Homer’s Pratt Museum will hold their annual “Ritz” celebration and fundraiser at Homer’s Porcupine Theater on Saturday October 10th from 6-9 PM. This year’s theme is “Under the Sea.” Museum director Whitney Harness shared more details about the upcoming event, beginning with catering:
“This year we're elevating things by having two different caterers. So we'll have the Tickled Pear providing the paste hors d'oeuvres, as well as a huge charcuterie board that's going to take up a whole six-foot table. And then Dolce Lucha is providing custom desserts, including teas and gourmet ice cream and sorbets, and since our theme is Under the Sea, most of our food and desserts reflect that in the flavor and menu choices.”
This year’s event will also include both a live and silent auction with items generously donated from individuals and businesses in the community. “We're going to have a Ritz Under the Sea themed photo booth happening too. You'll get a little printout to take home with you. Then, we have live entertainment by the Pushki Pickers, and that'll follow the live auction. So it's just going to be a really fun night celebrating Homer, the museum, and all of the things that make our community and this museum special,” Harness said.
The final comment that Harness wanted to share is that Ritz event takes place on the final day of the Alaska Historical Society’s 2026 conference: New Directions and the Pratt has partnered with the Kachemak Bay Campus Department of History to invite participants from the conference to attend the Ritz.
Tickets to the Ritz include two drink tickets and all of the proceeds directly fund the museum programs and operating expenses. Tickets are $100 and can be purchased from the Pratt website: prattmuseum.org or by following the link to the Porcupine.
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The Pratt Museum opened October by hosting an exhibit titled “Entangled & Ingested” by Dr. Katharine Owens with a focus on art, science, and policy. This exhibit features more than twenty-two multi-media pieces of life-sized portraits of animals harmed by plastic pollution. Owens' work draws attention to the devastating impact of waste on ecosystems as well as individual species. In her work, “Owens challenges viewers to confront their role in a disposable culture while encouraging a reimagining of our relationship with waste.”
Each piece in the exhibit is made from hand-sewing unrecyclable plastic onto canvas and features a species harmed by plastic pollution. “The animals serve as both victims and witnesses, offering a visual narrative of our shared vulnerability in the face of environmental collapse,” according to the museum news. Some of the smaller pieces were independently created by Dr. Owens, while the largest pieces have been collaboratively constructed during public sewing workshops in communities around the world. At the end of September, Owens offered a Homer workshop at the Pratt to contribute to a life-size portrait of the biggest piece Dr. Owens has organized so far: the 80-foot Fin Whale.
In addition to the Fin Whale construction workshop, Harness noted that one of the most significant features of Owens show so far was the attendance of Viking Cruise ship passengers who were in the Homer port last week:
“We had over 725 cruise passengers come to the museum, and they absolutely loved getting to participate in that drop-in workshop. Many of them felt really connected to the exhibit. I think because they were, you know, on a cruise ship and participating in tourism on that scale and wanting to make sure that they were being really intentional and aware of the impact of the cruise industry on the oceans. A lot of them were sharing information with Dr. Owens about their own work to advocate against single-use plastics on cruise ships and just in general in their homes. These were cruise passengers from all over the world. They are on a cruise that was departing from Alaska, heading towards Japan. I think we probably had over 455 who contributed stitches to that mural, so it's pretty impactful. And we've already had reviews left on our Google review site and on Facebook, commenting on how much they appreciated the chance to hear about Dr. Owen's work and to see those murals,” Harness said.
Owens' exhibit, “Entangled and Ingested,” will be on display at the Pratt through the end of the year.
Reporting from Homer, this is Emilie Springer.
