Exhibits and Events

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• Boreal Forest Stories May 2nd through Oct 11th, 2025

  • Start
    Fri, May 02, 2025
  • End
    Sat, October 11, 2025
  • Location
    Alaska State Museum

  

  IN A TIME OF CHANGE:

  BOREAL FOREST STORIES

  Exhibit Opening
  Friday, May 2, 4:30–7:00 pm

  Lecture
  Friday, May 2, 7:00 pm
  APK Lecture Hall, Alaska State Museum

  The Alaska State Museum is pleased to announce the opening of In a Time of Change: Boreal Forest Stories. Forming an emerald ring around the circumpolar North, the boreal forest is the world’s largest land-based biome. Also known as taiga, it accounts for approximately one third of Earth’s total forest area and covers the majority of Interior Alaska.

  Boreal Forest Stories is a cross-disciplinary, collaborative project examining change in the boreal forest through narrative. For over a year and a half, 44 creators, including artists, writers, environmental educators, and humanities scholars, exchanged knowledge and perspectives on the boreal forest with scientists and explored narrative as it applies across the disciplines. Through their original works, participants relate stories rooted in the boreal forest, including its ecology, its inhabitants, and their interactions. In a Time of Change (ITOC) recognizes that collaborations between the arts, humanities, and sciences can foster community engagement and build capacity for cross-disciplinary collaboration, helping society to address complex environmental problems. ITOC is directed by Mary Beth Leigh. Artists Margo Klass, Ree Nancarrow, and Susan Campbell curated the visual art exhibit and artist Jennifer Moss contributed graphic and web design. ITOC: Boreal Forest Stories was made possible with funding from the National Science Foundation through the Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research Program with additional support from the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Arctic Biology, the Rasmuson Foundation through the Harper Arts Touring Fund – administered by the Alaska State Council on the Arts, and other sponsors.            Boreal Forest Stories will be on exhibit through October 11, 2025.

  
  

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• Free Friday Concerts in August noon to 1pm

  • Start
    Fri, August 01, 2025
  • End
    Fri, August 29, 2025
  • Location
    Alaska State Office Building

  

  Kimball Theatre Organ concerts are held  on the eighth floor of the State Office Building, and continue through April  with the help of organists J Allan MacKinnon and Laurie Clough on Fridays at 12:00pm  Bring your lunch and enjoy the diversity of music these organists select.

  Aug 1st - TJ Duffy

  Aug -8th - Laurie Clough

  Aug  15 - TJ Duffy

  Aug 22 -  Allan MacKinnon

  Aug 29 -  TJ Duffy

  Though housed in the state office building, the organ is the property of the Alaska State Museum. You can help support this amazing piece of Alaska's history. Donate today.

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• Storis the Galloping Ghost of the Alaskan Coast

  • When
    Sat, August 09, 2025
  •  
    1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
  • Location
    Alaska State Museum

  
  

  In honor of the upcoming commissioning of the new U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Storis in Juneau,  the Alaska State Library, Archives, and Museum will host a free screening of the documentary film STORIS: The Galloping Ghost of the Alaskan Coast with filmmaker (and Alaska State Library archivist) Damon Stuebner.

  From the fjords of Greenland to the fabled Northwest Passage to the stormy waters of the Bering Sea, this 100-minute documentary chronicles the 64-year history of the original USCGC Storis and examines the roles the ship played during World War II, the Cold War, and in Alaskan history. 

  Commissioned in 1942 for World War II, the Storis is the only ship of its design and class. It became the first U.S. ship to sail the Northwest Passage, participated in dramatic search and rescues cases, and conducted major fisheries law enforcement operations, earning it the title “the Galloping Ghost of the Alaskan Coast”.

  Storis also provided relief after the 1964 Earthquake, conducted icebreaking for the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, and served as a command ship for the cleanup of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.

  In 1991, Storis became the oldest commissioned cutter in the U.S. Coast Guard, earning it another title, “Queen of the Fleet”. 

  Storis was decommissioned in 2007 in Kodiak.

  Please join us at the Alaska State Library, Archives, and Museum for a unique aspect of Alaska’s military and maritime history with a free showing of STORIS: The Galloping Ghost of the Alaskan Coast.

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