ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Conservators in charge of cleaning and restoring the Bell Museum of Natural History’s taxidermy dioramas have uncovered multiple hidden artifacts while preparing for the museum’s move to the University of Minnesota’s campus in St. Paul.
Some of the treasures found included American wildlife artist Francis Lee Jaques’ shopping list, a rare glass template of an elk’s head, World War II matchbooks and various animal paintings.
Ten of the historic dioramas will be moved beginning this summer to a new $64.2 million museum and planetarium, the St. Paul Pioneer Press (https://bit.ly/2n4r19U) reported.
Museum director Denise Young said the new facility is expected to be the largest commercial-scale use of thermally modified white pine in the nation. Thermal modification is when most of a natural sugar is cooked out of the wood, which results in a material that resists warping, weeping and decay, and remains a uniform color as it ages.
The dioramas will be arranged to reflect the state’s major habitats, including North Woods, prairies and savannas, and Big Woods Big Rivers. But first, they must be cleaned and removed.
“It is a really painstaking process,” Young said. “These dioramas are the main thing people think about when they think about the Bell Museum - with great reason … They are a big deal, certainly here in Minnesota, but across the country. This is a process that has been a long time in planning … everything is being documented very carefully right now and cleaned so that can go back just like they were.”
The new facility is expected to open early summer of 2018.
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Information from: St. Paul Pioneer Press, https://www.twincities.com
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