Update: Exhibit Renovation Planning

The Baranov Museum is planning to renovate our permanent exhibits in order to better preserve our collections and to improve our telling of Kodiak's history. Please note that we are currently planning, and changes will not be implemented for several years. This means that if you come to the museum, you won't see us in the middle of a construction project quite yet.

Our exhibit designer, Sarah Asper-Smith of Exhibit AK, has recently submitted the first exhibit design documents. Exhibit AK is responsible for turning the content that we develop into construction documents.

This concept map encompasses the exhibit themes and the major exhibit sections. It serves as a guide to our exhibit topics and the themes that unite them.

Environmental Displays/ Historic Recreations will provide a glimpse into the past of the magazin, highlighting different eras and the building's use over time. For example, the fur store will be a small section showing the inside of the magazin when it was used to hold furs for the Russian-American Company. The Alaska Commercial Company dining room will tell the story of the murder of Benjamin McIntyre and depict the magazin as it appeared in the 1880s. The 1940s living room will show a vignette representing the Eskine family's living room, on the eve of hosting a party for WWII servicemen. Finally, the Governor's Mansion Rooming House display will depict the Fields family kitchen in 1964, following the Great Alaska Earthquake and Tsunami.

Cases are just that- museum cabinets specifically designed to fit the character of the magazin and the preservation requirements of our objects. Again, this is a conceptual document, so there will likely be more than the 7 cases depicted above when we are finished.

Exhibit Sections are the main exhibition topics. Note that "Boarding House" refers to a period in the building's history- the topics will relate to the more recent past.

Above you will see the initial concept sketches, showing both cases and the historic recreation of the Fields family kitchen. The "Cabinet of Personalities," to the left, will contain objects, photos, and stories related to specific individuals in Kodiak's past. Is there some Kodiak character that you think should be included in the cabinet? Please let us know.

Would you like to see the conceptual design packet? Please stop by the museum to pick up a copy, or contact us and we will send you a copy. What are your observations, concerns and questions about the process or these initial concept documents? Please leave comments below or contact the museum to share your thoughts with us. Thanks to all of you who have already provided feedback!

Kodiak Experiences Katmai: A Student Film

One hundred years ago today, Kodiak was covered in white, and it wasn't just the snow of January. The town was still recovering from the volcanic eruption at Katmai, which choked wells, suffocated vegetation, and caved in the roofs of Kodiak homes.

Marina edits her film during last summer's film intensive with
the assistance of Heather Craig from Media Action.

Marina Cummiskey, a 12 year old Kodiak homeschool student, just put the finishing touches on her film about the Katmai eruption as experienced in Kodiak. Marina interspersed photographs from the Kodiak Historical Society's extensive photo archive with audio clips, recorded by KMXT. She has worked with museum staff over the course of several months to complete this digital story, which she did as a project for her technology class.

Marina is no stranger to directing her own films. Last year, she created a movie about her family's road trip. Last summer, amidst the centennial celebration of the eruption, she participated in the Kodiak's Filipino Community Stories history and film intensive at the museum. Her resulting film, "The J-1 Visa Controversy," included interviews with a cannery worker, a J-1 visa holding student, the president of FilAm Kodiak, and Senator Mark Begich, to show the multiple perspectives surrounding this controversial visa.

Congratulations, Marina, on crafting a beautiful picture of Kodiak in 1912!

You Want Kodiak History Exhibits to Include...

At the end of 2012, the Baranov Museum asked you to complete an exhibit survey so that museum staff could confidently move forward in planning for the renovation of the museum's permanent exhibits. Your answers were analyzed and seriously mulled over, and while there were many interesting tidbits that emerged, here is the response to one of the most important questions:

Question: What aspects of Kodiak history and culture do you think it important to see in new exhibits in the museum?

Topic /  % that agree and strongly agree

Russians in Alaska  91.1%

Natural Disasters  87.5%

Immigration and Cultural Diversity  80.9%

Commercial Fisheries  78.8%

Recent Past  77.9%

Alutiiq History and Culture  73%

Business and Industry  66.6%

Military  65.2%

Fine Arts  60.9%

Community Development  56.3%

Note: Bold indicates most common answer was "strongly agree."

