Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 34°01′01″N 118°17′20″W / 34.016989°N 118.288781°W / 34.016989; -118.288781
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{{Infobox Museum
{{Infobox Museum
| name = Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM)
| name = Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
| image = NaturalHistoryMuseumOfLosAngelesCounty.jpg
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The '''Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (abbreviated NHM)''' is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lacounty.gov/ |title=Los Angeles County. |work=Lacounty.gov |accessdate= July 15, 2016}}</ref> Its collections include nearly 35 million specimens and [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifact]]s and cover 4.5 billion years of history. This large collection is comprised not only of specimens for exhibition, but also of vast research collections housed on and offsite.
The '''Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County''' is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lacounty.gov/ |title=Los Angeles County. |work=Lacounty.gov |accessdate= July 15, 2016}}</ref> Its collections include nearly 35 million specimens and [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifact]]s and cover 4.5 billion years of history. This large collection is comprised not only of specimens for exhibition, but also of vast research collections housed on and offsite.


The Museum is actually an association of three Los Angeles area museums: The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the [[La Brea Tar Pits|Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits]] in Hancock Park and the [[William S. Hart Ranch and Museum]] in [[Newhall, Santa Clarita, California|Newhall]], [[Santa Clarita, California]]. The three museums work together to achieve their common mission: "to inspire wonder, discovery, and responsibility for our natural and cultural worlds."<ref>http://www.nhm.org/site/about-our-museums/mission</ref>
The Museum is actually an association of three Los Angeles area museums: The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the [[La Brea Tar Pits|Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits]] in Hancock Park and the [[William S. Hart Ranch and Museum]] in [[Newhall, Santa Clarita, California|Newhall]], [[Santa Clarita, California]]. The three museums work together to achieve their common mission: "to inspire wonder, discovery, and responsibility for our natural and cultural worlds."<ref>http://www.nhm.org/site/about-our-museums/mission</ref>
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NHM opened in [[Exposition Park (Los Angeles)|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.
NHM opened in [[Exposition Park (Los Angeles)|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 was divided 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''.
The museum was divided 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.


[[File:Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History - Hall of African Mammals.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|Hall of African Mammals]]
[[File:Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History - Hall of African Mammals.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|Hall of African Mammals]]
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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.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-natural-history-museum-20100704,0,3635610.story |title='Age of Mammals' at the Natural History Museum |date=July 4, 2010 |author=Suzanne Muchnic |publisher=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> 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 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-natural-history-museum-20100704,0,3635610.story |title='Age of Mammals' at the Natural History Museum |date=July 4, 2010 |author=Suzanne Muchnic |publisher=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> 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.


==Research and Collections==
==Research and collections==
[[File:Triceratops mount.jpg|thumb|''[[Triceratops]]'' mount in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County]]
[[File:Triceratops mount.jpg|thumb|''[[Triceratops]]'' mount in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County]]
The museum maintains research and collections in the following fields:
The museum maintains research and collections in the following fields:
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The museum's collection of historical documents is held in the '''Seaver Center for Western History Research'''.<ref>{{cite web|title=About the Seaver Center|url=http://www.nhm.org/site/research-collections/seaver-center|website=Natural History Museum Los Angeles County|accessdate=31 December 2016}}</ref>
The museum's collection of historical documents is held in the '''Seaver Center for Western History Research'''.<ref>{{cite web|title=About the Seaver Center|url=http://www.nhm.org/site/research-collections/seaver-center|website=Natural History Museum Los Angeles County|accessdate=31 December 2016}}</ref>


==Special Events and Exhibits==
==Special exhibits==
The Museum hosts regular special exhibitions which augment and showcase its collections to advance its mission. Recent special exhibits have included Mummies and [[Pterosaur]]s.
The Museum hosts regular special exhibitions which augment its collections and advance its mission. Recent special exhibits have included Mummies and [[Pterosaur]]s.


The museum also hosts a butterfly pavilion outside every spring and summer as well as a spider pavilion on the same site in the fall.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nhm.org/site/explore-exhibits/special-exhibits/butterfly-pavilion|title= Butterfly Pavilion |website=[[Natural_History_Museum_of_Los_Angeles_County|L.A.'s Natural History Museum]]|access-date=2017-11-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nhm.org/site/explore-exhibits/special-exhibits/spider-pavilion|title= Spider Pavilion |website=[[Natural_History_Museum_of_Los_Angeles_County|L.A.'s Natural History Museum]]|access-date=2017-11-21}}</ref>
The museum also hosts a butterfly pavilion outside every spring and summer and a spider pavilion on the same site in the fall.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nhm.org/site/explore-exhibits/special-exhibits/butterfly-pavilion|title= Butterfly Pavilion |publisher=Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County |access-date=2017-11-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nhm.org/site/explore-exhibits/special-exhibits/spider-pavilion|title= Spider Pavilion |publisher=Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County |access-date=2017-11-21}}</ref>

