of the Cold War shaped his work. Greenhalgh curated the National Gallery of Art exhibition Mark Rothko: Paintings on Paper and has spent years researching and writing about Rothko's life and work.

His visit is part of the National Gallery of Art's Across the Nation initiative, which has brought Rothko's Untitled (1958) to the Anchorage Museum, where it is now on view in "Cold War to the Cosmos." The Anchorage Museum is one of only 10 museums nationwide selected to participate in the program.

Join us 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12, in the Auditorium for this special presentation. Free.

Presented with support from the National Gallery of Art's Across the Nation program, made possible through the generous support of the Mitchell P. Rales Family Foundation.

Image Credit: Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1958, oil and acrylic on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Gift of the Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.150, © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. by @anchoragemuseum

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3 days ago

One this episode of the Chatter Marks podcast, Tom Kortbeek and Roos Meerman are the founders of @fillipstudios, a Netherlands-based interdisciplinary design studio whose work sits at the intersection of art, science, technology and human experience. Together, Tom and Roos have spent more than a decade exploring everything from human connection to healthcare to public ethics, environmental responsibility, and the future role of design in society ... All to answer the question: "What happens when artists, designers, engineers and scientists are invited into the same conversation?"

Now streaming wherever you listen. A pair of people, standing together and laughing. One is in all black clothing and one has a bright colorful shirt. by @anchoragemuseum

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7 days ago

Long before social media, people were stretching the truth about the one that got away. 🎣

Today, it's the carefully posed trophy fish photo. In Alaska, it's also the story that comes with it. Whether the fish gets a little bigger with every retelling or the details become just a bit more dramatic, exaggeration has long been part of Alaska fishing lore.

"Dick Lands the Big One, 3" plays with that tradition. Part of a series featuring Dick the mannequin and his brothers around Alaska and the Lower 48, the photograph humorously blurs the line between tourism, storytelling and reality, inviting us to consider how the stories we tell become a part of Alaska identity.

See this piece and more in "Tricksters and Sourdoughs: Humor and Identity in Alaska," on view through Oct. 4.

📷: Mark Daughhetee, Dick Lands the Big One 3, c.1987, Anchorage Museum, 2002.14.1, photo by Chris Arend. Mark Daughhetee, Dick Lands the Big One 3, c.1987, Anchorage Museum, 2002.14.1, photo by Chris Arend. taken in Anchorage, Alaska by @anchoragemuseum

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11 days ago

Growing up in Alaska is its own kind of adventure. The outdoors isn’t just a backdrop, it’s part of the story. Whether it’s trick-or-treating in full snow gear, reeling in a fish that feels bigger than you or picnicking on top of a mountain like it’s no big deal, the weather and landscape aren’t just scenery. They’re the co-stars.

These snapshots, preserved in family albums and archival collections, offer a glimpse of the enduring magic of growing up alongside wild places. ✨

"AK Grown: Childhood in Alaska" is now on view in the atrium.

📸:
1. Picking berries, c. 1940s. Digital reproduction from 35mm slide. Christine Heller Collection, Anchorage Museum, B1991.011.0097
2. Catching air on the sled, c. 1960–1980. Digital reproduction from 35mm slide. Joe Redington Sr. Family Collection, Anchorage Museum, B2006.023.4518 taken in Alaska by @anchoragemuseum

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17 days ago

Every visit offers a fresh perspective. 🔎

Spend time with works by Georgia O'Keeffe and Nancy Graves, artists whose bold approaches to landscape and abstraction continue to shape the visual language that surrounds us.

Now on view in the Art of the North galleries, O'Keeffe's "Winter Road I" and Graves' "Consequence" are on loan through the National Gallery of Art's (@ngadc) Across the Nation program. This extraordinary partnership brings iconic works of art to communities across the country, creating opportunities for audiences to experience them close to home.

At the Anchorage Museum, these paintings are presented alongside works from the museum's collection, connecting Alaska to broader movements in American art while opening new conversations about landscape, artistic innovation and the exchange of ideas.

