Hairy Museum of Natural History

I spent the past week at the day job assisting with the setup of a new traveling exhibit—Raucous! Everything Raven—that opened this weekend at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. The show, put together by Alaskan artist Evon Zerbetz, examines the science and stories surrounding these crafty corvids.

Evon Zerbetz putting the feathery finishing touches
on Raucous! Everything Raven at the NMMNHS.

The exhibit is centered around dozens of Zerbetz’s colored linocut prints, depicting ravens in all their playful glory—collecting ‘bling,’ taunting dogs, performing on clotheslines, or just perched on a branch and kawing to their heart’s content. Other highlights include a life-sized raven’s nest, raven-based games, and a Raven Radio broadcasting bird-based music and news from ‘roving-raven reporters.’

Over the past seven days, Evon and a team of NMMNHS staff and volunteers have transformed the museum’s changing exhibit space into a raven-ous wonderland. We painted the multicolored walls with large graphics based on Evon’s linocuts, and set up the space for the many family events going on this weekend. In addition, we added a little side display highlighting the members of the family Corvidae (ravens, crows, magpies, and jays) known from New Mexico.

Check out the museum’s website for more information on the exhibit and activities, and Evon’s website for more information about her and her work. Raucous! Everything Raven is on display through April 22nd in the first floor changing exhibits gallery at the NMMNHS.

—Matt Celeskey.

File under: Birds, Friends of the HMNH, The Day Job.