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Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

January 01, 1970

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States.[3] Its collections include nearly 35 million specimens and artifacts and cover 4.5 billion years of history. This large collection comprises not only of specimens for exhibition, but also vast research collections housed on and offsite.

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
The east entrance and façade
Established1913 (1913)
LocationExposition Park
Los Angeles, California
Coordinates34°1′1″N 118°17′16″W / 34.01694°N 118.28778°W / 34.01694; -118.28778
TypeNatural history museum
Visitorsabout 1 million annually
DirectorLori Bettison-Varga[1]
Public transit access   Expo Park/USC, Expo/Vermont
Websitenhm.org
Natural History Museum
Location900 Exposition Blvd
Los Angeles, California
Coordinates34°1′1″N 118°17′16″W / 34.01694°N 118.28778°W / 34.01694; -118.28778
Area6 acres (2.4 ha)
Built1913
ArchitectHudson & Munsell
Architectural style
NRHP reference No.75000434[2]
Added to NRHPMarch 4, 1975

The museum is associated with two other museums in Greater Los Angeles: the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park and the William S. Hart Ranch and Museum in Newhall. The three museums work together to achieve their common mission: "to inspire wonder, discovery, and responsibility for our natural and cultural worlds."[4]

History edit

 
Considered one of the first preservationists in Los Angeles,[5] Californio politician Antonio F. Coronel's donations formed the original collection of the museum.[6]

NHM opened in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, United States in 1913 as The Museum of History, Science, and Art. The moving force behind it was a museum association founded in 1910. Its distinctive main building with fitted marble walls and domed and colonnaded rotunda, is on The National Register of Historic Places. Additional wings opened in 1925, 1930, 1960, and 1976.

The museum split in 1961 into The Los Angeles County Museum of History and Science and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). LACMA moved to new quarters on Wilshire Boulevard in 1965, and the Museum of History and Science was renamed The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. Eventually, the museum renamed itself again, becoming The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

In 2003, the museum began a campaign to transform its exhibits and visitor experience. The museum reopened its seismically retrofitted renovated 1913 rotunda, along with the new "Age of Mammals" exhibition[7] in 2010. Its Dinosaur Hall opened in July 2011. A new Los Angeles history exhibition, "Becoming Los Angeles", opened in 2013. The outdoor Nature Gardens and Nature Lab, which explore L.A. wildlife, also opened in 2013.

In 2024, the museum plans to open a new wing of the museum called the NHM Commons.[8] The commons will be approximately 60,000 square feet consisting of renovations, new constructions, and landscaping; it will be located on the southwest side of the museum. The commons aims to be a community space with a combination of indoor and outdoor experiences including a welcome area, a lobby with a shop, a theater, a café, and a plaza.

Research and collections edit

The museum maintains research and collections in the following fields:

The museum has three floors of permanent exhibits. Among the most popular museum displays are those devoted to animal habitats, dinosaurs, pre-Columbian cultures, The Ralph M. Parsons Discovery Center and Insect Zoo, and the new Nature Lab, which explores urban wildlife in Southern California.

The museum's collections are strong in many fields, but the mineralogy and Pleistocene paleontology are the most esteemed, the latter thanks to the wealth of specimens collected from The La Brea Tar Pits.

The museum has almost 30 million specimens representing marine zoology. These include one of the largest collections of marine mammal remains in the world, housed in a warehouse off site, which at over 5,000 specimens is second in size only to that of The Smithsonian.[9]

The museum's collection of historical documents is held in The Seaver Center for Western History Research.[10]

Special exhibits edit

The museum hosts regular special exhibitions which augment its collections and advance its mission. Recent special exhibits have included Mummies and Pterosaurs, both in 2016. The museum has also recently hosted exhibits that incorporate pop culture, such as an exhibit promoting House of the Dragon in 2022.[11] There have also been Los Angeles themed special exhibits such as a Becoming Los Angeles that showcases Los Angeles history through the years, divided up into before 1929 and after 1929.[12] Another example would be the current exhibit titled L.A. Underwater which exhibits almost 40 fossils from the prehistoric time, when the land where L.A. now is, was underwater.[13]

The museum also hosts a butterfly pavilion outside every spring and summer and a spider pavilion on the same site in the fall.[14][15]

Since 2017, the museum has hosted a special exhibit about P-22, the mountain lion that lived in nearby Griffith Park.[16][17][18]

Architecture edit

Over the years, the museum has built additions onto its original building. Originally dedicated when The Natural History Museum opened in 1913, the rotunda is one of the museum's most elegant and popular spaces. Lined with marble columns and crowned by a stained glass dome, the room is also the home of the very first piece of public art funded by Los Angeles County, a Beaux-Arts statue by Julia Bracken Wendt entitled Three Muses, or History, Science and Art.[19] This hall is among the most distinctive locales in Los Angeles and has often been used as a filming location.

