4th Avenue Marketplace Exhibits

Alaska 1964 Earthquake Exhibit

Located in the east corner of the 4th Avenue Market Place, the Earthquake Exhibit takes you back to Fourth Avenue and various parts of Alaska on that fateful Good Friday in 1964.

Browse the large photos and witness the destruction and damage the "Great Alaska Earthquake" caused before entering the Alaska Experience Theatre for interactive displays on the power of an Earthquake. 

Finish the experience seated comfortably in the 32-seat Earthquake Theatre where you'll view  first-hand accounts of the 9.2 quake that rattled downtown Anchorage for nearly five minutes. Stay tuned for a surprise at the end!

Fred Machetanz – an Alaska and American Treasure

“If anyone viewing my work has felt the beauty, the thrills and the fascination I have known in Alaska, then I have succeeded in what I set out to do” – Fred Machetanz Feb. 20, 1908.

The 4th Avenue Marketplace is proud to present the only permanent exhibition of Fed Machetanz’s complete series of Alaska prints.

Artist, writer, art historian and innovator, Fred Machetanz embodied the spirit of Alaska – he lived the life he loved. Machetanz’s art is unique in several ways; through his lifelong travels among Alaska landscapes he became a celebrated an authoritative chronicler of its beauty, magnitude and multitude.

He depicted scenes from native life with an intimacy and knowledge rarely allowed a white man, and he developed his own unique version of the classic painting techniques to most truly convey the light and color of what he saw.

Matchetanz’ art has invaluable anthropological as well as spiritual value, and his brilliant technique makes him a barer of classic painting tradition that echoes back to early renaissance masters. His natural way of pursuing the heritage from Sidney Laurence, Paul Ziegler and Ted Lambert, Machetanz remains an inspiration for younger artist trying to find new ways of depicting Alaska.

We invite you to wander around the 4th Ave Marketplace. As you walk from picture to picture, we know you will be drawn to the stunning transparent lucidity and expression of Machetanz’s paintings, and once you’re “hooked,” you, the painting and Machetanz will share a timeless atmosphere together.