Art exhibit honors the legacy of Fred Machetanz

Mat-Su College is hosting an exhibit this weekend to honor one of the Valley's legends.

Today and tomorrow, the Mat-Su College Art Gallery is officially opening with the hosting of the Fred and Sara Machetanz exhibit, in, appropriately enough, the Fred and Sara Machetanz Building on the campus of Mat-Su College. The event is being done by the Mat-Su College Art Club.

Machetanz recently passed away. He and his family have been major contributors to the University of Alaska system, and Mat-Su College in general.

A few of the Machetanz' contributions include donating 230 acres adjacent to Mat-Su College; a donation of an original Machetanz oil painting and an original charcoal drawing, both of which are in the Okeson Library; and the establishment of the Machetanz Lecture Series endowment fund which enables the college to bring visiting artists specializing in representational art to Mat-Su.

At the exhibit, there will be several Machetanz prints; a collection of childrens books written by Sara and illustrated by Fred Machetanz; and several books on Alaska Native and Eskimo history from the personal collection of Fred and Sara Machetanz. There will also be a series of audio cassette recordings from an interview conducted with the Machetanzes several years ago.

The exhibit opens today from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and again tomorrow from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The gallery is in room 200 of the Fred and Sara Machetanz Building, located at Mile 2 Trunk Road.

For more information, interested people can call 745-9726.