MAY EVENTS AT THE APK & SJM
 Kaxhatjaa X’óow/Herring Protectors. Photo by Caitlin Blaisdell.
Protection: Adaptation and Resistance
Opening Weekend Events
Alaska State Museum
A new exhibition at the Alaska State Museum, Protection: Adaptation and Resistance, presents the work of more than 45 Alaska Native artists who explore the climate crisis, social justice, strengthening communities through ancestral knowledge, and imagining a thriving future.
FRIDAY, MAY 3
Exhibit opening 4:30–7:00 pm
Lecture at 7:00 pm
Exhibit curator Asia Freeman will lead a discussion with artists Amber Webb, K’asheechtlaa Louise Brady, Lily Wooshkindein Da.áat Hope, and Rico Lanaat’ Worl.
SUNDAY, MAY 5
Exhibit walk-through at 11:00 am
with Amber Webb and K’asheechtlaa Louise Brady
Fish Skin Medicine Pouch Workshop at 1:30 pm
On this National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons, activist and artist Amber Webb will lead a workshop for the community affected by this crisis. Please call (907) 465-8187 to sign up.
 My Fish Filled Life and How I Became an Accidental Science Communicator with Ray Troll
Saturday, May 18, 2-4 pm
APK Lecture Hall
Ray Troll will share the twists and turns of his unique career as an artist and an educator.
Ray moved to the Pacific Northwest in the late 1970’s and eventually on to Alaska in the 80’s with a couple of art degrees in his back pocket and a lifelong love of natural history. Settling in the rainswept, coastal town of Ketchikan, he began producing offbeat fish-inspired t-shirts that have gained him a global audience with anglers, cannery workers, commercial fishers, and scientists around the world. His art has toured in major exhibitions at museums across the United States and overseas.
Ray will share the story of how marine science came to be an important focal point for his unconventional body of work.
He has co-authored and illustrated 12 books including his most recent, a collection of his piscine-inspired art called “Spawn Till You Die: the Fin Art of Ray Troll,” published by Clover Press in early 2024. His previous titles are “Cruisin’ the Fossil Coastline” and “Alaska Dinosaurs”, both fun-filled romps through America’s west coast with paleontologist Dr. Kirk Johnson. Ray has also written and illustrated a unique children’s alphabet book of living and prehistoric sharks called “Sharkabet”.
He's also an avid musician on the side and has released four albums with his band the Ratfish Wranglers.
Alaska State Museum
Juneau-based qayaq (kayak) maker Lou Logan will construct an open-sea qayaq at the Alaska State Museum this summer. Logan is making his first skin-on-frame qayaq in the tradition of his Iñupiaq ancestors from Wales, Alaska. His journey to making kayaks began in 2014 while working as a photographer at the museum. The kayaks he saw there inspired him to research Iñupiaq qayat as a way to expand his knowledge about his heritage. Logan’s grandmother was from Kingigin (Wales), Alaska, one of the oldest communities in the Bering Strait region.
A qayaq frame from King Island is on display in the gallery where Logan will be working. Logan is studying this frame while constructing his own qayaq.
There are fewer resources for Iñupiaq qayat compared to some other types. The techniques learned over generations were passed down in oral tradition. This knowledge was almost entirely lost due to cultural loss and assimilation. The qayaq itself is now the teacher.
— Logan, Juneau Empire
Logan does not have a set schedule, but you can see the progression of his qayaq throughout the summer. In the fall, he will give a talk about his process and research on the Southern Iñupiaq qayaq.
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 XX: Twenty Years of Alaskan Art
Ongoing at the Alaska State Museum
XX: Twenty Years of Alaskan Art is a new exhibition at the Alaska State Museum featuring the work of contemporary Alaskan artists.
The museum acquired these pieces over the last twenty years though the generosity of the Rasmuson Foundation’s Alaska Art Fund.
Initiated in 2003, the Alaska Art Fund provides grants for Alaska museums to purchase current work by practicing Alaskan artists.
Thanks to the Fund, the Alaska State Museum has brought over 200 works of art valued at nearly half a million dollars into its permanent collection—the most significant donation over time, in terms of dollar value, in the museum’s 124-year history.
Fridays at noon. Free registration required.
Reading Aunt Phil’s Trunk, vol. 1, by Laurel Downing Bill and Phyllis Downing Carlson
Hundreds of rare historical photographs and dozens of entertaining nonfiction short stories bring to life Alaska's history up to 1900. The authors pay homage to the Alaska Natives, trappers, mushers, merchants and prospectors who forged a life in the Last Frontier. Whether you've lived in Alaska all your life, or always wanted to visit, this collection of stories from Alaska's colorful past will enthrall you.
Laurel Downing Bill wrote this together with her aunt, Alaskan historian Phyllis Downing Carlson. This first volume in the series shows the author's connection to her aunt and her passion for Alaska’s history. Join us!
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