Homer, Alaska (February 7, 2025)

The Pratt Museum, which is governed by The Homer Society of Natural History, Inc., is the recipient of a $11,729.30 Grant-In-Aid from the Alaska State Museum for their “Improving Accessibility: Pratt Museum Collections Go Online” project

The Pratt Museum is embarking on an exciting new project, “Improving Accessibility: Pratt Museum Collections Go Online”, thanks to the generous support of a Grant-In-Aid from the Alaska State Museum. This project aims to make the Museum’s holdings more accessible and inclusive by bringing collections to a wider audience through efficient means.

“We’re so grateful to the Alaska State Museum for their generous funding through the Grant-In-Aid program. Moving our collections online will allow for greater accessibility for our community, for researchers, for students, and for those who are simply curious to see what we have,” said Pratt Museum Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, Liv Wisnewski. “These collections are held in the public trust, and it’s so exciting to be able to increase access for those we serve.”

The project involves upgrading the Museum’s desktop collections management software to an online edition, and will provide professional development opportunities for a Museum Studies Graduate Student in an internship capacity. Memphis Despain, who attends the California State University, Long Beach and is in the final semester of their Art History M.A. program was chosen for the internship and arrived in Homer in early February.

“My professor was the one who sent me the opportunity, noting that I met the qualifications. I wanted to be here because the Pratt is a museum that is making an effort to serve its community. A museum as a cultural institution makes a promise to not only collect and preserve its collection, but to educate and offer it back to the public it serves,” said Despain. “The Pratt Museum is making an effort to be more accessible and I admire that; this is an exciting project and I’m glad I can be a part of it!”

About the Alaska State Museum Established in 1900 when an Act of Congress created the Historical Library and Museum for the District of Alaska, the Alaska State Museum seeks to identify, collect, care for, and exhibit Alaska’s material culture and natural history and provide public access to services and collections of the Museum. More information is available at https://museums.alaska.gov/asm/asmhome.html

About the Pratt Museum The mission of the Pratt Museum is to explore and preserve the culture, science, and art of the Kachemak Bay Region. The Museum is open daily from 10am-6pm from Memorial Day to Labor Day and Tuesday-Saturday from 11am-4pm the rest of the year. Visit the Pratt Museum at 3779 Bartlett Street in Homer. Tel (907) 235-8635. More information is available at http://www.prattmuseum.org/.

Contact Whitney Harness, Visitor Services, Store and Communications Manager, tel (907) 435-3328, email wharness@prattmuseum.org

Pratt Museum Receives Charitable Grant from The Homer Foundation

Homer, Alaska (December 5, 2024) – Pratt Museum

The Pratt Museum, which is governed by The Homer Society of Natural History, Inc., is the Recipient of a $5,000 Homer Foundation Opportunity Fund and KLEPS Fund Grant

The Pratt Museum is incredibly grateful to be the recipient of a $5,000 Homer Foundation charitable grant from the Opportunity Fund and KLEPS Fund. This contribution will support Kachemak Bay: An Exploration of People & Place, a winter public program series. This programming is targeted to a diverse audience, ranging from children to lifelong learners, and is expertly developed to appeal to community members and visitors alike. The goal of these programs is to inspire a deeper interest in engaging with the natural environment in ways that reflect the artist, historian, and citizen scientist within each of us.

This series, Kachemak Bay: An Exploration of People & Place, is named after a permanent gallery in the Pratt Museum that is question-based, and uses science, art, and culture to explore the story of who we are and how that story is shaped by the place we live. We are inviting our community members and visitors to delve even deeper into this theme by offering workshops and lectures led by highly-qualified experts in fields that explain the place we call home, how we are informed by our place, and ultimately how we shape our place.

This grant will allow the Pratt Museum to provide honorariums to the experts who will draw upon their knowledge and experience to prepare for and present place-based lectures to Pratt Museum patrons. It would also allow us to upgrade our outdated technology assets, such as a laptop computer and smart lectern to facilitate the presentation of digital educational materials.

About The Homer Foundation Established in 1991, The Homer Foundation was the first community foundation of its kind in Alaska. The mission of The Homer Foundation is to enhance the quality of life for the citizens of the greater Homer area by promoting philanthropic and charitable activities. Learn more by visiting their website https://www.homerfoundation.org

About the Pratt Museum The mission of the Pratt Museum is to strengthen relationships between people and place through stories relevant to Kachemak Bay. It fulfills its mission by facilitating engagement between community members and strengthening understandings of our shared place. Through these activities, the unique relationship between the people and places of Kachemak Bay will be sustained far into the future. The Museum is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11am to 4pm. Beginning May 5, 2024, the Museum will be open daily from 10am – 6pm. Visit the Pratt Museum at 379 Bartlett Street in Homer. Tel (907) 235-8635. More information is available at https://www.prattmuseum.org/.