==Historic Events and Exhibits==
In 1988, the museum unveiled the largest special event up to that date, “King Herod’s Dream:The Treasures of Caesarea.” For the Caesarea opening event and exhibit, John Charnay, the museum’s director of public relations, secured its sponsors and invited and helped host numerous local, national, and international business, political, and social leaders for the exhibit's special event, including the exhibit's largest donor, [[Michael Milken]], who donated $100,000 to sponsor it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nhm.org/site/sites/default/files/pdf/NHM%201913%20Society.pdf|title= The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is grateful to these members of the 1913 Society for their lifetime generosity |website=[[Natural_History_Museum_of_Los_Angeles_County|L.A.'s Natural History Museum]]|access-date=2017-11-21}}</ref><ref name="Milken'sPhilanthropy">{{cite book |url=
https://books.google.com/books?id=v3Pf4qand_8C&pg=PA274&lpg=PA274&dq=%22michael+milken%22+AND+%22natural+history+museum%22&source=bl&ots=bBMSsZtRFl&sig=Bwbi1eNMrx5L7ygj9gQPrJqHxG4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0h4zQpcvXAhVC4WMKHYM-BoYQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=%22michael%2Bmilken%22%20%22natural%20history%20museum%22&f=false |editor=Alan M. Tigay |title= The Jewish Traveler: Hadassah Magazine's Guide to the World's Jewish Communities and Sights |publisher=Jason Aronson |year=1994 |pages=274 |isbn= 978-1568210780}}</ref> The honorary "star" of the event, a precious gold dinar, the first one minted in Spain by the [[Islam_in_Spain|Muslim states of the Iberian Peninsula]], who in the 11th and 12th centuries ruled North Africa and most of Spain, was on a rare, once in a lifetime display. The [[Gold_dinar|gold dinar]] hung on the north wall of a room in the exhibit of "Caesarea on the Sea, King Herod's Dream City," at the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1988-09-04/news/vw-1925_1_county-museum|title= A Museum Renders Unto Caesarea |website=[[Natural_History_Museum_of_Los_Angeles_County|L.A.'s Natural History Museum]]|access-date=2017-11-21}}</ref> A great deal of the continued work of excavating Caesarea is now being done by volunteers, under the supervision of archeologists. The archeologists have been aware of [[Caesarea]] for centuries, including it's 1,300-year history under many different conquerors.
In the museum's second most popular exhibit in its history, John Charnay, the P.R. director of the museum prior to his promotion as its director of major gifts and planned giving and later director of development for capital campaigns, raised additional funding from private foundations such as the Ethnic Arts Council, as well as other sources of museum funding so as to provide the highest level of security that the museum had ever required. The museum placed selections from its prized collection of pre-Columbian gold artifacts on permanent display. The Columbian gold artifacts were on display in a newly renovated gallery in the museum's pre-Columbian Hall. A precious [[gold dinar]], the first one minted in Spain by the [[Al-Andalus|Muslim states of the Iberian Peninsula]], who in the 11th and 12th centuries ruled North Africa and most of Spain, was on a rare, once in a lifetime display. The gold dinar hung on the north wall in a special room in the museum.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1987-04-26/entertainment/ca-1207_1_moca|title= John Charnay's Gold exhibit at Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=2017-11-21}}</ref> During part of its first month, "Gold: The Quest for New World Riches" attracted 22,000 visitors, noted Charnay. That compares with 30,000 visitors who viewed the record-breaking "Maya: Treasures of An Ancient Civilization" during its entire first month in 1985. The exhibit was also one of the most comprehensive displays of gold ever assembled in the United States according to the 75+ year old museum's senior curators.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1987-04-26/entertainment/ca-1207_1_moca|title= John Charnay's Gold exhibit at Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=2017-11-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/173100064/|title= HIDDEN TREASURES UNVEILED: The Natural History Museum, now showing " Gold: The Quest for New World Riches," its second most popular |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=2017-11-21}}</ref>

