Valdez’s Whitney Museum: where my point of view on Alaska souvenirs changed

We visit a lot of museums because they’re always very different and have such varied collections. The Maxine and Jesse Whitney Museum in Valdez is very different from any other we’ve been to in Alaska. While most museums in Alaska strive to tell the story of Native Alaskans through the lens of settler interaction or preserving their historic pieces, the Valdez Whitney Museum has a completely different approach, sharing the story of Alaskan artisans through early tourism. The Whitney Museum positions souvenirs and tourism as an important part of keeping culture alive, and it completely altered my view of souvenirs in Alaska.

We’ve got all the information to help you plan a visit to the Maxine and Jesse Whitney Museum in Valdez, as it slips under the radar of most visitors. If you have any questions about the exhibits and curation, or visiting Valdez, please leave a comment or send us a note. We’re always happy to share more and help you plan a great trip through Alaska.

What Makes the Whitney Museum Worth Visiting

The Whitney Museum in Valdez seems like it’s just another small natural history museum or maybe a collection of indigenous art, but once you start to read each of the exhibits, you realize that the museum is actually much more. This is one of the few museums I’ve been to where I read every single placard and thought about the content and context. Truly, I’ve not had a museum experience that shifted the narrative of a common object or collection the way the Whitney Museum in Valdez does. It shows Alaska art and tourism consumables as so much more than souvenirs.

When you first start to go through the exhibits you’ll notice so many familiar souvenirs that you can still buy replicas of today. Reading about them though, that’s when it hits you that this large collection of varied “souvenirs” really represents a whole cultural experience of many different people, from the Tlingit to the Yupik and Athabascan nations. Considering each piece and figure as somebody’s individual craft and creation done in both traditional and modernized styles, it immediately changed how I view different sorts of trinkets or pieces of art that I’ve seen being shuffled around my whole life.

The other piece of the Whitney Museum in Valdez that was interesting is the taxidermy collection. You see a lot of preserved (stuffed) animals in natural history museums, and the Alaska State Museum in Juneau has quite the collection, but here the exhibits go into more than just where you find moose and foxes. The Whitney Museum taxidermy collection is an exhibition of the history of taxidermy and the evolution of tourism in Alaska. It’s literally a timeline of how visitation or settler numbers impacted the wildlife and the interest of future visitors. I love learning about human behavior, tourism and history in general, so the Whitney Museum spoke to me on many levels.

Tips for Visiting the Whitney Museum in Valdez

The Maxine and Jesse Whitney Museum is unique to visit with kids because of how the exhibits are written and presented. While you can easily stroll through and just look at the crafts and taxidermy, it would be a shame to not make it into a learning opportunity, for kids and adults. Beginning with the wall displays and working your way through the Whitney Museum in a clockwise pattern, it’s very easy to talk with kids about what all the exhibits are explaining. You can even turn it into a bit of a scavenger hunt once you understand the flow of the storytelling.

Allow yourself 60-90 minutes to really enjoy the Whitney Museum. If you’re in Valdez on a rainy day, this is the BEST activity to enjoy while you wait for the clouds to clear, but it’s good for a sunny day too. Plan your time here for the morning, right after opening, if you can, as you’ll be able to either do and read it all in that visit or you’ll whet your whistle and want to come back later to finish.

The Whitney Museum in Valdez is very different from the Anchorage Museum or the Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka. Here everything is geared more to help a visitor change their point of view of Alaskan art and artifacts instead of displaying a progression or history, as solely as art. Keep an open mind as you read your way through the Whitney Museum.

Getting to the Valdez Whitney Museum

When you’re in Valdez, you can’t miss visiting the Maxine and Jesse Whitney Museum. You can walk there from downtown or stop on your way back in from hiking the Shoup Bay or Mineral Creek trails. The museum is located at the Prince William Sound College and is accessed either through its own entrance or through the main college foyer entrance. There is plenty of parking, but pay attention to signs, as this is a multi-use parking area.