Contact Whitney Harness, Visitor Services, Store and Communications Manager tel (907) 435-3328, email wharness@prattmuseum.org

Pratt Museum Receives Generous Grant from The Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation

Homer, Alaska (November 7, 2024)

The Pratt Museum, which is governed by The Homer Society of Natural History, Inc., is the recipient of a $10,000 Award for General Operations from The Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation

The Pratt Museum is extremely grateful to be the recipient of a $10,000 General Operations Grant from The Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation. As a non-profit museum with limited funding, we struggle to cover our operating expenses, which make up a large part of our overall budget. While most of these costs go towards paying our staff to fulfill our mission, approximately 13% of our operating expenses are dedicated to utilities, repairs, maintenance, and facility costs (including janitorial services, grounds upkeep, and supplies). This contribution will bolster our ability to ensure customer satisfaction for continued support of our program of work.

About The Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation Founded in 1987, The Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation is a family foundation that supports nonprofit organizations in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. The Foundation is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of nature, including wildlife and their required habitats. It also supports the institutions that present nature and our rich cultural heritage to the public. More information is available at https://hughandjanefergusonfoundation.org/.

About the Pratt Museum The mission of the Pratt Museum is to strengthen relationships between people and place through stories relevant to Kachemak Bay. It fulfills its mission by facilitating engagement between community members and strengthening understandings of our shared place. Through these activities, the unique relationship between the people and places of Kachemak Bay will be sustained far into the future. The Museum is open daily from 10am-6pm from Memorial Day to Labor Day and Tuesday-Saturday from 11am-4pm the rest of the year. Visit the Pratt Museum at 3779 Bartlett Street in Homer. Tel (907) 235-8635. More information is available at http://www.prattmuseum.org/.

Contact Whitney Harness, Visitor Services, Store and Communications Manager, tel (907) 435-3328, email wharness@prattmuseum.org

Pratt Museum Receives Collections Management Fund Award for Updates to Gull Island Exhibit

Homer, Alaska (November 5, 2024) – Pratt Museum

The Pratt Museum, which is governed by The Homer Society of Natural History, Inc., is the Recipient of a $15,827 Collections Management Fund Award from Museums Alaska, Supported by Rasmuson Foundation

The Pratt Museum is incredibly grateful to be the recipient of a $15,827.00 Museums Alaska grant from the Collections Management Fund supported by Rasmuson Foundation. This contribution will support upgrades to the Museum’s popular Gull Island Exhibit, with a new display case to better protect and display natural history specimens in the permanent collection, including feet, wings and eggs of various species of local shorebirds. Updated interpretation of the objects in the case as well as updated exhibit panels will accompany the new display case.

The project will also include improvements to the interactive technology used to power the Gull Cam, which allows visitors to the Museum to observe life on Gull Island in Kachemak Bay, with a limitless view of glaucous-winged gulls, kittiwakes, cormorants, and more. Gull Island is owned and managed by Seldovia Native Association, Inc. The Pratt Museum is granted a conditional use permit to place camera equipment on the island for educational and scientific purposes.

About Museums Alaska In 1983, Museums Alaska became an official non-profit organization, after serving as a committee of the Alaska Historical Society since the 1970s. For over four decades, their commitment to strengthening museums and cultural centers in Alaska has grown, propelling them into a new era of growth and impact. More information is available at https://museumsalaska.org/

About the Pratt Museum The mission of the Pratt Museum is to strengthen relationships between people and place through stories relevant to Kachemak Bay. It fulfills its mission by facilitating engagement between community members and strengthening understandings of our shared place. Through these activities, the unique relationship between the people and places of Kachemak Bay will be sustained far into the future. The Museum is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11am to 4pm. Beginning May 5, 2024, the Museum will be open daily from 10am – 6pm. Visit the Pratt Museum at 379 Bartlett Street in Homer. Tel (907) 235-8635. More information is available at https://www.prattmuseum.org/.

 

Contact Whitney Harness, visitor Services, Store and Communications Manager tel (907) 435-3328, email wharness@prattmuseum.org