The Anchorage Museum's summer calendar offers travelers the opportunity to engage with Alaska experts and experience the state's cultural and natural highlights in one stop.
More than 80 exhibits in the museum's Discovery Center explore the art, history and science of the North. During Discovery Center Science Labs, held daily at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. through July and August, visitors conduct experiments and interact with simulated earthquakes and auroras and tidal pools. Lab activities are included with museum admission.
Weekly Museum Behind-the-Scenes programs provide an insiders' look at the work of archivists, conservators and other museum specialists. Discussions focus on a different theme each week. Behind-the-Scenes sessions, also included with admission, take place from 2 to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays in July and August (not offered on July 4).
Daily "Above Alaska" presentations at the Thomas Planetarium share footage from the state's best aurora borealis displays of the past two years, while "River of Bears" films introduce the more than 100 brown bears that congregate at the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary each summer. Entrance to planetarium films is $6, plus museum admission.
The Anchorage Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, through Sept. 30. For prices and a list of additional family art classes, homesteading workshops, lunchtime activities and after-hours summer events, visit www.anchoragemuseum.org.