From this information and other data gathered through the survey and conversations, museum staff came up with the two "big ideas" that will guide the new exhibitions:

1. Kodiak is an international crossroads/ Kodiak is a crossroads of diversity
2. The Russian American Magazin has witnessed 200 years of Kodiak history

But before we were certain to move forward with these major themes, we wanted to make sure that the survey results really reflected the feelings of the community. As a result, we held a series of four community conversations, during which we shared the survey results over lunch with Kodiakans. During the conversations, we also asked everyone what they thought about the "big ideas" listed above. The results? Yes, the survey does accurately portray what Kodiak citizens think is important about our history. And yes, Kodiakans really do see our island home as a crossroads of diversity, and are interested in learning more about Kodiak history through the eyes of the oldest building in Alaska.

So, where are we now? While we still have lots of work to do, thanks to the participation of the Kodiak community, we have determined that the exhibits will discuss the following aspects of Kodiak history, and whenever possible, examine the history through the eyes of the building:

A Russian Colony in an Alutiiq Land: We will show Kodiak in the international realm of the 18^th/ 19^th centuries and show the connections that existed on the ground between Russian and Alutiiq peoples. The Russian-American Company was completely dependent on Kodiak Alutiit.  As a result, we propose to look at the Russian era with an eye towards the czar and an eye towards the sea otter hunter.

From Eastern Frontier to "Out the Westward": Kodiak Becomes American: What happened when Russia left, and U.S. officials rarely showed their faces?

Local Resources in an International Market: The fur trade (from the Russian fur trade to fox farms in the 1930s) and commercial fishing have attracted diverse individuals to Kodiak, and the commodities were/ are important to international markets.

Forces of Change: The Katmai eruption in 1912, World War Two, and the 1964 earthquake and tsunami profoundly changed Kodiak.

What do you think about these ideas? Please call (486-5920) or e-mail (anjuli@baranovmuseum.org), or leave a comment below to share your thoughts. We will be hosting other community conversations in the near future, so please keep your eyes open for announcements.

A Murder, 126 Years Old

It may be the season for spookiness, but regardless of the season, visitors to the museum frequently ask if there is a resident ghost. And while I cannot tell you definitively if a spirit dwells in this old log building, I can tell you that there is plenty of cause for a haunting. And if this ghost were to appear, the date is fast approaching. For it was 126 years ago, on November 1, 1886, that magazin-resident Benjamin McIntyre was killed at his dining room table.

As gruesome as it is, this story also happens to be one of my favorite to tell, not only because it is gripping, but because the murder itself provides an incisive glimpse into the characters and livelihoods in Kodiak, less than 20 years after it became part of the U.S. Plus, during my recent research trip to the Alaska and Polar Regions Collection at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, I was able to track down a few “new” trails of evidence. Yes, that’s me, a Kodiak history detective.

Benjamin McIntyre, General Agenct of the
Kodiak District of the Alaska Commercial
Company, P-683.

To begin, let me introduce the cast of characters.

Benjamin McIntyre was the General Agent for the Alaska Commercial Company’s Kodiak District. Hailing from Vermont, McIntyre was responsible for the operations of the wide-reaching trading enterprise. The AC Co. (as it was known), in many ways filled the shoes of the business enterprises of the Russian-American Company. The business funded sea otter hunting expeditions, traded and sold furs, operated general stores, functioned as a credit agency and bank, delivered the mail, and in general was the main American entity in what was still very much a Alutiiq/Russian town.  McIntyre lived in the magazin, had a wife and three children.

Peter Anderson was a trapper, hunter and fisherman from the River Don region of Russia. He owned a sloop. Anderson was the suspected murderer and described by Ivan Petroff (see below) as having “a red, course face almost hidden in beard and unkempt shock of black hair, joined almost without neck to an herculean body with immense breadth of shoulders.”   

Benjamin Woche was the Alaska Commercial Company storekeeper in Kaguyak (abandoned following the 1964 earthquake and tsunami). Mr. Woche first came to Kodiak in 1867 with the US Army, which established Fort Kodiak. By 1870, the Army had left Kodiak, but Woche stayed and married a local woman.   

Heywood Seton-Karr was a British mountaineer, explorer, and writer. He was in Kodiak at the time of the murder, awaiting the schooner Kodiak’s return voyage to San Francisco.

H.P. Cope was the storekeeper at Kodiak’s AC Co. general store. This Englishman became Kodiak’s first postmaster, took the 1910 census for the island, and has a street named after him today.

The Kodiak's Custom House in
the late 1800s. Kodiak Historical
Society, P 399-1.

