In October, my mother and I visited the
Bell Museum of Natural History. It's located on the U of M campus in Minneapolis. The only reason I even knew about the museum is because my friend told me that his distant relative painted some of the murals in the exhibits. I was eager to check those out.
With only a few small floors to peruse, the museum felt stuffy and collegiate (I mean this in a good way). There was dark wood paneling along the walls, muffling carpet underfoot, and large diorama behind glass windows. It felt like something from an older era.
Within the dioramas, there were several birds, fish, small mammals, and some large mammals. All of which, I believe, are native species to Minnesota. There was a beautiful bald eagle and an impressive male moose there. I was also surprised to see a pack of wolves and a bunch of black bears. Some of the displays were species-specific, and some were scene-specific with multiple species in one diorama. Overall, it was pretty interesting. If you like nature, you'd probably like this museum.
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| This is a tree painted on glass in front of the background painting. So lovely! |
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| A closer look. Such beautiful brush work. |
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| Beautiful pheasant. |
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| Look at those gorgeous feathers! |
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| I may have liked the background paintings more than the animals. |
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| This was really neat. They suspended the ducks in "water."
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The museum did a really nice job of blending the background paintings of the animals
with the actual animals. |
I probably would've had more photos of more displays, but I got tired of taking photos and wanted to just look at everything.
There was a kiddo birthday party happening while we were visiting too. Nothing tires you out quicker than a bunch of loud kids and their equally loud shrill-voiced museum guide.
