The Anchorage Museum's Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center reopened to the public in mid-April, following a series of repairs triggered by the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that shook southcentral Alaska last November.
While much of the museum reopened three days after the earthquake, portions of the facility required further assessments and updates. Conservators examined more than 200 artifacts in recent months, and found them free of damage thanks to state-of-the-art mounts and cases designed to protect objects on display. Crews also repaired the floor-to-ceiling glass cases that were damaged during the temblor and subsequent aftershocks.
The Arctic Studies Center's main exhibition, "Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska," features more than 600 objects from the Smithsonian's collections. Alaska Native advisers helped select and interpret the artifacts on display, including an 1893 Tlingit war helmet from the southeast Alaska village of Taku and a 1935 Inupiaq feast bowl from the northwest coastal community of Wales.