On June 4, Southeast residents have a chance at a date with history: an exclusive preview tour for 200 people inside the new Father Andrew P. Kashevaroff State Library, Archives, and Museum.
Participants will get the inside story about the collections vault, conservation labs, and exhibit fabrication shop. Step onto the massive terrazzo floor map of Alaska inside the atrium. Inspect the reincarnated eagle tree, the two and a half times larger museum, and the children’s glass-enclosed play area with a refabricated Discovery ship. See Science on a Sphere with images of worldwide weather in real time, glacial advances, or earthquakes projected onto a six-foot diameter globe. Talk with Evon Zerbetz about her vibrant 63-foot-long glass wall. Check out the dramatic wood ceiling in the Richard Foster Reading Room and the sky bridge.
Plan to spend the evening exploring in style as you soak up this 118,000 square-foot treasure trove of architectural, historic, and cultural wonders.
The museum, said director Linda Thibodeau, is “a visual experience. Vista to vista, it’s so rich, a world-class facility.”
At tour stops, staff will discuss the inner workings of the integrated facilities which, until now, have operated out of separate offices and buildings.
What’s so special about the vault? Just like a bank vault, it’s where the gold is. On this special evening, you’ll be escorted into the concrete-and-steel, climate- and water-controlled inner sanctum where 95 percent of the SLAM’s collection is housed — roughly 30,000 artifacts vs. the 3,000 on display in the museum.
“It’s very secure. Most staff don’t have access,” said Thibodeau.
It has optimal conditions to protect Alaska’s historical and cultural treasures from fire, water, freezing, and overcrowding, helping collections to last longer, said Historical Collections Head Librarian Jim Simard. There’s also the wood/metal shop that Deputy Director Bob Banghart calls “the best shop in town.”
From 5:30-8:30 pm, enjoy hearty hors d’oeuvres, a no-host wine and beer bar, and the Rob Cohen jazz trio in the spacious, high-ceilinged atrium. Pick your tour time at 6 or 7:15 pm, but be there early.
Tickets are available at the JACC, Hearthside, or jahc.org. They cost $75 for Friends members and $100 for non-members. Find out more or join at foslam.org. Alaska’s new State Library, Archives and Museum is jaw-dropping spectacular, and if you join the Friends of the State Library Archives and Museum on June 4, you’ll get a chance to see it in-depth and early.
This Bristol Bay double-ender is a lightweight single-sail, (or 14-foot oar-powered) two-man salmon fishing boat first used on the Sacramento River in 1869 (or 1884 depending on sources), the Columbia River, and on up the coast to Bristol Bay until motors were allowed in 1951. A “monkey boat” towed a gaggle of these 30-foot-long, 10-foot wide boats to the fishing grounds, where two fishermen fished in cantankerous weather and moody seas with canvas slung across the bow for protection. Hand-over-hand, they hauled in their 450-foot gill net, picked out the sockeye (redfish), and dumped them-up to 2,500 a day-in the center of the boat. It was a tough, dangerous job, with reports of up to 100 fishermen dying in a year. Photos courtesy of the Alaska State Library, Archives, and Museum.
Glass panels by Southeast Alaskan artists Evon Zerbetz are integrated into the SLAM building. Photos courtesy of the Alaska State Library, Archives, and Museum.
Shaun Davies of Spitrock Studios builds a new Discovery Ship in the Alaska State Library, Archives, and Museums building.
Tour of the Alaska State Library, Archives, and Museums building.
