Alaska's 10 Best Contemporary Art Galleries and Museums
Alaska is an incredibly vast region and yet it is still sparsely populated. However, over the years artists have come to Alaska, inspired by its mesmerising landscape. Art has played an important role in this unique state, helping to define the community by giving the area a reference point, a sense of place and meaning within the wilderness. Here are 10 galleries that provide an essential platform for contemporary artists in Alaska.
1. Alaska Native Arts Gallery
Alaska Native Arts Foundation is a non-profit organisation that strives to support artists within their community. The gallery, run by Trina Landlord, therefore plays an important role in promoting Alaskan Native artworks that are incredibly unique. For centuries, Alaskan indigenous people have been sustained by the land, yet they have also channelled their creativity by using the gifts of the land to depict the world around them. Their hugely resourceful approach to life is demonstrated in their art: carvings formed by using ivory walrus tusks, sculptures made from whale bones and basket sown by beachgrass. Alaska Native Arts Gallery provides a real insight into a significant community, and highlights how subsistence is still a vital concept that is pervasive throughout their lives. The gallery is a modern retail space, displaying traditional and contemporary art by Native artists gathered from all over Alaska.
Alaska Native Arts Foundation, 500 West 6th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska, USA, +1 907-258-2623
Arctic Rose Gallery & Art Center
This is a collaborative project curated by artists Jana Latham, Jon and Jona Van Zyle as well as 10 other creative members in downtown Anchorage. At the heart of the retail gallery’s enterprise is to instil a passion for art in Anchorage. Jon Van Zyle is a prominent painter in this state, distilling the essence of Alaskan landscape and its wildfire in his indelible watercolour paintings. He has also been inducted into the Iditarod Hall of Fame, having been the official painter of The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race since 1979. Jona, meanwhile, is a versatile artist most well-known for her Alaskan pictures made outs of beads. Arctic Rose Gallery & Art Center exhibits a diverse range of art including an unique Russian collection of matrushkas and lacquer boxes. Latham and her team ensure the gallery is bustling with events, organised throughout the year. The gallery also participates in Anchorage’s ‘First Friday Art’, which brings the art community and local residents together.
2. Bunnell Street Arts Center
Building, Art Gallery
3. International Gallery of Contemporary Art
IGCA is a modern and innovative gallery exhibiting experimental art that provides a crucial space in Alaska for discussions concerning contemporary art. It is brimming with creativity, engendering a communal ethos, as the trendy gallery houses numerous exhibitions spaces and artist studios. Importantly IGCA is a non-profit organisation, so therefore artists are actively encouraged to experiment and to push the boundaries without being hindered by any commercial pressures. This is exemplified in their monthly exhibitions, whereby artists demonstrably revel in this creative environment. The highlights this month include Lisa Ballard’s The Places, a collection of surreal figurative paintings, and Gideon Gerit’s installation called Liminal Helix that combines recursive mirrors and a video loop.
International Gallery of Contemporary Art, 427 D Street, Anchorage, Alaska, USA +1 907-279-1116
4. University of Alaska Museum of the North
Art Gallery, Museum
5. Alaska House Art Gallery
Art Gallery
6. Alaska Robotics Gallery
Art Gallery
7. Annie Kaill's
Annie Kaill’s premier fine art and craft gallery has demonstrated its longevity in the capital city of Alaska, as it has been running for over 35 years now. Furthermore Annie Kaill’s has managed to maintain its relevance, as conveyed by the fact that it received the award for ‘Best Gallery in Alaska’ from The American Art Awards this year. It is easy to see why, particularly as the gallery represents many reputable Alaskan artists. For example, the painters on their portfolio are the most prominent in the area, such as the expressionist Rie Muñoz, the prolific watercolor painter Bryon Birdsall and Gail Niebrugge, who specializes in pointillism. The gallery is also proud to display a rich array of artworks from The Milano Collection of glassware made by talented Romanian artisan to hand-crafted jewelry.
Annie Kaill’s, 244 Front St, Juneau, Alaska, USA, +1 907-586-2880
8. Pratt Museum
Museum
9. Anchorage Museum
Museum
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