LifeAnchorage · May 23, 2026
a ship inside the museum
You can now step inside Alaska's most famous research ship without leaving downtown Anchorage.
Daily Alaska staff · May 23, 2026 · Anchorage
The Anchorage Museum opened a new exhibit, Arctic Marine Science: Sikuliaq to Shore, on May 15, 2026, in the Patricia B. Wolf Family Galleries. The exhibit recreates a section of the Sikuliaq, a research vessel operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks and owned by the National Science Foundation, homeported in Seward.
Visitors walk through a deep blue gallery modeled on the ship's deck, stopping at microscope stations to examine real plankton. The exhibit also includes hands-on sketching tables and a gallery of Arctic illustrations for both kids and adults.
The exhibit's centerpiece is a recreated bridge, where visitors can sit in a captain's chair facing a ceiling-high screen. The screen shifts between calm seas, stormy swells, and drifting sea ice, offering a close approximation of what it is like to sail Arctic waters.
The exhibit focuses on the scientists and crew who study the Arctic and Pacific waters off Alaska's coast. It runs through April 4, 2027, giving Anchorage, Eagle River, and Mat-Su families the full summer and beyond to visit.
In this story
Questions people ask
new Anchorage Museum exhibit about research ship
Arctic Marine Science: Sikuliaq to Shore opened May 15, 2026, in the Patricia B. Wolf Family Galleries, recreating sections of the University of Alaska Fairbanks research vessel Sikuliaq.
which research ship does the exhibit show
The Sikuliaq, operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks for the National Science Foundation and homeported in Seward.
how long is the Sikuliaq exhibit open
Through April 4, 2027.
what can you do inside the museum exhibit
You can walk through a deep blue gallery, use microscope stations to view plankton, sketch at hands-on tables, and sit in a captain's chair on a recreated bridge facing a ceiling-high screen of ocean conditions.
Evidence
Sources
Claims and where they come from
- The Anchorage Museum opened Arctic Marine Science: Sikuliaq to Shore on May 15, 2026. · knba.org
- The exhibit recreates a section of the research vessel Sikuliaq, operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, homeported in Seward. · knba.org
- The exhibit runs through April 4, 2027 in the Patricia B. Wolf Family Galleries. · knba.org
Produced with AI assistance, narrated with Slav Lund's voice clone with his consent, and reviewed by a person before publishing. How we use AI →