📷: Georgia O'Keeffe, Winter Road I, 1963, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Gift of the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation 1995.4.1 and Nancy Graves, Consequence, 1982, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Corcoran Collection (Gift of the Friends of the Corcoran), 2015.19.181, © Nancy Graves Foundation/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. taken in Anchorage, Alaska by @anchoragemuseum

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22 days ago

Arielo “Bisco” Taylor started sketching at 14 and turned a passion for graffiti into a career as a tattoo artist and muralist.

Today, he’s helping shape Anchorage’s visual identity through tattoos and public art, bringing creativity to life across the city. Bisco sees Anchorage as a place where creativity doesn’t stay on the sidelines — it shows up everywhere. Hear his story from the link in our bio. taken in Anchorage, Alaska by @anchoragemuseum

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24 days ago

In this episode of Chatter Marks, Cody talks to Anchorage Historian David Reamer. He’s spent years digging through archives, newspapers, and forgotten corners, recovering stories that might otherwise disappear. From his early days of sharing historical stories on social media to his long-running Histories of Alaska column in the Anchorage Daily News, he’s documented everything from vanished neighborhoods and local legends to racial covenants, labor struggles, oddball characters, and the everyday moments that shaped Alaska’s largest city. His work reminds us that history doesn’t just live in textbooks or monuments. It survives in fragments — rumors, newspaper clippings, photographs, old advertisements, property records, fading memories, and oral histories. Through those fragments, he explores what Anchorage’s past reveals about its present and what it means to preserve the memory of a city that has spent much of its life reinventing itself.

Anchorage is difficult to define because it never stops changing. It was founded in 1915 as a railroad tent city—a place of laborers, opportunists, and people eager to get in on the ground floor. More than a century later, that spirit of reinvention remains. The challenge in seeing the full picture, David says, is that we rarely see the present clearly while we’re living through it. Only with distance do the patterns emerge. So, he’s skeptical of the neat narratives that often follow official histories because, for him, history is messy. And he embraces that messiness, challenging conventional wisdom and uncovering histories that are both profound and absurd. Like Anchorage’s brief obsession with raising chinchillas.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts. Just search “Chatter Marks” by @anchoragemuseum

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a month ago

What a night! ♻️ Thank you to everyone who made last week’s reFashioned Haute Trash Runway Show an unforgettable celebration of creativity and sustainability. Through the ingenuity of our incredible partners, talented designers and models, discarded materials were transformed into extraordinary wearable works of art that challenged assumptions about waste and highlighted the possibilities of reuse. Thank you for helping bring this vision to life and for reminding us that innovation often begins by seeing potential where others see waste. taken in Anchorage, Alaska by @anchoragemuseum

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a month ago

"It started with this question about Spenard. Why did Spenard have such an attitude? And, I had limited experience with the museum, going to the archive library was new to me. I started just rifling through what they gave me. And I fell upon Ward Wells. And as I looked through his stuff and got to know the staff, they gave me some white gloves and let me loose in the back and I just started going through all the negatives. One thing led to another, you know, if I found something, I would be jonesing to find something else. And I kept at it for six months until I went through the entire collection.

I was looking for some honesty. And I think the Ward Wells Collection, even though it was a lot of commercial photography, it was the first day of these businesses. You know, I think that's very interesting because, you know, who knows what's going to happen. And it's sort of like the birth of community." —Duke Russell (@papaduke123)

In Wells’ photographs, everyday moments become part of Anchorage’s story. Paired with Russell’s paintings, these images bring forward the weird, wonderful and deeply human character of a city shaped by the people who call it home.

"Everyday Anchorage: Duke Russell & Ward Wells" is on view through August 2027 in the fourth floor Brian E. Davies Chugach Gallery. Russell’s quote is pulled from the exhibition audio guide, available on the Anchorage Museum website.