Gallery edit

  •  
    Old east door of The Natural History Museum in 1956
  •  
    Hall of African Mammals
  •  
    Triceratops mount in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
  •  
    Museum rotunda
  •  
    Dinosaur statues along the road leading to the museum

References edit

  1. ^ Boehm, Mike (July 8, 2015). "Lori Bettison-Varga named new president of L.A. County's Natural History Museum". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  2. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. ^ "Libraries & Museums". County of Los Angeles. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  4. ^ . Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 2009-09-08.
  5. ^ Wakim, Marielle (May 15, 2018). "Fascinating Objects Tell the Story of L.A. in This Revamped Exhibit". Los Angeles. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  6. ^ . Archived from the original on 2015-09-09. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  7. ^ Muchnic, Suzanne (July 4, 2010). "'Age of Mammals' at The Natural History Museum". Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^ "Opening New Doors to Natural History". Natural History Museum. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  9. ^ Fessenden, Marissa (July 20, 2015). "In L.A. There's a Warehouse Filled with Whale Bones". Smithsonian.
  10. ^ "About the Seaver Center". Natural History Museum Los Angeles County. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  11. ^ "House of the Dragon:The Targaryen Dynasty | Natural History Museum". nhm.org. 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  12. ^ "Becoming Los Angeles". Natural History Museum. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  13. ^ "L.A. Underwater". Natural History Museum. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  14. ^ "Butterfly Pavilion". Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  15. ^ "Spider Pavilion". Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  16. ^ "P-22: The story of L.A.'s most famous feline". Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
  17. ^ "'LA's most famous feline,' P-22, gets a special exhibit at the Natural History Museum". KPCC 89.3 FM. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  18. ^ Elston, Christina (21 July 2017). "P-22 Shows His Stuff at the Natural History Museum". L.A. Parent.
  19. ^ Rubenstein, Charlotte Streifer (1990). American Women Sculptors: A History of Women Working in Three Dimensions. Boston: G. K. Hall. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-8161-8732-4.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
  • Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County – official website
  • William S. Hart Ranch and Museum
  • George C. Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits
  • Review of the Museum's new Dinosaur Hall at The New York Times, July 19, 2011
  • Slide show of exhibit
  • One of the famous Diamonds Collection in Exhibition of L.A. COUNTY MUSEUM, Recently exhibited in Taiwan Auction House, December 6, 2020