Ivan Petroff was the assistant Collector of Customs in Kodiak. Petroff was responsible for undertaking the first census of Alaska in 1880 and also worked on the 1890 census. He was Russian, a journalist, and a counterfeiter of historic documents. He gathered and translated materials used by historian H.H. Bancroft in the early and foundational History of Alaska and was caught falsifying translations that were used in an international tribunal. To most historians of Alaska, Petroff is a source of utter frustration.

W.E. Roscoe was one of the earliest Baptist missionaries in the region. He and his family laid much of the groundwork for the creation of the Woody Island Baptist Mission. Roscoe was not present for the murder, but performed McIntyre’s last rights immediately following the shooting.

Efka Pestrikoff worked as a servant for the McIntyre family in the magazin. He was a local Alutiiq man. His daughter, Natalia, worked as a cook and housekeeper for the Erskine family within the same building several decades after the murder.

 

Recounting the Gruesome Deed

“He scowled at me and as he scowled I began to feel sick and faint,” McIntyre told Petroff about his first encounter with Peter Anderson, his assassin. After their first meeting, McIntyre reported feeling “out of sorts ever since.” Did McIntyre sense he had met his murderer? Or later, as Petroff wrote the account, was Petroff merely trying to make a good story better?

The Alaska Commercial Company store and wharf,
where the Tustumena docks today. Kodiak Historical
Society, P. 399-4.

Soon after arriving in Kodiak, Anderson asked McIntyre to outfit him for a sea otter hunting trip. This was not an uncommon request. The AC Co would supply sea otter hunters with necessary goods, including food and arms, on credit for their trapping and hunting expeditions. Often, the company would send Alutiiq sea otter hunters with the white vessel owners to hunt, as well. The hunters were expected to sell the captured pelts to the AC Co, thus paying off their debts and coming out at the end of the transaction with more goods or cash.  As he would with any sea otter hunter, McIntyre outfitted Anderson, who then departed.

However, Anderson returned empty handed. It wasn’t unheard of for trappers and hunters to return without pelts- in fact, I found several instances in Alaska Commercial Company ledgers from the 1870s and 1880s that some hunters ended the season in debt to the company.

Anderson went to McIntyre again, asking for traps, munitions, and other supplies so that he could spend the winter trapping. Giving Anderson the benefit of the doubt, McIntyre instructed the store to provide the requested materials. However, according to one account, Anderson “set the traps but failed to look after them and didn’t even go to take them up when the trapping season was over. He used up all the supplies but didn’t go hunting either.” Again, Anderson returned to Kodiak without a pelt to put down to pay off his debts to the company. Multiple accounts verify the fact that Anderson was either too lazy or negligent to hunt. Spiridon Stepanoff, Alutiiq Creole from Eagle Harbor recounted in an oral history recorded in 1969 that “he wouldn’t do nothing!”

Accounts vary if McIntyre outfitted Anderson for another voyage after the second failed attempt. He did return on his last hunting trip outfitted by the Alaska Commercial Company without a fur in sight, and his vessel had gained an eerie appearance. Two accounts provide this sinister image - one claimed Anderson’s sloop was rigged with black sails, another that his sails were made from blue drill cloth. Whatever the material, his dark-sailed vessel presented an unsettling image in St. Paul’s harbor.   Anderson demanded to be outfitted again, but this time McIntyre refused.

Anderson’s sloop was not alone in the harbor. The Alaska Commercial Company owned schooner Kodiak was making preparations to sail to San Francisco on November 2. It appears that McIntyre was planning on departing for the winter on the vessel. He was to join Heywood Seton-Karr on the journey, an English explorer who had recently attempted an ascent of Mount St. Elias. According to the daily cash record kept at the AC Co. store, on October 28, Seton-Karr purchased a “colosh basket and mats,” examples of Tlingit basketry. (This same cash record informs us that McIntyre was a smoker of pipe tobacco.)

In Spiridon Stepanoff’s telling of the story, McIntyre ordered the slaughtering of a cow. “Won’t you give me a little piece for my supper?” asked Anderson, to which McIntyre responded, “Ah! You! You’re not my man. You’re not working man. You don’t do nothing! You don’t get nothing from me! You get home!”



The window likely obliterated by Anderson's buckshot.

At 6 PM, a group gathered for dinner in the McIntyre home, the magazin. Customs Collector Ivan Petroff, storekeeper H.P Cope, explorer Seton-Karr, and Kaguyak storekeeper Benjamin Woche (in town awaiting instructions for the winter), gathered around the table, as Efka Pestrikoff, servant in the McIntyre home, was busy with household matters.  “Suddenly there came a loud explosion, a crashing and jingling of glass and something whizzed by my nose creating quite a current of air…. The station agent was groaning under the table and when I turned to my left I saw M—still sitting in his chair, with a pleasant smile lighting up his open honest features. But from under his chin on one side, the bright red blood came oozing out,” wrote Petroff.