📸:
1. Ward Wells, Ward W. Wells Collection, Anchorage Museum, B1983.091.C1028.2
2. Ward Wells, Ward W. Wells Collection, Anchorage Museum, B1983.091.S1849.1
3. Ward Wells, Ward W. Wells Collection, Anchorage Museum, B1983.091.C2637.1 taken in Anchorage, Alaska by @anchoragemuseum

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a month ago

I’m very excited to share these photos of the @anchoragemuseum exhibit “Song of the Seasons” exploring the worlds of Berry Song and Moon Song! The show opened last month and will run through April 2027, so get thee to the Anchorage Museum if you happen to be around and let me know what you think! :)
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As I worked with the amazing curation and design team, one of our main hopes was to showcase the cyclic seasonality of Alaska, so the exhibit moves from the vibrant abundance of summer to the quieter, crystalline darkness of winter (and vice versa!). I think it creates a beautiful duality as you move through the space. Our landscapes are so dynamic, full of cyclic shifts both tiny and transcendent — how lucky are we to be a part of it!
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We also really wanted to focus on process and inspiration. That’s always a part of the creative process that fascinates me the most, so I was particularly happy to send them all the messy behind-the-scenes material (which they sorted through and organized with expert care). You’ll see art process videos, sketches, character and color studies, original paintings, photos from my life, and fun bits like cyanotype prints and plant stencils that I scanned and digitally blended into the final book art. I hope seeing the creative process in its chaotic, unglamorous glory helps inspire folks young and old, and speaks to our young storytellers out there!
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A ginormous thank you to @anchoragemuseum for the support and care they put into the exhibit. They really made the books come alive and were wonderful to work with. I still can’t get over seeing the art on the walls at such a large scale! (I always scan my paintings at a crazy high resolution and have to deal with computer crashes, so it’s nice to know that it’s all for a good cause 😆)
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Definitely looking forward to a trip up north to wander around the exhibit — hopefully this fall so please stay tuned!
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All photos courtesy of Anchorage Museum taken in Anchorage Museum by @anchoragemuseum

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a month ago

Anchorage creativity hits the runway June 11 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 👡 ♻️

For one night, local designers, artists, makers, musicians and sustainability advocates come together for Museum After Dark: reFASHIONED, a celebration of community, creativity and what’s possible when imagination meets intention. Admire wearable art creations transformed from discarded materials created by local talent. Enjoy live music, drinks, light bites and a runway show that reflects the ingenuity and creative spirit of Alaska.

This is a 21+ event. Tickets are available on the Anchorage Museum website.

Made something for reFASHIONED? Snap a photo and tag us so we can share your look!

Brought to you with the help of our community partners:
@anchorage_mutual_aid @alaskaebike @arcticentries @citizensclimate @farnorthfungi @greenconnection907 @anchorage_people_mover @uafextension @yarducopia @sofra.alaska @turkishdelightak @bluemarketak @arcticharvestdeliveries @thebicycleshopak @labodega.ak @alaskabotanicalgarden @acat_akaction @theclotheslineconsignment @dosmanosgallery @reap_ak @citcalaska @downtownbicycle @wildland_chocolate

📷:
1. @artbychafloglow
2-6. Anchorage Museum taken in Anchorage, Alaska by @anchoragemuseum

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2 months ago

The recent bright, sunny skies have a way of pulling our eyes toward the mountains, the water and the wide-open feeling of summer in Alaska. ☀️

Rockwell Kent's "Resurrection Bay, Alaska" was painted in 1965 from sketches he made during a year on Fox Island near Seward from 1918 to 1919. In the scene, two figures pull a boat ashore as whales surface in the distance beneath mountain peaks. As Anchorage enjoys a stretch of bright summer weather, works like this offer a reminder of the moments of observation and connection that Alaska's landscapes continue to inspire.

On view in the Art of the North Galleries.

🖼️: Rockwell Kent, "Resurrection Bay, Alaska," 1965. Oil on canvas. Gift of ATZ Travel, ERA Helicopters, Dr. and Mrs. Lloyd Hines, Mr. Bruce Kendall, and Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., 1973.3.1. taken in Anchorage, Alaska by @anchoragemuseum

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2 months ago