Museum of Natural History and Planetarium
Current Exhibitions

 

 

  Exhibitions
Africa: Many Places, Many Faces
All Things Connected

Circle of the Sea
Natural Selections
Pole-to-Pole

Public Programs
Birthday Parties
Discovery Tykes
Monday Discovery Fun Zone

Tuesday Discovery Fun Zone

Drawing from the Collections
Fern Fossil Forays
Girl Scout Badge Programs
Homeschool Adventures
Life Long Learners Programs
MNH Bird Walks

Museum Explorers Club

Finding us!
Contact Information
Directions
When to visit us?
Home



































 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exhibitions

The Museum of Natural History is Rhode Island's only natural history museum and is home to the state's only public planetarium.  For more than a century the Museum has served as a unique educational, scientific and cultural resource by offering exciting exhibitions, workshops and presentations that provide ways for children and families to learn about our world and its people.

The Museum houses collections containing over one quarter million objects pertaining to natural and cultural history assembled from sites around the world. The natural history collections include fossils, mollusks, minerals, rocks, mounted flora and fauna.  The cultural collections contains over 25,000 archaeological and ethnographic specimens primarily of African, Native American and Pacific origin.

Visit the Museum and see our current exhibitions:

Africa: Many Places, Many Faces
This exhibit focuses on four ethnic groups and the eco-zones that they inhabit. By drawing connections between people and their environments, this exhibit explores the link between culture and nature, and expose the vast diversity of the African continent. The exhibit consists of African material cultural objects, supplemented by natural history specimens, photography, sound, and text panels which examine the individual cultures and the influences of African cultures on our own society. In doing so, the exhibit will highlight the connections between anthropology, art history, world history, and ecology, and will examine African material culture through these various lenses.
 

Exhibit was made possible through major funding support from Dr. Dwight B. and Anna Cooper Heath and the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, an independent state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

 

All Things Connected: Native American Creations
A showcase of Native American material culture. Objects presented from the museum's collection of beadwork, baskets, clothing, textiles, and other handmade objects. An interpretive component of the exhibit focuses on how Native Americans interrelated with the natural world.

(Return to top)

Circle of the Sea
The rich tapestry of Oceanic cultures - their varied traditions, arts and skills - echoes the natural diversity found in the Pacific islands. This new exhibit features objects from the museum's collection from Oceania and focuses on the use of natural materials by skilled craftspeople in the creation of objects of beauty and prestige. 

 

Natural Selections:
Treasures from the Museum's Collections

At the turn of the century, natural history collecting became an international movement. This Victorian styled exhibit showcases treasures donated by private collectors which inspired the founding of the Museum of Natural History in 1896.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Return to top)

Pole-to-Pole: Earth's Dynamic Extremes
On exhibit July 6, 2009 - December, 2009
Discover the frozen stretches of our planet that act as the Earth’s thermostat. Pole-to-Pole will guide visitors on a unique multi-media tour of Earth’s cryosphere…its frigid zone defined by polar ice caps. Experience the ebb and flow, freezing, thawing, and re-freezing of our planet’s dynamic polar regions captured by NASA satellite technology. Featuring NASA’s Earth Observing System and MODIS imagery, this exhibit will showcase the ever-changing landscapes of our planet’s polar extremes.
Exhibit supported by NASA RI Space Grant Consortium and Brown/NASA Northeast Regional Planetary Data Center.

(Return to top)

 


Website created: 6-Jun-1994
Last modified: 16-Jun-2009