Maxine & Jesse Whitney Museum

The Maxine & Jesse Whitney Museum contains one of the largest collections of Native Alaskan art and artifacts in the world. The Whitneys came to Alaska in 1947, and Maxine traveled to Native villages throughout the territory, buying items directly from the artists to sell in her gift shop. In 1969, Maxine assumed ownership of the Eskimo Museum in Fairbanks, and continued her collecting until the mid-1980s. The collection was donated by Ms. Whitney to Prince William Sound Community College in 1998. The artifacts were housed in a lovely climate- controlled facility at the Valdez Airport for ten years, and now find a permanent home in our new state-of-the-art museum, adjacent to the college. Since opening in May 2008, the professionally designed exhibits have garnered much attention from locals and visitors alike.