NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2017
MEDIA CONTACT: Jeanette Moores, 907-929-9227, [email protected]
Media available at https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/media/museum-images/polar-bear-garden/
Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between Alaska and Russia
On view at the Anchorage Museum March 3 through Sept. 17, 2017
Opening reception 6 to 9 p.m. March 3
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – Space dogs and sled dogs. Ice cream and ice curtains. Abominable
snowmen and reality TV. Alaska and Russia have many connections, dating back thousands of
years to the earliest migrations of peoples across continents and oceans.
The Anchorage Museum exhibition Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between Alaska and Russia
explores the many correlations between Alaska and Russia since the historic U.S. purchase
150 years ago. Included in the exhibition are archival and contemporary photographs, featurelength films, art, maps, Cold War Propaganda and objects reflecting historical and
contemporary issues and connections between the U.S. and Russia. Among the objects on
view in the exhibition:
• the Treasury warrant (purchase check) for purchase of Alaska (Treasury draft 9759), on
loan from the National Archives;
• the Alaska Purchase Treaty, signed by President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of
State William Seward, on loan from the National Archives;
• a painting of the signing of the Alaska Treaty by artist Emanuel Leutze (LYT-suh), on
loan from Auburn Seward House Museum, New York;
• two Alaska dogs made famous in the lifesaving 1925 Serum Run: Togo, on loan from
the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race headquarters in Wasilla, Alaska; and Balto, on loan
from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, both preserved through taxidermy.
(Note: Balto will be on view March 10 – June 11.)
Accompanying the Polar Bear Garden exhibition this spring and summer are several public
programs, including talks by experts on Russian-U.S. relations, screening of Cold War-era
feature films, visiting musicians and artists, art classes, and more.
The Polar Bear Garden exhibition was made possible with support by the following
organizations and individuals: Alaska Airlines, Atwood Foundation, Hotel Captain Cook, Alaska
Historical Commission, Jeri and Jan van den Top, and Nicholas and Rebecca Van Wyck.
About the Anchorage Museum
The largest museum in Alaska, the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center tells the true
story of the North by connecting people, expanding perspectives and encouraging global
dialogue about the North and its distinct environment. The museum debuts a new wing in
September 2017 that includes 25,000 additional square feet for its collection of Northern art,
new Discovery Center space, and informal gallery and event space. Learn more at
anchoragemuseum.org.
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NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2017
MEDIA CONTACT: Jeanette Moores, 907-929-9227, [email protected]
Alaska purchase documents on view in Anchorage Museum’s latest exhibition
Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between Alaska and Russia focuses on Alaska-Russia
connections since historic US purchase 150 years ago
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA –The Anchorage Museum’s exhibition Polar Bear Garden: The Place
Between Alaska and Russia, on view from March 3 through Sept. 17, 2017, looks at Alaska
and Russia’s connections and divisions during the last 150 years. The 1867 U.S. purchase of
Alaska is the starting point for the exhibition. The National Archives loaned the Alaska Treaty
of Cession and the cancelled $7.2 million purchase check to the Anchorage Museum for the
exhibition.
Seward and Russia’s Minister to the U.S. Edouard de Stoeckl negotiated the sale for $7.2
million. On March 30, 1867, Seward signed the Alaska Treaty of Cession to purchase Alaska
from Russia. The treaty was approved on April 9 by the Senate, signed by Pres. Andrew
Johnson on May 28, and transferred to the U.S. on Oct. 18, 1867. The Alaska purchase
allowed the U.S. access to the Pacific northern rim.
For less than 2 cents an acre, the United States secured 586,412 square miles of land. The
$7.2 million purchase check, issued Aug. 1, 1868, was made payable to the Russian Minister
to the U.S. Edouard de Stoeckl.
Since its purchase, Alaska and Russia have been connected by history, religion and climate,
while remaining divided by politics, war, language and time zone.
About the Anchorage Museum
The largest museum in Alaska, the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center tells the true
story of the North by connecting people, expanding perspectives and encouraging global
dialogue about the North and its distinct environment. The museum debuts a new wing in
September 2017 that includes 25,000 additional square feet for its collection of Northern art,
new Discovery Center space, and informal gallery and event space. Learn more at
anchoragemuseum.org.
