Bell 150

The exhibition Seeing Birds integrates art, science, and nature to ignite curiosity and wonder about the beauty and biology of birds, engaging visitors in an exploration of birds, their environments, and their evolution.

Thank you to our special exhibition sponsors: Dellwood Foundation and Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union.

The fourth annual Space Fest will explore the future of space exploration. Visitors will enjoy four days of virtual festivities – featuring experts from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and the University of Minnesota.

This program is generously supported by Ruth and John Huss.

The Bell Museum invites curious minds across the state to participate in the 3rd annual Minnesota Statewide Star Party. Hosted by schools, colleges, libraries, museums, parks, and other local organizations, all events are family-friendly and include free outdoor sky watching and activities.

This program is generously supported by Ruth and John Huss and WEM Foundation.

Since its humble start in 1872 as a one-room cabinet of curiosities, the University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum of natural history has become one of the state’s most important cultural institutions. Drawing on a wealth of materials unearthed during the museum’s recent move, this gorgeously illustrated book, A Natural Curiosity, chronicles the remarkable discoveries and personalities that have made the Bell Museum what it is today.

Gaia is a touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram, known well to Bell audiences from his acclaimed installation of Museum of the Moon in summer 2019. Visitors are invited to the Bell Museum to see the Earth from a breathtaking perspective as if you were in space.

In this pilot program, STEM Nights will provide complimentary science kits to Minnesota schools containing 10 science and nature activities from multiple disciplines that are engaging, educational, and easy to implement. The Bell Museum will support schools in carrying out a STEM Nights event for the purpose of engaging students and families in hands-on, educational, and fun science and nature based activities!

This program is generously supported by General Mills and Manitou Fund.

For the first time ever, the Bell Museum will host a Collectors Day to showcase and celebrate collectors and their unique items. The event encourages viewers to heighten their curiosity of how items are cataloged and explore the connections to scientific collections, which play an important role in research and understanding of natural history. Applications for those interested in displaying their collection open July 1, 2022.

The Bell continues to be a museum without boundaries in summer 2022 through the development and delivery of hands-on Science & Nature kits. The Bell will distribute 10,000 kits to several communities across the Twin Cities for students and families. 

This program is generously supported by Boston Scientific Corporation, General Mills, H.B. Fuller Corporation, SPIRE Credit Union and WEM Foundation.

The Bell Museum developed a new planetarium show exploring a historic journey to the red planet in Mars: The Ultimate Voyage. Created for curious audiences and their families, the show examines how astronauts stay healthy and motivated during their long missions away from home. The show will also display the need for creativity, collaboration and communication for deep space travel.

The Bell Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate, brings an exciting new exhibit to the Twin Cities, Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend. The exhibit showcases the ways Inuit communities and Smithsonian researchers have worked together to help us better understand both narwhals and a changing Arctic impacted by climate change. Visitors will have the opportunity to view a full-scale narwhal model and engage in interactive features that will appeal to all generations.

Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend was developed by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and organized for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.