“But he shot. Buckshot. Back, shot him, bang, bang, two shots,” recounted Stepanoff.

It was “a fiend who fired through the window with a breech-loading double barreled shotgun,” wrote Wesley Roscoe. “Mr. McEntyre (sic) was killed so suddenly that he did not move…he was just taking something to his mouth--- and his head did not even fall to the table.” Mr. Roscoe  arrived immediately after the shooting and performed McIntyre’s last rights.

The spray of buckshot hit Woche, who “fell under the table, and then rushed out streaming with blood in torrents, for he was shot through the lower part of the head,” wrote Seton-Karr in his book, Shores and Alps of Alaska published in 1887.

In the chaos of the instant, no one saw the murderer, although there was an immediate suspect- Anderson. He had a violent reputation and terrified the townspeople. His boat was found ashore, untied, the next day, although he and his gun were missing. And everyone knew that McIntyre had refused to extend him further credit. The next day, Cope wrote to inform the San Francisco office of the murder. He wrote that they “were entirely at a loss to locate the” perpetrator, but it was generally thought to be “a man named Peter Anderson who arrived on a sloop of that name from Sitka last year. Today I think that our conclusion was a correct one, as the man has not been seen all day. A thorough search was made without success so far….The man was seen at the back of the dwelling house a few minutes before 6 pm but nothing was thought strange… The whole town is very much shocked and I think I can say that Mr. McIntyre has the respect of all who knew him both American and native.” A manhunt ensued, but Anderson was never seen again.

The next day, the injured Woche, the shaken Seton-Karr, and the corpse of McIntyre were loaded on the schooner Kodiak, which sailed for San Francisco. The surviving cash record shows that on board the Kodiak was food for the journey, purchased the day after the murder, including 168 pounds of fresh beef. This was quite possibly part of the same cow that McIntyre refused to surrender to Anderson the day before.  

But the story continues! In 1917, The Valdez Miner asserted “Bones of Kodiak Murderer Found.” The skeletal remains of a man with a shotgun were found near the town of Kodiak- the shot gun shells matched those that had been salvaged from the dining room following the murder. Many believed that the bones were all that were left of Peter Anderson.

Natalia Pestrikoff, the the left. P 368-1-2.

And McIntyre, what of his spirit? Natalia Pestrikoff, daughter of McIntyre’s servant Efka, worked for many years for the Erskine family. Her domain was the kitchen. She swore that the magazin was haunted, so much so that she refused to sleep within the Erskine’s home. For Natalia and other Kodiak residents, strange sounds within the magazin were certainly McIntyre’s ghost. One time, the errant sound was a moaning cow, but as Carolyn Erskine Andrews recounted, “Once more MacIntyre’s (sic) ghost was routed but he never remained peacefully away for long.”

While the lingering presence of McIntyre’s murdered spirit continues to be debated, there is a legacy that remains. Petroff wrote that “the window, which opened upon a narrow alley, was almost demolished, both frame and glass being shattered…” As carpenter Don Corwin restored the magazin’s historic windows, one was distinct from those around it- the one that Anderson’s buckshot had obliterated.

So is the magazin haunted? Just this weekend, someone left a note in a museum gallery, claiming they had seen a ghost as they left the bathroom. Was this a trick, the result of an overactive imagination, or McIntyre’s restless spirit? I can’t say for sure… but I must run, as I am the only one left in the magazin and the sun is dipping in the horizon…

References
Alaska Commercial Company Records, 1868-1913.  Rasmuson Library Alaska and Polar Regions Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Andrews, Carolyn Erskine. Faraway Island: Childhood in Alaska. Great Bay Press, 2000.

Jeffrey, Susan M. A Legacy Built to Last: Kodiak's Russian American Magazin. Kodiak Historical
Society, 2008.

Karr, Heywood Seton. Shores & Alps of Alaska. London: Sapson Low, Marston. Searle & Rivington, 1887.

Partnow, Patricia. "Alutiiq Ethnicity." PhD diss. University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1993.

Roscoe, Fred. From Humboldt to Kodiak, 1886-1895. Kingston, Ontario: The Limestone Press, 1992.