About the National Archives
The National Archives is an independent Federal agency that serves American democracy by
safeguarding and preserving the records of our Government, so people can discover, use, and
learn from this documentary heritage. The National Archives ensures continuing access to the
essential documentation of the rights of American citizens and the actions of their
government. From the Declaration of Independence to accounts of ordinary Americans, the
holdings of the National Archives directly touch the lives of millions of people. The agency
supports democracy, promotes civic education, and facilitates historical understanding of our
national experience. The National Archives carries out its mission through a nationwide
network of archives, records centers, and Presidential Libraries, and online
at www.archives.gov.
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High resolution images available at https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/media/museum-images/polar-bear-garden/
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2017
MEDIA CONTACT: Jeanette Moores, 907-929-9227, [email protected]
Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between Alaska and Russia
On View March 3 through Sept. 17, 2017, at the Anchorage Museum
Did You Know?
•
You really can see Russia from the U.S. Although the Bering Strait’s narrowest point is
about 53 miles, there are two islands in its center: Little Diomede (U.S.) and Big
Diomede (Russia), which puts the distance between the two nations at just 2.5 miles
apart at their closest point
o International Date Line is just 0.6 miles from each island – a 20-hour time shift
from one side to the other
o Distance between Big Diomede and Russia’s mainland: 22.47 miles
o Distance between Little Diomede and Alaska: 23.12 miles
•
The U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia for less than two cents an acre, or $7.2 million.
o Opponents to the purchase called it “Seward’s Icebox,” Seward’s Folly,” and
“Polar Bear Garden”
•
Populated areas of Alaska and northern Russia experience some of the coldest
recorded temperatures in the world
o The coldest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere was recorded in
Verkhoyansk, Siberia, at -90 degrees Fahrenheit in January 1885
o The coldest recorded temperature in the U.S. was -81 degrees Fahrenheit in
1971 at Alaska’s Prospect Creek Camp
•
Alaska and Siberia both claim iconic dog breeds
o Alaskan malamute is Alaska’s official state dog and one of the oldest breeds of
northern sled dogs
o Siberian husky was used by the semi-nomadic Chukchi people; in 1909, the first
Siberian huskies arrived in Alaska as racing dogs
•
Both Alaska and Russia have famous dogs in their histories
o Two of Alaska’s most famous dogs -- Balto (Siberian husky) and Togo (Siberian
husky and Alaska malamute) – became famous for leading the 1925 serum run
to save Nome, Alaska, from a diphtheria epidemic
o Laika was a Soviet space dog – the first animal to orbit Earth when she was
launched aboard the Soviet space craft Sputnik 2 in 1957. She died within hours
of takeoff, but provided scientists with some of the first data on how living
organisms react to spaceflight environments
2
•
During the Cold War, the Alaska-Siberia border was known as the Ice Curtain
o Although a motorized ferry could make it from Alaska to Siberia in two hours,
political barriers have long banned such voyages
•
In 2007, Russian robotic submarines planted the Russian flag under the North Pole
•
Alaska and Siberia both have boreal forests, the world’s largest land-based biome,
representing 29 percent of the world’s forest cover
•
Both the United States and the Soviet Union used film to influence public opinion in
global propaganda campaigns during the Cold War
•
Alaska is home to more than 30 Russian Orthodox churches, six of which are U.S.
National Historical Landmarks
ABOUT THE ANCHORAGE MUSEUM
The largest museum in Alaska, the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center tells the true
story of the North by connecting people, expanding perspectives and encouraging global
dialogue about the North and its distinct environment. The museum debuts a new wing in
September 2017 that includes 25,000 additional square feet for its collection of Northern
art, new Discovery Center space, and informal gallery and event space. Learn more at
anchoragemuseum.org.
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High resolution images available at https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/media/museum-images/polar-bear-garden/
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2017
MEDIA CONTACT: Jeanette Moores, 907-929-9227, [email protected]
Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between Alaska and Russia
On View March 3 through Sept. 17, 2017, at the Anchorage Museum
EVENTS
Visitors can delve deeper into Russia and U.S. relations by attending a lecture, taking a
class or watching a film. The Anchorage Museum welcomes Alaska and international
artists, authors, scientists, anthropologists, historians, decision-makers and influencers
through a slate of public programs expanding on Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between
Alaska and Russia.
Events in conjunction with the exhibition’s opening are listed below. Find dates, times and
full descriptions of future Polar Bear Garden programming, at
anchoragemuseum.org/calendar.
