It's been quite a year for the American Museum of Natural History...and it's only February.
NYC's beloved family attraction just premiered a new planetarium show for the first time in seven years and revealed that its new exhibit, "The Nature of Color," will launch on March 9. The excitement continues with today's announcement of the completely redesigned Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, which is slated for a fall 2020 opening.
If your kiddos are into earth science, this is the place to be. The 11,000 square-foot space will include newly acquired pieces, interactive displays and touchable specimens—a major win for the parents traveling with curious kiddos in tow. It's a look inside how scientists classify minerals that arose on Earth and how we use them. Visitors will be able to check out the iconic 563-carat “Star of India” sapphire, a few of the world's largest amethyst geodes and the hall's first temporary exhibition gallery, "Beautiful Creatures," which focuses on historic and contemporary jewelry inspired by animals.
“Halls like these are crucial and tangible teaching tools that communicate an understanding of humanity’s place in the universe,” Allison Mignone said in a statement.
Plenty is underway, considering this is another part of the Museum's 150th anniversary. Projects like these will culminate in the opening of the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation, an awesome expansion that will include new classrooms, an immersive theater, a redesigned library, a new, year-round Butterfly Vivarium, four learning zones (middle school, high school, family and teachers), a Collections Core that boasts upwards of 4 million species and so much more. This is expected to be complete in 2022.
Can't wait that long? Check out our go-to kids' museums in NYC in the meantime!
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