Baranov Museum Redesigns Ground Floor

A look into one of the museum’s exhibits. (Courtesy of the Baranov Museum)

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

The Baranov Museum is redesigning its exhibits.

Executive Director Sarah Harrington says staff reached out for public input when they began the process in 2012.

“What we found is we had a lot of feedback based on the fact that our current exhibits were not very connected, and they weren’t self-guided in any kind of way.”

She says people expressed a desire for a more cohesive narrative to link the different exhibits together, and the redesign will include that change.

“It will actually increase the number of objects that we’ll have on display. So, we’ll be able to bring quite a few more objects down out of the collections storage and put them on display while trying to loop everything into more of a connected story.”

They’ll also expand the scope of the exhibit.

“Right now we’re focused on really the Russian history, colonization, the early American period, and then whatever the current temporary exhibit is featuring, but this one will help us draw more attention to the fisheries, to all of the diverse communities that make up Kodiak’s community tapestry.”

Harrington says they’ll replace their exhibit cases and install some fake walls to help guide traffic through the museum.

The Baranov is contracting with Juneau-based museum design firm, ExhibitAK, to help with the new plans. Harrington says the total project cost is about $750,000, and the museum will kick off a capital campaign in mid-October.

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