Hairy Museum of Natural History

This Thursday, June 25, I’ll be giving a talk and tour called “Art in the Age of Dinosaurs” as part of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science’s Curator’s Coffee program. Light refreshments and an informal presentation will kick off the program at 9:30, followed by a guided tour of the art on display in the Museum’s recently renovated Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous halls.

The NMMNHS has a fantastic collection of natural history art commissioned specifically for its exhibits. Highlights on the tour will include Margaret Colbert’s Dawn of the Dinosaurs paintings (detail shown above), Dave Thomas’ life-size bronze dinosaurs, Spike and Alberta, Ely Kish’s Jurassic murals, mosasaur and dinosaur sculptures by Stephen Czerkas, plus works by Karen Carr, Gary Staab, and many others. We’ll take a look at some of the science behind the art, techniques that were used to create the pieces, and how our views of the past have changed since some of these works were completed.

The whole shebang costs $7 ($3 for museum members) and is limited to 20 participants. I’m told that there are a few spaces left. If you would like to join in, you can either download a registration form or simply email programs.NMMNHS[at]state.nm.us to reserve a space.

—Matt Celeskey.

File under: Mesozoic, The Day Job.

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Don’t miss this gem of a post by Bill Parker of Chinleana on Route 66 and its influence on Triassic paleontology. I live just a block away from the historic route where it passes through Albuquerque—while it’s miles away from the Arizona quarries Bill mentions, I’ll take it as an opportunity to draw new inspiration from the motel neon flashing in my studio window.

—Matt Celeskey.

File under: Triassic.

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One of the biggest stories in paleontology this past month was the announcement of a beautifully complete fossil of an Eocene primate scientifically christened Darwinius messilae, and given the popular moniker “Ida.” A massive publicity campaign, including a book release and a documentary hosted by Sir Richard Attenborough, was launched in tandem with the fossil’s description in the online journal PLoS ONE. A backlash erupted throughout the science-minded blogosphere/twitterverse, deriding the more breathless claims that this one specimen was the “missing link” that will “change everything.”

Some of the earliest and most insightful comments came from Brian Switek at Laelaps. Earlier today, Brian compiled a collection of his and others’ Darwinius-related posts into a blog carnival called Uncovering “Ida”—an excellent resource for anyone interested in the interaction between science, publicity, and media (new and old).

—Matt Celeskey.

File under: Mammals, Paleo-Pop, Paleogene, Webbery.

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I’m a bit of a sucker for “paleo-artist makes good” stories, and today’s New York Times has a great example in this profile of Viktor Deak, whose reconstructions of extinct hominids are on display at the American Museum of Natural History’s Hall of Human Origins. The story includes some nice multimedia details, including a video interview with Mr. Deak, a bit about him on today’s Science Podcast, and a panoramic tour of his studio that’s enough to give any paleophile serious workspace envy.

More of Viktor’s excellent reconstructions, in a variety of media, can be seen at his website: www.anatomicalorigins.com.

—Matt Celeskey.

File under: Hominids, Museumabilia, Paleo-Pop.

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