Museum to open centerpiece art gallery May 1

Submitted by Kerynn Fisher
Phone: (907) 378-2559
04/26/06

FAIRBANKS, AK--The University of Alaska Museum of the North will celebrate the long-awaited opening of its Rose Berry Alaska Art Gallery on Monday, May 1. The 8 a.m. opening ceremony will be free and open to the public. Museum admiision will be free until 5 p.m.

The gallery is the centerpiece of the museum’s expansion and renovation project and showcases 2,000 years of Alaska art, including ancient ivory carvings and other artifacts from the museum’s archaeology collection; Alaska Native clothing, tools and ceremonial objects from the ethnology collection; and paintings, photographs, sculptures and other works from the fine arts collection.

The gallery has been called "a model for 21st century art and anthropological museums" by National Endowment for the Humanities peer reviewers for its presentation of Native and non-Native art.

Three objects in the "Highlights" section of the gallery illustrate the diversity of the museum’s collections: Mt. McKinley, an oil landscape by Sydney Laurence; the Okvik Madonna, a 2,000 year old ivory carving; and a parka made of wolverine, wolf and ground squirrel made in the 1960s by Helen Seveck, an Inupiat woman.

"There’s no question that these works all exhibit great vision, artistry and skill," says museum director Aldona Jonaitis, "yet few museums would present them side-by-side. Here, we celebrate them."

The museum worked with Seattle’s Lehrman Cameron Studio to design the exhibit gallery. Curved and sloping walls mirror the dynamic architecture of the building’s exterior. Various shades of blue on the interior walls and glass exhibit cases that resemble floating chunks of ice bring the glacier theme into the gallery. High ceilings, soaring from 16 feet near the entrance to 40 feet at the far end of the gallery, help convey the vastness of Alaska.

The art gallery is named in honor of Rose Berry, the matriarch of the Usibelli family and co-founder of the Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy. Berry’s son, Joseph E. Usibelli, served as the chair of the museum’s capital campaign. Both the family and the coal mine were lead donors to the museum expansion project and are strong supporters of the university and the arts in Alaska.

The opening of the art gallery is one of the final events in a year-long celebration of the expanded museum that began with the September 2005 ribbon cutting ceremony for the new wing. Since then, the museum has opened Alaska Classics, a new gallery space dedicated to historic Alaska paintings from the late 1800s to mid-1900s; a new special exhibits gallery; and The Place Where You Go to Listen, an ever-changing sound and light environment created by Fairbanks composer John Luther Adams. The museum’s original Gallery of Alaska remains a favorite for Alaska visitors for its overview of the state’s cultures, wildlife, history and geography. Renovations to the museum’s original building are expected to be complete this summer.

The museum’s spring hours, which continue through May 14, are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekdays and noon-5 p.m. on weekends. Summer hours, beginning May 15, will be 9 a.m.-7 p.m. daily. New admission rates will take effect on May 2: $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $5 for youth 7-17 and free for children 6 and under. Museum members also receive free admission. The museum’s caf? is now open, offering sandwiches, salads, sushi, baked goods and espresso drinks. Visitors can contact the museum admission desk at (907) 474-7505 for more information.

MEDIA CONTACT: Kerynn Fisher, Communications Coordinator, University of Alaska Museum of the North, at (907) 378-2559.