Homer Alaska - News -

"But I told them I'm not cleaning up," McArthur said laughing.

Originally from Glasgow, Scotland, McArthur made his way to Homer by way of Montreal, the Niagara Falls area, Anchorage and finally, in 1970, the end of the Sterling Highway. After seeing her son's new home, McArthur's mother told him it was clear he chose Homer because "it looked like the village I started in in Scotland in terms of the view across the water," he said.

After moving here, McArthur was self-employed, doing house remodeling and handyman-type jobs, as well as logging and working at a University of Alaska experimental farm that once existed in the area. When the opportunity to work at the Pratt came along, he saw it as steady employment that could help put him in touch with his degree in forestry.

"I had a wife and a child and, at that time, I had no health insurance and the museum offered it," he said. "Basically, they advertised for a Jack-of-all-trades and I thought, ah ha, it's the job I've been applying for all my life."

After being hired, McArthur enjoyed an always-changing job.

"You never get to do the same thing all day, even if you want to," he said. "The variety has been nice."

It's been 10 years of everything from hanging exhibits to carefully repairing broken art pieces to figuring out how the building worked and then fixing it. There were dead spruce trees to cut from the museum's campus. There was shop space to guard.

"If I could keep them from storing too many things in the shop, it was a great place to work," McArthur said, laughing. "I could make saw dust out there without destroying the establishment."

Adding to the variety were tide-pooling assignments.

"I got to go out and collect creatures for the museum's aquarium and then creatures for those creatures to eat," McArthur said of his forays to gather crabs, muscles, octopus and other seaside critters.

All of that was done in a four-day-a-week schedule that filled 32 hours. Any spare time was used to help move furniture, and as he did Saturday set up for events.

What comes next for McArthur is undecided, except that that he won't be moving from the area and he'll have time to take care of his own projects.

"I like to do some photography, hiking and maybe I'll travel around a bit," he said, adding, "I'm changing from voluntary simplicity to involuntary simplicity when I retire."

Art Koeninger will take over as building manager, according to Beggs, using his familiarity with the museum to help him fill McArthur's shoes. Not only is Koeninger trained in techniques for mounting exhibits, he also taught his skill to others during last year's museum conference, held in Homer.

"He has a good history here and is a great fit for us," Beggs said. "

Reflecting on the Pratt's importance, McArthur is proud to have helped the museum develop its role.

"I think every community of this size usually has and should have a decent museum, both as a display place for its culture and history and to keep a physical record of the community as it grows and develops. The Pratt is surprisingly good at this," McArthur said. "It's nice to work someplace where I approve of the mission and think it's worthwhile."

To Koeninger, McArthur said, "Patience and ingenuity is what this job is mostly about. Somebody is always saying, 'Gee, can you do so-and-so?' And you say, 'I think so, but you've got to give me a little time to figure out how.'"

Gale Parsons is among those McArthur credits for teaching him how to approach the job of building manager. Parsons, the Pratt Museum's exhibits director and cultural liaison, died earlier this year.

"I am indebted to her for her patience," he said.

Even though McArthur is now officially retired, Beggs anticipates his continued involvement with the museum.

"We'll totally miss Neil, but I know Neil and the Pratt are like magnets. They won't be able to stay apart," she said.

McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.