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5 Must-See U.S. Natural History Museums

Photo Courtesy of Simon & Schuster Photo Courtesy of Simon & Schuster
Bob Walters is one of the world's top paleoartists, with his work appearing in numerous books, magazine and journal articles, TV and films, and award-winning permanent murals in places like the Smithsonian, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Dinosaur National Monument, and others. Tess Kissinger is an award-winning paleoartist, curator, writer and consultant who has worked with the History Channel, The Learning Channel, numerous museums, and the movie Jurassic Park 3. They live in Philadelphia and are the authors of Discovering Dinosaurs, out now from Applesauce Press and available wherever books are sold. Bob Walters and Tess Kissinger, the world-renowned paleo-artists who wrote and illustrated Discovering Dinosaurs, have been commissioned by nearly every major natural history museum to create striking dinosaur art for various exhibits and displays. They're excited to share their picks for the top five natural history museums in the nation! Related: Five Creepy Vacation Sites Around The World
Photo Credit: Thinkstock Photo Credit: Thinkstock
The Academy Of Natural Sciences Of Drexel University
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 299-1000
http://www.ansp.org/
One of our favorite museums is the nation's first natural history museum and our "Home Museum," which features quite a few of our illustrations in the Dinosaur Hall!! This museum represents the whole history of American paleontology from the beginning, while still being on the being on the cutting edge of new finds and techniques. While researching our book Discovering Dinosaurs, we were lucky to consult with museum curator Dr. Ted Daeschler and examined the fossil of Hadrosaurus foulkii, the first dinosaur discovered in America, which was fascinating!
Photo Credit: Brittany Hance/Smithsonian Institution via Getty Images Photo Credit: Brittany Hance/Smithsonian Institution via Getty Images
The Smithsonian Institution National Museum Of Natural History
10th Street & Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20560
(202) 633-1000
http://www.mnh.si.edu/
This is one of the most exciting--and most visited--natural history museums in the world. Although the museum recently closed their permanent dinosaur exhibit to renovate and expand, they are opening a new temporary exhibit "The Last American Dinosaurs." We loved doing research with museum curator Dr. Michael Brett-Surman for Discovering Dinosaurs!
Photo Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images Photo Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
The Natural History Museum Of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007
(213) 763-3466
http://www.nhm.org/site/
It is newly renovated and quite stunning. It enchants visitors with a perfect blend of Beaux Arts architecture and new exhibits and mounts, and their Age of Mammals exhibit features our paleoart. You should make it a point to see the entrance to the museum at night--it is amazing!
Photo Credit: http://www.nps.gov/dino/index.htm Photo Credit: http://www.nps.gov/dino/index.htm
Dinosaur National Monument
11625 E 1500 S
Jensen, UT 84035
(435) 781-7700
http://www.nps.gov/dino/
This extraordinary National Park in Utah offers visitors beautiful hiking trails, boating and other activities, but it is named for its extraordinary quarry wall, filled—literally filled—with dinosaur bones on display in a newly renovated building and museum. Some of the illustrations in Discovering Dinosaurs were researched with park paleontologist Dr. Dan Chure and are featured in the mural we created for the quarry wall display.
Photo Credit: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images Photo Credit: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
The Carnegie Museum Of Natural History
4400 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
(412) 622-3131
http://www.carnegiemnh.org/
This museum has one of the largest, most beautiful dino exhibits in their "Dinosaurs In Their Time" hall. In this exhibit, they place newly mounted dinosaur fossils from their extensive collection in various prehistoric environments, alongside painstakingly hand-made earth forms and plants from each period. We created the four murals in the exhibit, including the Carnegie Morrison Mural, which is the largest dinosaur mural in the world at 186 feet long by 15 feet high! The gatefold illustrations from in Discovering Dinosaurs are segments of these enormous murals. Related: Must See Towns On The Spanish Mediterranean Coast
Bob Walters is one of the world's top paleoartists, with his work appearing in numerous books, magazine and journal articles, TV and films, and award-winning permanent murals in places like the Smithsonian, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Dinosaur National Monument, and others. Tess Kissinger is an award-winning paleoartist, curator, writer and consultant who has worked with the History Channel, The Learning Channel, numerous museums, and the movie Jurassic Park 3. They live in Philadelphia and are the authors of Discovering Dinosaurs, out now from Applesauce Press and available wherever books are sold.
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