Overview

A world-class museum located in the heart of Alaska's largest city, the Anchorage Museum at Rasmussen Center began as a public-private partnership to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the purchase of Alaska from Russia.

Contact Information

925 C Street
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
United States

view phone 907-929-9201 view fax 907-929-9290

view website https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/index.aspx

Description

A world-class museum located in the heart of Alaska's largest city, the Anchorage Museum at Rasmussen Center began as a public-private partnership to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the purchase of Alaska from Russia. The Museum opened its doors in 1968 with an exhibition of 60 borrowed Alaska paintings, and a collection of 2,500 historic and ethnographic objects loaned from the Cook Inlet Historical Society. A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts made possible the first visiting national exhibition, "The Far North," from the National Gallery of Art in 1973. That same year, the Museum became the first museum in Alaska accredited by the American Association of Museums, and voters approved a bond issue to pay for a 15,000 square-foot building addition. In the next decade, with the flood of revenues from oil development, the state funded community-wide building projects. "Project 80's" led to a major 140,000 square-foot expansion of the Museum in 1986. Funds were raised to complete the Alaska Gallery, a showcase of the Museum's permanent historic and ethnographic collection. This Gallery remains a popular Alaska resident and tourist destination, helping school children and adults alike explore Alaska's unique history and rich cultures. As the facility grew, so did the Museum's collections. The permanent collection now numbers 25,000 objects plus an education collection of roughly 2,000 artifacts; the Atwood Resource Center houses more than 500,000 historical photographs, 12,000 publications and 800 maps.