34°01′01″N 118°17′20″W / 34.016989°N 118.288781°W / 34.016989; -118.288781

January 01, 1970
natural, history, museum, angeles, county, largest, natural, historical, museum, western, united, states, collections, include, nearly, million, specimens, artifacts, cover, billion, years, history, this, large, collection, comprises, only, specimens, exhibiti. The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States 3 Its collections include nearly 35 million specimens and artifacts and cover 4 5 billion years of history This large collection comprises not only of specimens for exhibition but also vast research collections housed on and offsite The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyThe east entrance and facadeEstablished1913 1913 LocationExposition ParkLos Angeles CaliforniaCoordinates34 1 1 N 118 17 16 W 34 01694 N 118 28778 W 34 01694 118 28778TypeNatural history museumVisitorsabout 1 million annuallyDirectorLori Bettison Varga 1 Public transit access Expo Park USC Expo VermontWebsitenhm wbr orgNatural History MuseumU S National Register of Historic PlacesShow map of the Los Angeles metropolitan areaShow map of CaliforniaShow map of the United StatesLocation900 Exposition BlvdLos Angeles CaliforniaCoordinates34 1 1 N 118 17 16 W 34 01694 N 118 28778 W 34 01694 118 28778Area6 acres 2 4 ha Built1913ArchitectHudson amp MunsellArchitectural styleBeaux ArtsNeoclassicalRomanesquePlateresqueNRHP reference No 75000434 2 Added to NRHPMarch 4 1975 The museum is associated with two other museums in Greater Los Angeles the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park and the William S Hart Ranch and Museum in Newhall The three museums work together to achieve their common mission to inspire wonder discovery and responsibility for our natural and cultural worlds 4 Contents 1 History 2 Research and collections 3 Special exhibits 4 Architecture 5 Gallery 6 References 7 External linksHistory edit nbsp Considered one of the first preservationists in Los Angeles 5 Californio politician Antonio F Coronel s donations formed the original collection of the museum 6 NHM opened in Exposition Park Los Angeles California United States in 1913 as The Museum of History Science and Art The moving force behind it was a museum association founded in 1910 Its distinctive main building with fitted marble walls and domed and colonnaded rotunda is on The National Register of Historic Places Additional wings opened in 1925 1930 1960 and 1976 The museum split in 1961 into The Los Angeles County Museum of History and Science and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art LACMA LACMA moved to new quarters on Wilshire Boulevard in 1965 and the Museum of History and Science was renamed The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History Eventually the museum renamed itself again becoming The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County In 2003 the museum began a campaign to transform its exhibits and visitor experience The museum reopened its seismically retrofitted renovated 1913 rotunda along with the new Age of Mammals exhibition 7 in 2010 Its Dinosaur Hall opened in July 2011 A new Los Angeles history exhibition Becoming Los Angeles opened in 2013 The outdoor Nature Gardens and Nature Lab which explore L A wildlife also opened in 2013 In 2024 the museum plans to open a new wing of the museum called the NHM Commons 8 The commons will be approximately 60 000 square feet consisting of renovations new constructions and landscaping it will be located on the southwest side of the museum The commons aims to be a community space with a combination of indoor and outdoor experiences including a welcome area a lobby with a shop a theater a cafe and a plaza Research and collections editThe museum maintains research and collections in the following fields Annelida Anthropology and Archaeology Ethnology Crustacea Echinoderms Entomology Herpetology History Ichthyology Invertebrate paleontology Malacology Mammalogy Mineralogy Ornithology Vertebrate paleontology The museum has three floors of permanent exhibits Among the most popular museum displays are those devoted to animal habitats dinosaurs pre Columbian cultures The Ralph M Parsons Discovery Center and Insect Zoo and the new Nature Lab which explores urban wildlife in Southern California The museum s collections are strong in many fields but the mineralogy and Pleistocene paleontology are the most esteemed the latter thanks to the wealth of specimens collected from The La Brea Tar Pits The museum has almost 30 million specimens representing marine zoology These include one of the largest collections of marine mammal remains in the world housed in a warehouse off site which at over 5 000 specimens is second in size only to that of The Smithsonian 9 The museum s collection of historical documents is held in The Seaver Center for Western History Research 10 Special exhibits editThe museum hosts regular special exhibitions which augment its collections and advance its mission Recent special exhibits have included Mummies and Pterosaurs both in 2016 The museum has also recently hosted exhibits that incorporate pop culture such as an exhibit promoting House of the Dragon in 2022 11 There have also been Los Angeles themed special exhibits such as a Becoming Los Angeles that showcases Los Angeles history through the years divided up into before 1929 and after 1929 12 Another example would be the current exhibit titled L A Underwater which exhibits almost 40 fossils from the prehistoric time when the land where L A now is was underwater 13 The museum also hosts a butterfly pavilion outside every spring and summer and a spider pavilion on the same site in the fall 14 15 Since 2017 the museum has hosted a special exhibit about P 22 the mountain lion that lived in nearby Griffith Park 16 17 18 Architecture editOver the years the museum has built additions onto its original building Originally dedicated when The Natural History Museum opened in 1913 the rotunda is one of the museum s most elegant and popular spaces Lined with marble columns and crowned by a stained glass dome the room is also the home of the very first piece of public art funded by Los Angeles County a Beaux Arts statue by Julia Bracken Wendt entitled Three Muses or History Science and Art 19 This hall is among the most distinctive locales in Los Angeles and has often been used as a filming location Gallery edit nbsp Old east door of The Natural History Museum in 1956 nbsp Hall of African Mammals nbsp Triceratops mount in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County nbsp Museum rotunda nbsp Dinosaur statues along the road leading to the museumReferences edit Boehm Mike July 8 2015 Lori Bettison Varga named new president of L A County s Natural History Museum Los Angeles Times Retrieved July 15 2016 National Register Information System National Register of Historic Places National Park Service July 9 2010 Libraries amp Museums County of Los Angeles Retrieved July 15 2016 Mission Natural History Museum of Los Angeles Archived from the original on 2009 09 08 Wakim Marielle May 15 2018 Fascinating Objects Tell the Story of L A in This Revamped Exhibit Los Angeles Retrieved March 16 2022 Antonio de Coronel Archived from the original on 2015 09 09 Retrieved 2020 12 12 Muchnic Suzanne July 4 2010 Age of Mammals at The Natural History Museum Los Angeles Times Opening New Doors to Natural History Natural History Museum Retrieved 24 April 2023 Fessenden Marissa July 20 2015 In L A There s a Warehouse Filled with Whale Bones Smithsonian About the Seaver Center Natural History Museum Los Angeles County Retrieved 31 December 2016 House of the Dragon The Targaryen Dynasty Natural History Museum nhm org 2022 08 05 Retrieved 2023 05 30 Becoming Los Angeles Natural History Museum Retrieved 24 April 2023 L A Underwater Natural History Museum Retrieved 24 April 2023 Butterfly Pavilion Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Retrieved 2017 11 21 Spider Pavilion Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Retrieved 2017 11 21 P 22 The story of L A s most famous feline Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County LA s most famous feline P 22 gets a special exhibit at the Natural History Museum KPCC 89 3 FM 20 July 2017 Retrieved 27 October 2022 Elston Christina 21 July 2017 P 22 Shows His Stuff at the Natural History Museum L A Parent Rubenstein Charlotte Streifer 1990 American Women Sculptors A History of Women Working in Three Dimensions Boston G K Hall p 108 ISBN 978 0 8161 8732 4 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County official website William S Hart Ranch and Museum George C Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits Review of the Museum s new Dinosaur Hall at The New York Times July 19 2011 Slide show of exhibit One of the famous Diamonds Collection in Exhibition of L A COUNTY MUSEUM Recently exhibited in Taiwan Auction House December 6 2020 34 01 01 N 118 17 20 W 34 016989 N 118 288781 W 34 016989 118 288781 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County amp oldid 1202368081, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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