==Filmed "On Location"==

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles has been the host to many film and television productions throughout its history, according to its longtime former public relations director, marketing director and capital campaign development director, John Charnay, the son of former [[Four Star Television|Four Star]] Producer, David Charnay. [[Aaron Spelling]]'s [[Charmed]] as well as the remake of Spelling's [[90210_(TV_series)|90210]] were both frequently filmed on location at the museum. Many other Hollywood chart-topping films and television shows have also been filmed at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, including [[Bones_(TV_series)|Bones]], [[MacGyver]], [[Doctor Mabuse]], [[Clean Slate]], [[Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer|Buffy]], the original [[Mission:_Impossible|Mission Impossible]] television series, [[Art_Thief_Musical!|"Art Thief Musical!,"]] [[Pretty Woman]], and [[Escape_from_the_Planet_of_the_Apes|Escape From The Planet Of The Apes]], among many other filmed productions. Today, many new film and television productions continue to be shot on the museum's location, as well as throughout the exterior location within the museum's property.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://moviemaps.org/locations/rt|title= Movies Filmed at Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County |website=MovieMaps.org|access-date=2017-11-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/172544142/|title= John Charnay of Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=2017-11-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://seeing-stars.com/museums/naturalhistorymuseum.shtml|title= Seeing Stars: Hollywood Museums The Los Angeles County Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County |website=MovieMaps.org|access-date=2017-11-21}}</ref>


==Architecture==
==Architecture==
[[File:Natural History Museum of Los Angeles Rotunda.JPG|thumb|The Rotunda of The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles]]
[[File:Natural History Museum of Los Angeles Rotunda.JPG|thumb|Museum rotunda]]
Over the years, the museum has built additions onto its original building. Originally dedicated when the Natural History Museum opened its doors 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.'' <ref>Rubenstein, Charlotte Streifer, ‘’American Women Sculptors: A History of Women Working in Three Dimensions’’, G. K. Hall and Co. Boston, 1990 p. 108</ref> This hall is among the most distinctive locales in Los Angeles and has often been used as a filming location.
Over the years, the museum has built additions onto its original building. Originally dedicated when the Natural History Museum opened its doors 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''.<ref>Rubenstein, Charlotte Streifer, ‘’American Women Sculptors: A History of Women Working in Three Dimensions’’, G. K. Hall and Co. Boston, 1990 p. 108</ref> This hall is among the most distinctive locales in Los Angeles and has often been used as a filming location.


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 13:49, 25 November 2017

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Map
Established1913 (1913)
LocationExposition Park, Los Angeles, California
TypeNatural history museum
VisitorsAbout 1,000,000 Annually
DirectorDr. Lori Bettison-Varga[1]
Public transit accessE Line  Expo Park/USC
Expo/Vermont (Expo Line)
WebsiteMuseum website
Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is located in California
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is located in the United States
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
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 styleBeaux Arts, Neoclassical, Romanesque, Spanish Plateresque
NRHP reference No.75000434[2]
Added to NRHPMarch 4, 1975

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 is comprised not only of specimens for exhibition, but also of vast research collections housed on and offsite.

The Museum is actually an association of three Los Angeles area museums: The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park and the William S. Hart Ranch and Museum in Newhall, Santa Clarita, California. The three museums work together to achieve their common mission: "to inspire wonder, discovery, and responsibility for our natural and cultural worlds."[4]

History

Old east door of the Natural History Museum in 1956

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 was divided 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.

Hall of African Mammals

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.[5] 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.

Research and collections

Triceratops mount in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

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 famed La Brea Tar Pits. The museum has almost 30 million specimens representing marine zoology.

The museum's collection of historical documents is held in the Seaver Center for Western History Research.[6]

Special exhibits

The Museum hosts regular special exhibitions which augment its collections and advance its mission. Recent special exhibits have included Mummies and Pterosaurs.

The museum also hosts a butterfly pavilion outside every spring and summer and a spider pavilion on the same site in the fall.[7][8]

Architecture

Museum rotunda

Over the years, the museum has built additions onto its original building. Originally dedicated when the Natural History Museum opened its doors 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.[9] This hall is among the most distinctive locales in Los Angeles and has often been used as a filming location.

References

  1. ^ Mike Boehm (July 8, 2015). "Lori Bettison-Varga named new president of L.A. County's Natural History Museum". Latimes.com. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  2. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. ^ "Los Angeles County". Lacounty.gov. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  4. ^ http://www.nhm.org/site/about-our-museums/mission
  5. ^ Suzanne Muchnic (July 4, 2010). "'Age of Mammals' at the Natural History Museum". Los Angeles Times.
  6. ^ "About the Seaver Center". Natural History Museum Los Angeles County. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  7. ^ "Butterfly Pavilion". Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  8. ^ "Spider Pavilion". Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  9. ^ Rubenstein, Charlotte Streifer, ‘’American Women Sculptors: A History of Women Working in Three Dimensions’’, G. K. Hall and Co. Boston, 1990 p. 108

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

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