, has been instrumental in saving the priceless museum dioramas of the American Museum of Natural History.
Francis Lee Jaques was one of the artists who contributed to the New York museum, and he also helped to create the James Ford Bell Museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Now Mr. Quinn is calling attention to a plan to "modernize" the museum, which means changing or taking away the irreplaceable dioramas.
Quinn says: "Sadly, I have learned last week that the Minnesota State Legislature has approved funds to build a new natural history museum on the University of Minnesota campus at Saint Paul and this new plan calls for gutting the interior of the Bell Museum in Minneapolis, an attempted removal of some of its unique collection of irreplaceable dioramas in order to “reinterpret” some in the new museum, and the possible storage or disposal of the rest."
The J.F. Bell Museum is the only museum in North America purpose-built as a theater for natural history museum displays. According to Quinn, the dioramas cannot be moved or stored. So if the planners went forward with this scheme, it would be a loss for the art and the science represented by these dioramas.
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Read Stephen Quinn's complete statement about the issue
The J.F. Bell Museum is the only museum in North America purpose-built as a theater for natural history museum displays. According to Quinn, the dioramas cannot be moved or stored. So if the planners went forward with this scheme, it would be a loss for the art and the science represented by these dioramas.
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Read Stephen Quinn's complete statement about the issue
Book: Windows on Nature: The Great Habitat Dioramas of the American Museum of Natural History
Wikipedia on Francis Lee Jaques
Wikipedia on Francis Lee Jaques
