The poor guide was sweating, unconfident, and at a loss for words to explain the art in the Anchorage Fine Art Museum.

On an Alaskan tour last year we escaped rain under a shelter with two women.How easy it is start conversations with strangers when one is older. “You must see the Anchorage art museum,” one says. “Their theme is the blending of Native-American and Anglo-American cultures.”

We tried it. Our guide, “Bob,” was a tall fellow with a bass voice, eas...