Performances
Visiting Polar Lab artists-in-residence Mivos Quartet, a string quartet based out of New
York, will perform compositions from contemporary Circumpolar North composers from
Russia, Iceland, Denmark, Scotland and Finland in several concerts:
• March 3 (First Friday), 6 to 8 p.m., Mivos performs behind the glass walls of the
Atwood Resource Library as their music is broadcast outdoors in the museum
common. Free.
• March 10 (Polar Nights), 7 and 8 p.m., the group provides live string
accompaniment to a show in the Thomas Planetarium. Local artist Ryan Anderson
creates visual displays to accompany Hans Abrahamsen’s String Quartet No. 4
(2012). In addition, full-dome imagery and a montage of photographs accompanies
Robert Honstein’s Arctic (2013). $15, includes museum admission, museum
members receive a 10 percent discount.
• March 11 (Wells Fargo Free Day), 1 to 3 p.m., the group performs string pieces
from contemporary Russian and Circumpolar North composers in the galleries of the
Polar Bear Garden exhibition.
• In addition to the concerts listed above, there will be several pop-up concerts at the
museum during Mivos’ residency.
Russian-American Colony Singers
6:30 to 7:30 p.m., March 3
The Russian-American Colony Singers perform during the exhibition’s opening reception.
2
Public Talks
David Ramseur – Melting the Ice Curtain
7 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 31
Hear author and University of Alaska Anchorage Institute of Social and Economic Research
visiting scholar David Ramseur share perspective on the thawing relations between the
Russian Far East and Alaska that began during the 1980s and 1990s. His book on this
subject, Melting the Ice Curtain, is slated for release June 2017. Included with admission,
which is discounted on Fridays through April.
U.S. and Russia: A Perspective by Leon Aron
7 to 8 p.m. Friday, April 21
Russian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Leon Aron, PhD,
discusses contemporary U.S. and Russian relations and Vladimir Putin. Aron, whose work
focuses on the economic, cultural and social aspects of post-Soviet Russia and its
relationship to the world, is a regular contributor to the New York Times, Washington Post,
Wall Street Journal, CNN and others. Presented in collaboration with the World Affairs
Council. Included with admission, which is discounted on Fridays through April.
Film
First Friday: The Flying Saucer
7 p.m. Friday, March 3
1950 65 minutes
Directed by Mikel Conrad, this film has rarely been screened in Alaska. Amid newspaper
reports of flying saucer sightings all over the country, intelligence officer Hank Thorn
summons wealthy playboy Mike Trent to Washington, D.C. Hank explains that the vehicles
appear to have been designed to carry atomic weapons, and that America must capture
this technology before the Russians do. He tells Mike that according to an undercover
agent in Juneau, Alaska, Russian military officers are searching for the saucer near the
Taku glacier. Digital copy provided by The Wade Williams Collection. Free; part of the host
of First Friday museum events.
Celluloid Wednesdays: Russian Classic Cinema
7 p.m. Wednesday, March 8
STRIKE! By Sergei Eisenstien, 1925 1 hour 30 minutes
Live piano accompaniment by Homer-based pianist Johnny B.
Russian auteur Sergei Eisenstein's first full-length feature, set just before the 1905
Bolshevik Revolution, depicts a workers' strike against oppressive factory bosses. When a
worker is accused of stealing a piece of machinery, he commits suicide, causing fellow
employees to revolt against the Czarist regime controlling the factory. As the strike drags
on and government officials grow more desperate to end it, their methods of dealing with
the rebellious workers become grislier. Celluloid Wednesdays is a midweek film series that
offers audiences the chance to view celluloid film prints – historic narratives,
documentaries, education, ethnographic, and experimental films – on the big screen.
Presented in partnership with the Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association (AMIPA).
Free.
3
Celluloid Wednesday: Bride of the Monster
7 p.m. March 29
70 minutes 1956
Because of Hollywood’s anti-trust lawsuits from the late 1940s and early 1950s, many
Hollywood writers and directors had to find inexpensive ways to make films, creating the
B movie genre. B movie titles from the 50s often had a sub plot of Cold War paranoia,
which helped create a decade of low production quality sci-fi cinema. Ed Wood (often cited
as Hollywood’s worst director from the 1950s), wrote and directed of The Bride of the
Monster. Wood casted Bela Lugosi (Hollywood’s original Dracula from the silent era of
cinema) as a mad doctor who is conducting experiments to turn people into super-beings
through the use of atomic power. Print provided by the Wade Williams Collection. Free.
