ANCHORAGE MUSEUM

It is the big museum of the city and its visit is a must. It is located in Downtown. Its contemporary all-glass exterior is as innovative as its exciting immersive exhibit. This museum is well worth a visit, allow at least 4 hours. Its exhibitions revolve around the Alaskan identity, its history, its culture, its origins, its evolution and its future, with an artistic, historical, ethnographic proposal, very well put in perspective. The question of the Inuit identity is particularly addressed. It consists of a west wing and an east wing.

The centerpiece is located on the second floor of the west wing . It is the permanent collection Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska. The exhibition features over 600 objects from the Smithsonian Institution's legacy collections that have been selected and interpreted with the help of Alaska Native councils in large, well-lit display cases. The well-captioned showcases are classified by ethnic groups, Inupiaq, Yupik of St. Lawrence Island, Sugpiaq, Unangax, Athabascan/Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian... as well as men who colonized it (Russians, Americans). Through these exhibits we discover the magnificent woven clothes, tools, boots, objects of daily life, jewelry, masks, totems, we can spend hours contemplating these didactic windows and rich in explanations to become familiar with the Alaskan peoples. In flagship pieces: a Tlingit war helmet from 1893, found in Southeast Alaska, and an Inupiaq feast bowl from 1935 discovered near Nome, in Northwest Alaska. Various multimedia presentations through touch screens trace the lives of these ethnic groups inhabiting Alaska. Videos of images and reports also allow a better understanding of the way of life of these men according to their habitat, and the Inuit life in general with many representations on paper of scenes of their daily life.

On the first floor you can admire paintings by local and American artists for the most part. Some of them, like Sidney Laurence, were gold diggers at the beginning, but they soon became disillusioned. Not having enough money to go home, they thought of odd jobs. Sidney Laurence became the greatest Alaskan painter and his paintings of Mount McKinley (Mount Denali) are today unanimously appreciated. A whole room is dedicated to him. One will also be surprised to see paintings by French artists such as those of Duché de Vancy who was part of La Pérouse's voyage in 1785. The majority of the works disappeared in the shipwreck of the expedition in 1788. Only a few are on display.

It also shows how the pipeline connecting the north to the south of the state was built.

The upper floors are devoted to often more contemporary exhibits of high quality.

The east wing of the museum is more airy, with an atrium, seating, the gift store, and a children's wing. The Alaska exhibit continues with a more pop representation of Alaska, with movie posters and colorful neon lights. Upstairs other very interesting contemporary temporary exhibits finish the visit. Photo exhibits are also plentiful in the multitude of rooms. Guided tours in English are provided daily.