Museums Alaska has announced the recipients of its 2026 Statewide Field Awards, recognizing three Alaska museum and cultural-sector leaders for outstanding contributions to the field, their communities, and the preservation and interpretation of Alaska’s cultural heritage.
The awards were presented during the 2026 Museums Alaska Museum and Cultural Center Conference in Juneau, which brings together museum professionals and cultural workers from across Alaska and beyond.
Award for Excellence in the Field: Alexandra Painter
The Award for Excellence in the Field was presented to Alexandra Painter, Exhibits Manager at the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository in Kodiak.
For the past four years, Painter has led the development of the Alutiiq Museum’s new 2,000-square-foot exhibit hall and the Canasqat—Things That Matter project. The project transformed the museum’s expanded gallery space into a comprehensive exploration of Alutiiq culture and history.
Painter oversaw an extensive process involving exhibit design, fabrication, installation, contractors, vendors, supplies, budgets, and community review. The completed exhibit hall includes five thematic galleries, 20 custom cases, more than 600 objects, approximately 200 panels and murals, audio and video features, a replica sod house children’s area, and an interactive creation station.
This project was larger than anything she had previously undertaken and she led it with extraordinary skill, creativity, patience, and determination.
The project also provided an opportunity for Painter to mentor a young Alutiiq woman who worked alongside her for nine months and subsequently pursued a career in heritage preservation and the museum field.
The Award for Excellence in the Field recognizes Alexandra Painter’s leadership, creativity, perseverance, collaboration, and commitment to both the Alutiiq community and the museum profession.
Midnight Sun Award: Mike Monterusso
The Midnight Sun Award, a special recognition presented when multiple nominees demonstrate exceptional contributions to the field, was presented to Mike Monterusso, previous Executive Director of the Alaska Botanical Garden.
Monterusso dedicated 14 years to the Alaska Botanical Garden, including eight years as Executive Director, and played a significant role in its growth and evolution.
During his tenure, the Garden was transformed into a year-round attraction with fall and winter events like BOOtanical and Winter Lights. The Garden expanded their public programming by developing an educational CSA program, summer camps, art classes for children and adults, yoga in the garden, and, of course, many classes on gardening.
Monterusso also expanded partnerships with organizations such as Bird Treatment and Learning Center, reimagined the Spring Garden Conference & Expo to engage a broader community, and created new opportunities for artists to bring their work into the Garden—including spectacular installations like Night & Day by the Myth Makers.
Under Monterusso’s leadership, the organization grew from four permanent staff to a team of more than a dozen full-time employees, along with seasonal staff.
The Midnight Sun Award recognizes Mike Monterusso’s dedication to the Alaska Botanical Garden, his work building community partnerships, and his lasting contributions to the organization and the broader Anchorage community.
Award in Honor of Lifetime Achievement: Amy Steffian
The Award in Honor of Lifetime Achievement was presented to Amy Steffian, Chief Curator Emerita of the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository.
Steffian has dedicated her career to the study, preservation, and interpretation of Alutiiq/Sugpiaq history and culture in the Kodiak region since 1984. As one of the Alutiiq Museum’s first employees, beginning in 1995, she has played a central role in the development of the museum’s programs, collections, exhibitions, research, and professional policies.
Steffian has also been instrumental in enduring programs including Alutiiq Word of the Week, now in its 30th season, Community Archaeology, and the Rural School Art Show. She has co-curated significant exhibitions, authored and edited numerous books and scholarly publications, led archaeological investigations, and helped make Alutiiq history and archaeological research accessible to the public.
She played a key role in the Alutiiq Museum becoming only the second Native museum in the United States to receive accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums, and in its subsequent reaccreditation. And her work on collections, ethics, historic preservation, and partnerships has helped establish professional models for other museums.
Beyond her scholarly and professional accomplishments, Steffian has mentored generations of archaeologists and museum professionals through graduate committees, research collaborations, manuscript reviews, and countless informal acts of guidance and encouragement.
Her legacy can be seen throughout the Alutiiq Museum—in its programs, policies, exhibitions, publications, collections, and, perhaps most importantly, in the people she has mentored.
The Award in Honor of Lifetime Achievement recognizes Amy Steffian’s more than four decades of scholarship, service, mentorship, and extraordinary dedication to the Kodiak community, the Alutiiq Museum, and the museum profession in Alaska.
“Museums Alaska is proud to recognize these three individuals for the extraordinary ways they have strengthened museums and cultural work in Alaska,” said Dixie Clough, Director of Museums Alaska. “Their contributions demonstrate the breadth of expertise, creativity, leadership, and dedication that exists throughout our statewide museum community.”