Classes
Art Lab Open Studio: Mapmaking
6 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 3
Be inspired by the Polar Bear Garden exhibition and explore your world. Drop in to
creatively play with mapmaking and orienteering. Free.
Alaska Map Quest
7 to 8 p.m., Friday, March 3
Learn true facts about Alaska industry, animals and landmarks, and discover which
outside myths about the region prevail today in this all-ages game using a historical map
from the museum's collection. Free.
Art Lab: Poster Printing with Anchorage Community Works
6 to 8 p.m., Friday, March 31
Try screen-printing a poster inspired by the Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between Alaska
and Russia exhibition to take home. Anchorage Community Works artists discuss their
design and demonstrate a portable printing press. Included with admission, which is
discounted on Polar Night Fridays through April.
Family Art Class: Pet Portraits
2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 25
Inspired by the animals in the exhibition Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between Alaska
and Russia, learn basic drawing techniques for your favorite four-legged friends. Bring a
photo of a pet and create a pet portrait for your family. Appropriate for all skill levels,
ages 5 and older. All supplies are provided. $10, members receive a 10 percent discount.
ABOUT THE ANCHORAGE MUSEUM
The largest museum in Alaska, the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center tells the true
story of the North by connecting people, expanding perspectives and encouraging global
dialogue about the North and its distinct environment. The museum debuts a new wing in
September 2017 that includes 25,000 additional square feet for its collection of Northern
art, new Discovery Center space, and informal gallery and event space. Learn more at
anchoragemuseum.org.
# # #
High resolution images available at https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/media/museum-images/polar-bear-garden/
EXHIBIION AT A GLANCE
March 2, 2017
MEDIA CONTACT: Jeanette Moores, 907-929-9227, [email protected]
Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between Alaska and Russia
On View March 3 through Sept. 17, 2017, at the Anchorage Museum
EXHIBITION AT A GLANCE
TITLE
Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between Alaska and Russia
DATES
March 3 through Sept. 17, 2017
BRIEF
OVERVIEW
The Anchorage Museum uses archival and contemporary photographs,
feature-length film, art, maps, Cold War propaganda and objects to
explore the complex historical and contemporary issues and
connections between Alaska and Russia since the historic purchase
150 years ago. Among the items on view include the Treasury warrant
(canceled purchase check) and Alaska Purchase Treaty, both on loan
from the National Archives; a painting of the signing of the Alaska
Treaty by artist Emanuel Leutze, on loan from the Auburn Seward
House Museum, New York; and two Alaska dogs made famous in the
lifesaving 1925 Serum Run: Togo and Balto, both preserved by
taxidermy. Note: Balto will be on view March 10-June 11.
SOURCE MUSEUM Curated by the Anchorage Museum
ADMISSION
Included with Anchorage Museum general admission:
$15 adults (18-64), $12 Alaska resident adults (18-64), $10
military/senior citizens/students, $7 ages 3 to 12, free for museum
members and children ages 2 and younger.
ADDRESS
Anchorage Museum
625 C Street
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
On the corner of Sixth Avenue and C Street
PUBLIC CONTACT www.anchoragemuseum.org
[email protected]
907-929-9200
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High resolution images available at https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/media/museum-images/polar-bear-garden/
IMAGE CAPTIONS
March 2, 2017
MEDIA CONTACT: Jeanette Moores, 907-929-9227, [email protected]
Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between Alaska and Russia
On View March 3 through Sept. 17, 2017, at the Anchorage Museum
IMAGE CAPTIONS
Captions for high resolution images in the Polar Bear Garden image gallery.
Sledder Gunnar Kasson and his famous dog Balto, year unknown
Photo by Bettmann. Courtesy Getty Images; year unknown.
Balto was a Siberian husky known for leading a sled dog relay team during the 1925
serum run to save Nome from a diphtheria epidemic. Alaska and Siberia both claim iconic
dog breeds, including huskies, malamutes and mixed breeds. Each has its famous
members, like Balto, who led the 1925 serum run to Nome and Laika, the Soviet space
dog who launched aboard the Soviet space craft Sputnik 2.
Belka and Strelka, Russian cosmonaut dogs, 1960
Photo by Heritage Images. Courtesy of Getty Images, Hulton Archive.Russia used stray
dogs for space exploration during the Cold War when competition was fierce between the
United States and the Soviet Union. Alaska and Siberia both claim iconic dog breeds,
including huskies, malamutes and mixed breeds. Each has its famous members, like Balto,
who led the 1925 serum run to Nome and Laika, the Soviet space dog who launched
aboard the Soviet space craft Sputnik 2.
