The Anchor­age Muse­um, the largest in Alas­ka, tells the mul­ti-faceted sto­ry of the North, weav­ing togeth­er social, polit­i­cal, cul­tur­al, sci­en­tif­ic, his­toric and artis­tic threads. With its major expan­sion in 2008–2009, it has become a must see. The muse­um fea­tures an exten­sive exhib­it on the first peo­ples of Alas­ka, Alaskan his­to­ry, a Dis­cov­ery Cen­ter for hands-on explo­ration of the his­to­ry and sci­ence of the North for all ages, and part of a Smith­son­ian Arc­tic Stud­ies Cen­ter. A 25,000 sq.ft. expan­sion to be com­plet­ed in 2017 will fea­ture new gallery space for the muse­u­mAs art col­lec­tion and explo­ration of art of the North.