This site is operated by the Gastineau Channel Historical Society (GCHS) to provide information about the operations of the GCHS. Founded in 1956 and headquartered in Juneau, Alaska, the GCHS is a non-profit organization that promotes the history of the Gastineau Channel area, operates the Last Chance Mining Museum, and cares for the Sentinel Island Lighthouse.
May 7, 2009
Press Release: Juneau Museum Day on May 16, 2009
Juneau Museum Day; AreaMuseums and Historic Sites Celebrate Art, Culture and History
At the beginning of each summer season, Juneau’s museums and historic sites invite the community to enjoy a full afternoon of new exhibition openings and activities for the whole family in celebration of Juneau Museum Day. This yearMuseum Day will be held on Saturday, May 16 from noon to 5 p.m.
The AlaskaStateMuseum, House of Wickersham, Juneau-DouglasCityMuseum, LastChanceMiningMuseum, and the St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church will be open with free admission and a host of family activities. Additional Museum Day festivities will also be held at the Canvas Art Studio and the Friends of the Alaska State Museum Store on Seward Street. Free shuttle service between the sites will be offered all afternoon, and there is plenty of parking available at the StateMuseum if participants chose to park there and ride the shuttle.
At the AlaskaStateMuseum two exhibitions and a new permanent gallery installation will be featured. “The Way We Genuinely Live: Masterworks of Yup’ik Science and Survival looks at the technology and scientific principles underlying Yup’ik culture and allows visitors hands-on exploration of traditional tools used in the harsh sub-arctic environment of Southwest Alaska. The second exhibition which opened earlier this month, titled Self Constructions, is a mixed media, sculpture and photography solo exhibitionby Fairbanks artist DaKaXeen Mehner.
Visitors will also have the opportunity to view a new installation to the permanent galleries called Science on a Sphere. SOS is a six-foot diameter globe developed by NOAA that shows animated planetary imagery and data. The Friends of the AlaskaStateMuseum will host a reception on the lawn mid-afternoon and kids will have the opportunity to make snow goggles and Yup’ik visors.
At the Juneau-DouglasCityMuseum, basketball is the theme of the summer exhibition and visitors will have opportunities to shoot some hoops, view the exhibition of Hoop Time: Gastineau Channel Basketball Through the Years, and take a historic downtown walking tour at 1:30 p.m. free of charge.
The House of Wickersham will be re-opening this summer after a multi-year renovation. The house is still a work in progress but will feature interpretive information on Judge James Wickersham, items from the Wickersham collection and architecture from the early 20th century.
At the St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, volunteers will be on hand to share information on the oldest original Russian Orthodox Church in Southeast Alaska and offer an opportunity to view the beautiful iconography and learn about the history of this Juneau treasure.
Museum Day guests are invited to pan for gold and wander through the old mine ruins at the LastChanceMiningMuseum.The day at Last Chance will begin with a flag-raising and the singing of the Alaska Flag Song at noon.Visitors are advised to wear rubber boots if you plan to pan for gold.
On Seward Street, the Canvas Art Studio, will offer a collage-making project based on Juneau historic buildings, and the Friends of the Alaska State Museum Store will host artist demonstrators in their gallery.
We look forward to seeing the community at these Juneau Museum Day festivities.