Postcard of Laika with the first three Sputniks in the background by artist E.
Gundobin, USSR, 1958
Text on postcard reads: “International Geophysical Year 1957–1958” (© FUEL Publishing)
Laika (1954-1957) was a Soviet space dog. Laika is derived from a Russian word meaning
mixed breed (like a husky). A stray dog from Moscow, Laika became the first animal to
orbit the Earth when she was launched aboard the Soviet space craft Sputnik 2 in 1957.
Laika died within hours of takeoff. The experiment aimed to prove that a living passenger
could survive being launched into orbit and endure micro-gravity, paving the way for
human spaceflight and providing scientists with some of the first data on how living
organisms react to spaceflight environments.
Big Diomede and Little Diomede, c. 1900
Photograph by O. D. Goetze. Charles S. Hamlin Papers. UAF-1964-74-150
View from boat of the two islands with a dashed line drawn in to separate the boundary
between Russia and Alaska. The tantalizing proximity of Alaska and its neighbor across
the Bring Strait has long tempted adventurers and others. The Diomede Islands,
separated by the international border, are just two-and-a-half miles apart. For centuries,
this crossing was not a barrier to travel, but a conduit.
2
Alaska Purchase Treaty, 1867
U.S. Ratification of the Alaska Treaty Purchase, signed by President Andrew Johnson and
Secretary of State William Seward, Washington, D.C., May 28, 1867. RG 11, Treaty
on loan from the National Archives and Records Administration for the Anchorage Museum
Exhibition “Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between Alaska and Russia.”
Treasury Warrant, 1867
Treasury warrant for purchase of Alaska (Treasury draft 9759) [cancelled check], August
1, 1869. RG 217, on loan from the National Archives and Records Administration.
Signing the Alaska Purchase Treaty, 1868
Emanuel Leutze, Oil on Canvas
The image shows Russian and American diplomats as they sign the Treaty of Cession
whereby the United States bought Alaska from the Russian Empire, Washington, D.C.,
March 30, 1867. Present are (left to right) American diplomat Robert Smith Chew (1811 1873), American Secretary of State William Henry Seward (1801 - 1872), American
diplomat William Hunter Jr. (1805 - 1886), secretary of the Russian mission Waldemar de
Bodisco (d. 1878), Russian ambassador Eduard de Stoeckl (1804 - 1892), American
senator Charles Sumner (1811 - 1874), American Assistant Secretary of State, and son of
the Secretary of State, Frederick William Seward (1835 - 1915).
High resolution images available at https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/media/museum-images/polar-bear-garden/.
PRESS PREVIEW
March 2, 2017
Please RSVP for this open house to [email protected]
Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between Alaska and Russia
Press Preview of Anchorage Museum’s “Polar Bear Garden” Exhibition
WHAT: Private press preview of “Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between Alaska and Russia”
WHEN: 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday, March 2
WHERE: Third Floor, Anchorage Museum, 625 C Street
PRESS PREVIEW DETAILS
Open house format: Check in between 10 and 11 a.m. in the museum lobby for access to
the third floor. There will not be a formal tour, but museum representatives will be
available to answer questions.
INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY
Anchorage Museum Director Julie Decker available between 10 and 10:45 a.m.
PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDELINES
No flash photography
EXHIBITION OVERVIEW
On view from March 3 through Sept. 17, the Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between Alaska
and Russia exhibition uses archival and contemporary photographs, feature-length film,
art, maps, Cold War propaganda and objects to explore the complex historical and
contemporary issues and connections between Alaska and Russia since the historic
purchase 150 years ago. Among the objects in the exhibition:
• Treasury warrant (purchase check) for purchase of Alaska (Treasury draft 9759), on
loan from the National Archives
• Ratification of the Alaska Purchase Treaty, signed by President Andrew Johnson and
Secretary of State William Seward, on loan from the National Archives
• 19th century painting of the signing of the Alaska Treaty by artist Emanuel Leutze
(LYT-suh), on loan from Auburn Seward House Museum, New York
• Alaska’s dogs made famous in the lifesaving 1925 Serum Run, including Togo and
Balto, preserved by taxidermy. Note: Balto will be on view March 10 – June 11
Please RSVP for this open house to [email protected]