Event #2 - Museum of Natural History

On the same day that I visited the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition at the California Science Center, I also visited the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. I remember taking plenty of field trips to the NHM when I was younger but hadn’t been back until yesterday. First walking in I was amazed by the mosaic art on the ceiling and the statue in the center. 

The gigantic fossils on display caught my attention especially because they had animals I had never seen before. They had a variety of mammal and aquatic fossils, live animals, and life-like animal representations on display. The fossil part caught my attention because I like the idea of how scientists have to excavate the fossils, be extremely delicate, and have to put them together like a puzzle. I also like that they had an area where we could see the Paleontologists dust off and work on the fossil in real time.

[Figure 1] Natural History Museum Paleontologist Lab

[Figure 2] Me In Front of a Fossil

On the other side of the museum, they had an area dedicated to the history of Los Angeles. This area had paintings, replicated landscapes of the past, and historical tools, the descriptions next to the displays had the significance of these items. The main display that caught my attention was the paintings of the 21 missions across California. This display touched home because I remember recreating the Santa Barbra 1786 one for a group project in the 4th grade.

[Figures 3 & 4] Natural History Museum "Missions" Display

Overall, the NHM reminds me of our very first lesson of the quarter “Two Cultures”. I connect the two because the museum is filled with both art and science in one place. We can see the art aspects in the paintings on display, the historical tools they show, the behind-the-scenes of cinematic art, etc., and see the science in the excavated fossils and rocks & minerals. The art and sciences work together and are a reminder of how connected these two cultures can be historically and in the present. This museum does have a cost of admission but it wasn’t that pricy with my student discount included so I would recommend everyone try to take the time to attend. 

References

“Exhibitions at the Natural History Museum.” Natural History Museum, nhm.org/experience-nhm/exhibitions-natural-history-museum. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.

“Departments and Programs.” Natural History Museum, nhm.org/research-collections/departments-and-programs. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.

Snow, C.P. "Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution." Cambridge University Press, 1961.

Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in between.” Leonardo, vol. 34, no. 2, 2001, pp. 121–125, https://doi.org/10.1162/002409401750184672.