Event Blog Number 2

When I first saw the Natural History Museum was an offered event for this class I was surprised and curious of how a History Museum pertained to the subject matter of this class, but intrigued never the less.  So this past weekend I visited the museum and in doing so discovered many ways in which the exhibit related to both art and science. As we walked through different parts of the Museum even areas of the seemingly least related subject matter were full of scientific facts and artistic practices. Also no matter what was being presented, each artifact was set up in an artistic and visually appealing way. (Some artifacts pictured below) Some of the most visually appealing pieces were in the prehistoric animal exhibit. Each fake animal had a mural behind it and other items such as trees, dirt, etc. set up to create an extremely realistic looking piece of art that takes viewers into the world of each animal. Each animal’s area seemed to me to be a masterpiece of art that was both beautiful and informative.

My favorite portion of the Natural History Museum was the Gem and Mineral Hall. I found it to be an exceptionally beautiful part of the Museum, and also the most relevant to this class. Gems and Minerals are used in all sorts of different artwork, form jewelry to large colorful sculptures such as the ones pictured below. Not only are Gems extremely beautiful, they are also full of historical and scientific information. Reading through the information in the museum I learned that Gems like these teach us everything from geology and mineralogy to gemology, paleontology, and mining practices. Gems combine art and science perfectly and are a great example of everything we have learned in this class.