A world-class museum located in the heart of Alaska's largest city, the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center began as a public-private partnership to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the purchase of Alaska from Russia. The Museum opened its doors in 1968 with an exhibition of 60 borrowed Alaska paintings, and a collection of 2,500 historic and ethnographic objects loaned from the Cook Inlet Historical Society.
A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts made possible the first visiting national exhibition, "The Far North," from the National Gallery of Art in 1973. That same year, the Museum became the first museum in Alaska accredited by the American Association of Museums, and voters approved a bond issue to pay for a 15,000 square-foot building addition.
