Museum closed until May 30

Posted by Alaskology

Posted: March 31, 2009 - 6:23 pm

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The Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center is closed until May 30. When the museum reopens, it will feature a greatly expanded space.If you want to visit the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, you're out of luck for the next couple months.

The museum closed its doors to visitors last weekend and won't reopen them until May 30. But when those doors swing open, what a day it will be. The first phase of the museum's grand expansion will open to the public, featuring exhibits, a new café and new shop. More work will continue through 2010.

Below is a Q and A with Sarah Henning, the museum's public relations coordinator, about the museum and its expansion.

Q: The museum closed on March 30. Why?

S.H.: We’re using this time to accelerate the completion of the expansion and move in to the new addition. This process will be too disruptive to our visitors, so we will close for several weeks as we move the current museum entrance from Seventh Avenue and reorient it to face C St. Our library and archives, new café and new museum shop also will be moved to their new locations off the lobby in the new addition, and we will begin renovations to the existing museum’s east galleries to prepare them for installation of the Imaginarium Discovery Center.

Q: There is probably a lot of excitement at the museum right now. Can you describe the anticipation?

S.H.: It's been an exciting process! On May 30 we’ll throw open the doors and let the public discover what we already know -- that the museum addition is a very special building. The sophisticated simplicity of the architecture is unique to Anchorage. Within the building, there are so many inviting areas for the community to immerse themselves in culture, socialize, dine and shop. Now that we have a world-class venue, it’s our goal to bring in world-class exhibitions and programming to match.

Visitors will get to enjoy the Anchorage Museum's expanded space starting May 30. A four-story glass addition has been added to the existing museum.

Q: It seems like there will be a big party when when the museum reopens on May 30. Is that true?

S.H.: You'll definitely want to mark your calendars for the debut! On May 30 from noon to midnight, the community can enjoy the new museum for free, thanks to a donation from Wells Fargo. That free pass extends to the grand opening of "Gold," an exhibit of more than 300 dazzling gold objects from the American Museum of Natural History. Festivities include entertainers from the Lower 48, such as Grammy-nominated storyteller Diane Ferlatte from California and classical guitarist Gabriel Ayala, a member of the Yaqui people of southern Arizona. Our roster of Alaska performers includes the ever-popular groups Pamyua and Medicine Dream.

Q: The museum is getting a new address too. Why?

S.H.: The new main entrance will face C Street with a diagonal promenade from the corner of Sixth Avenue and C Street, making it even easier to welcome downtown visitors.. Effective April 1, the museum’s new mailing address is 625 C Street.

Q: What will this summer be like at the musuem?

S.H.: It will be an amazing summer, packed with programs and activities. “Gold” is just so overwhelmingly rich – literally and figuratively - that many folks will want to visit more than once. Along with “Gold” there will be live theater about the gold rush, a Treasure Seekers gold rush camp for kids, related art classes and artist workshops and a free weekly lecture series. Even folks who don’t usually attend lectures should consider some of these. For instance, a man who actually worked on the Titanic expedition will be here to tell stories about history’s most famous shipwrecks and lost treasures.

In this economy, we know a lot of families will be tightening their belts and not doing as much traveling. We’re thrilled we can offer people an enriching, world-class experience in their backyards for less than it costs to go to a movie. And kids get in free!

Q: There are still more changes coming in 2010. What are those?

S.H.: In 2010, we’ll open the Imaginarium Discovery Center, which will be about five times as large as the existing Imaginarium and includes lots of high-tech, hands-on exhibits and a planetarium. Many exhibits will be geared specifically toward Alaska, such as an earthquake shake table and a computer that teaches snow-related vocabulary in Alaska Native languages.

Also next spring we’ll open the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center. In this unprecedented loan arrangement with the Smithsonian Institution, we’ll be exhibiting about 600 Smithsonian artifacts originally collected in Alaska. These items were chosen in part by a group of Alaska Native scholars, elders and artists. Some of the rarities you’ll be able to see in the exhibition include a Tlingit war helmet and an 1866 Gwich-in Athabascan tunic, which is one of the Smithsonian’s oldest objects.

The new museum will be a welcoming, urban gathering place full of comfortable gathering places where visitors can read, savor a glass of wine, shop with friends or contemplate spectacular mountain views.

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I'm disappointed that I won't be able to visit the museum for the next two months, but I'm looking forward to the grand opening. It should be something special.

-- Steve

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