Losing Light, Not Energy

Kodiak is indisputably brown these days, and we can no longer fool ourselves into thinking that the snow visible on top of Barometer is going to melt. The front porch is decorated with Halloween lanterns and cobwebs in anticipation for trick-or-treating festivities, and we are waiting for those errant bears to get their fill and go to sleep. In short, winter is coming.

While nature may be winding down, it seems that the Baranov Museum is in fact winding up, with October being a thrilling month. And now, to the synopsis...

Kodiak's Filipino Community Stories Exhibit Opening

Nita Nichols, Mary Guilas-Hawver, and Ben Achas at the
exhibit opening.

On Friday, October 5, we were so proud to open the first exhibit in Kodiak about our island's largest ethnic minority, the Filipino community, in honor of Filipino-American History Month. And what an event it was!

Mary Guilas- Hawver, exhibit advisor and President of project partner the Filipino-American Association of Kodiak, started the evening with a ribbon cutting. Dozens of community members were in attendance, including mayor Pat Branson, Superintendent Stuart McDonald and Assistant Superintendent Marilyn Davidson. Our guests of honor were the students who directed the films that are currently on exhibit in the museum and available online.



Above, Fil-Am Kodiak brought tasty Filipino refreshments.
Below, participants and supporters of the history and film
intensive gather to watch student-directed films.

There were so many special moments that evening. It was wonderful to see individuals highlighted in the exhibit in attendance, many of them watching the films that they were in for the first time. One of my favorite memories of the night was watching a traditional Filipino dance troupe perform in front of the bust of Alexander I, which was brought to Kodiak in 1805. To me, Filipino dancing alongside a potent symbol of Russian America seems to capture a bit of the soul of Kodiak.

The exhibit will be open through the month of January, so please come by and check it out. Special thanks to our project partners, Media Action, KIBSD, and Fil-Am Kodiak, as well as our sponsors, the Alaska Humanities Forum and the Inlandboatmen's Union.

Alaska Historical Society/ Museums Alaska Conference

Sarah Short, our new Curator of Education, and I (Anjuli Grantham, Curator of Collections) traveled to Sitka a few days after the exhibit opening for the annual joint conference of the Alaska Historical Society and Museums Alaska. It was both of our first visits to the second capital of Russian America (remember Kodiak was the first), and we were both charmed and impressed by the historic architecture, tiny islands, and friendly community. The conference itself was a whirlwind of meetings, sessions, and speakers, during which we both learned so much about the history of our state and innovations within the museum field.

I had the honor of presenting in the session, "Documenting Alaska's Filipino Heritage." While I provided an overview of the history of Filipinos in Kodiak, Marie Acemah, the museum's former Curator of Education and the current Executive Director of Media Action, spoke about the history and film intensive and inspired audience members to capture local history through youth training and empowerment. The session ended with the touching and incredible story of Denis Rodill, presented by his daughter, Diane Rodill. Diane is tracking the footsteps of her "rascal" father, who left the Philippines alone as a teenager and embarked on a lifelong, worldwide journey, which included working at the Alaska Packers Association cannery at Larsen Bay in 1915. Our fingers are crossed that Diane turns her research into a book. In the meantime, for a snapshot of Denis's story, you can watch the film directed by Olivia Bennett, Denis's Story.

"In with the Old" Auction

Finally, the Kodiak Historical Society board of directors is busy putting together what will be an incredible dinner auction. "In with the Old" is a 1940s themed event, with a silent and live auction featuring antiques and collectibles. Just the live jazz music, catering by Chef Joel, and plenty of 1940s decor and photos of Kodiak will make this event one to remember. Throw in the dazzling array of auction items, and you have an event that will be just over the top.

For a sampling of some of the auction items, please check out our album.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 10, and swing by the museum or Mill Bay Coffee to pick up your tickets, which are $50 each and going fast.

What is Special About Kodiak's History?

What is your favorite story to tell about Kodiak’s history? What object or group of objects in the museum do you find the most interesting? What do you wish to see more of in the museum?

What is your vision for the museum?

These questions are not at all rhetorical. We want to know what you think! Thanks to grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services Museums for America program and the Alaska State Museum, the museum is at the very beginning of a multi-year effort to renovate our exhibits so that we can better tell the history of Kodiak. This year, we will be consumed with planning and research. Unfortunately, the words “planning” and “research” are boring, when in reality they entail work that is quite thrilling. Now is the time for pairing imagination, creativity, and vision with the tangible objects in our collection, the incredible history imprinted within the Russian-American Magazin, and the inspiring and tragic aspects of Kodiak’s long history. Now is the time for dreaming!

