April 2022 – Over the past couple of years, the Juneau Community Foundation, through its Juneau Capitol Fund, has purchased and donated ten valuable and historically significant oil paintings to the Legislature for display in the Capitol Building.
These ten were purchased from a collection formerly displayed in the Baranof Hotel. These paintings of iconic early Alaska scenes by famous artists Eustace Ziegler and Sydney Laurence were delivered to the Legislative Council in February. Some of these paintings are already displayed on the walls of the Speaker’s Chambers and the office of the Senate President. Soon, various Committee Rooms and legislative hallways throughout the Capitol will display the remaining paintings.
An eleventh painting, a Sydney Laurence work, will be delivered to the Capitol on Wednesday, April 20, at 3:00 p.m. to the House Speaker’s office. It’s an original 1925 Sidney Laurence painting of a camp along the Eagle River from when he visited the U.S. Survey Camp at Eagle River. The painting was given by the artist to Eckley Coxe Guerin. The Guerins kept the painting in the family until very recently when acquired by the Community Foundation from Renee Guerin.
The Juneau Community Foundation’s Capitol Fund was endowed to provide private support to Juneau’s Capitol facilities. Donations since inception include extensive support for remodeling of the Capitol Building, Gavel to Gavel television and audio equipment, purchase of the nearby Behrends House for the Administration, purchase of the Assembly Building for Legislative offices and housing, and improvements for the newly renovated Capitol Park. Since 2014, this fund has provided over $3.5 million for improvements to the Capitol complex area; the artwork was purchased for $182,000.