We are working with exhibit designer Sarah Asper-Smith, owner of Juneau-based company ExhibitAK. Over the course of the year, Sarah will transform our visions into architectural drawings of exhibit cabinets, floor plans, and graphic representations of the look and feel of the re-imagined spaces. Essentially, we are responsible for content, and Sarah will translate that content into blueprints and schematics. The next step will be securing funding for implementing the plans, constructing cabinets, and installing the new exhibits. The whole process will likely be completed over the course of a few years.

With the renovated exhibits, we only have a few constraints. Namely, we will not be making any permanent changes to the structure itself. In fact, we firmly believe that the National Historic Landmark in which the museum is housed is our finest asset, and we are excited to consider ways that we can better interpret the oldest building in Alaska. Additionally, we want to focus on telling stories that can be supported by the objects, photographs, and manuscripts within our collection.

We are a community museum, and we feel it is very important that we reflect the values and needs of Kodiak. That is where you come in. Please take the time to fill out our online survey. Doing so enters you in a drawing for a $100 gift certificate to the museum store. Please spread the word. Also, you can leave a comment below, e-mail me directly (anjuli@baranovmuseum.org), call the museum (486-5920) or stop by and let us know your thoughts.

Over the next year, we will be holding community meetings and coming up with ways that individuals can participate and contribute to the process. Please stay tuned. More importantly, please spend a few minutes thinking about Kodiak’s history and culture, and let the museum know what you think makes our community special.

Sally Troxell Art Show

"Reeds" art quilt by Sally Troxell was recently purchased by
the museum thanks to the Rasmuson Foundation's Art
Acquisition Fund. Kodiak Hsitorical Society Collections.

This Friday, we are thrilled to be hosting an art show and sale of Sally Troxell's work as part of the Art and Culture Walk. Sally is an accomplished artist who creates bold and colorful art quilts that often incorporate maritime and natural motifs. Her inventive sewing style makes her art easily recognizable within the community of Kodiak. She will have many recent works hanging within the enclosed glass porch of the museum, which will be available for purchase. In addition, we are pleased to have several of Sally’s smaller works for sale in the museum store.

"Sockeye" is embellished with
beads and buttons to mimic
seaweed. Kodiak Historical
Society Collections.

Moreover, we are pleased to announce that the museum has received a grant from the Rasmuson Foundation’s Art Acquisition Fund to purchase four of Sally’s quilt for the museum’s permanent collection. The Art Acquisition Fund exists to support both contemporary Alaskan artists and Alaskan museums and cultural centers by making money available for museums and cultural centers to purchase recently created works of art. “Sockeye,” “Streamside,” “The Reeds,” and “The River” are bold, colorful pieces that depict the journey of migrating salmon. These newest additions to the museum’s art collection will be on display Friday, and beginning in October they will be on temporary exhibit within the museum. We thank the Rasmuson Foundation and Sally for these pieces.

For over 20 years, Sally has dedicated herself to sewing and embellishing intricate quilts. She comes from a line of gifted seamstresses and quilters. She took up quilting regularly as a young adult, when she moved with her family to remote Anton Larsen Bay on Kodiak Island. Sally writes that “making quilts and knitting sweaters for my family fit into the DIY/ handmade lifestyle that we were living.”

"Streamside" by Sally Troxell will be on exhibit at the museum for the Art and Culture Walk and again beginning in October.
Kodiak Historical Society Collections.

In 2010, Sally took a relief printing workshop under Evon Zerbetz, which influenced her work profoundly. Prior to the course, she usually employed commercial fabrics, but since 2010, most of her art quilts incorporate the art of printmaking. She carves linocuts and creates block prints on fabric, which she then incorporates into her art quilts. Additionally, she now hand dyes fabric, so that most of her pieces now contain both commercial fabric and hand printed and hand dyed fabrics.

"The River" by Sally Troxell.
Kodiak Historical Society Collections

Sally Troxell’s art quilts have been exhibited at the Anchorage Museum’s 2008 exhibition, Earth, Fire and Fiber and at the Kodiak Bear Paw Quilt Guild Show. In addition, her work hangs in Representative Alan Austerman’s congressional office, at Kodiak College, at the A. Holmes Johnson Memorial Library in Kodiak, at the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, among other locations. Now, her work has another permanent home with the Baranov Museum/ Kodiak Historical Society.

Please come to the museum on Friday, August 31 from 4-7 to see Sally’s newest work and pick up one of her art quilts for yourself.