Dallas / Fort Worth: Museums

An evening benefiting Dallas Heritage Village Event Information Event Type: Featured Event Sunday, September 19, 2010 Event Hours: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Tickets: Adults $50.00

Lone Star History Day: Family Stories A Special Day for Home School Students 

Featured Event Friday, October 08, 2010

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. File

Tickets: Adults $5.00 Children 4-12 $5.00 Seniors $5.00

The aquarium features more than 85,000 gallons (321,800 l) of saltwater with marine life from around the world. Walk through the 22,000-gallon (83,280 l) tunnel to experience a panoramic view of reef life.

 Many animals found at the top of the food chain can be seen in the Predators exhibit. Ten 2,000-gallon (7,571 l) displays present marine life from around the world - Palau, Southern Australia, Lord Howe Island, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Bahamas, British Columbia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Japan.

Representing the waters of four continents, three oceans and various seas, the aquarium gives a glimpse of the underwater world. four continents, three oceans and various seas, the aquarium gives a glimpse of the underwater world.

Mundo Maya is an eight-story, immersion exhibit that takes visitors from the waters of the Yucatan's gulf coast to the highland rainforests. This great culture believed that nature did not need to be conquered or subdued.

 Many plants and animals were given important roles in their daily lives. The land of the ancient Maya included the countries of modern day Belize and Guatemala, the western parts of Honduras and El Salvador, and five Mexican states (Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Campeche and Chiapas).

Birds in the Mundo Maya exhibit range in size from numerous species of tiny hummingbirds to majestic storks and formidable eagles.

The entrance ramp to The Dallas World Aquarium is lined with interesting plants and animals indigenous to Borneo. The undercover, 200-foot long pathway, winds by habitats of birds, reptiles, mammals and fish.

 The critically endangered, white Bali mynahs have successfully reproduced in their exhibit. The noisy, Rhinoceros hornbill is easily identified by its colorful, gaudy bill and protuberant casque. The white Moluccan cockatoo shares its home with the Argus pheasant.

In the water under the pathway bridge are several species of freshwater fish, such as the Asian arowana and the Archer fish. The Pangasius catfish is considered endangered by USFWS. A pair of Matschie’s tree kangaroos often share their habitat with a young joey. Although part of the South African outdoor, second-level habitat, the purplish-black Lady Ross’s turaco can be seen at the entrance. Once inside, visitors can enjoy an outdoor exhibit shared by Fairy or Little blue penguins. These small penguins are from Australia as part of a breeding program in conjunction with the Melbourne Zoo.

Located at the southern tip of the African continent is a diverse and fascinating region. South Africa contains nine natural biomes, ranging from desert in the west to evergreen forest in the east. Dominated by a central plateau, the region has no navigable rivers.

The outdoor Cape of Good Hope exhibit is home to a colony of Black-footed penguins. The 30,000-gallon display is surrounded with an array of native aloe and cactus-like plants. Also enjoying the outdoor habitat are Eastern yellow hornbills and Rock hyraxes. Although they resemble rodents, hyraxes are related to manatees.

The South Africa outdoor, lagoon-like exhibit represents both plants and animals from this area.

COLLECTIONS

open daily  10:00 to 5:00

The Museum is home to more than 175,000 historical and scientific objects with an emphasis on Texas and the Southwest. The science collection consists of many thousands of catalogued specimens that represent the disciplines of botany, entomology, malacology, ornithology, mineralogy, herpetology, mammalogy, invertebrate zoology, meteoritic and paleontology. The herbarium collection of native plants from Texas and the United States dates from the late 1800s to the present.

The Museum is involved in ongoing regional paleontological digs for dinosaur fossils and has rich specimens from the Fort Worth region, including five new species of dinosaurs. The history collection encompasses a world-wide scope, ranging from pre-historic artifacts to items from many cultures from the late 1800s to the present. The Museum has hundreds of Pre-Columbian ceramic figures from Central America.

 The Museum also houses a scientific teaching collection of 20,000 items that duplicate specimens in the permanent collection. These items are used for hands-on activities and are loaned to local schools and teachers. The history teaching collection has 2,400 pieces that are made available through school loan kits, with items ranging from cowboy gear to pioneer artifacts.

Special exhibition explores amazing inventions of the original Renaissance Man

 It has been said that a “jack of all trades is master of none,” a figure of speech implying that one must focus on a single field in order to become proficient at it. As the original “Renaissance Man,” Leonardo da Vinci is certainly the exception to the rule. Among his diverse talents, da Vinci designed flying machines, robots, submarines, underwater breathing gear and solar powered industries; laid most of the groundwork for the artificial heart valve; and created some of the greatest paintings in the history of art. With little formal education, Leonardo demonstrated his brilliance by mastering diverse subjects and fusing them together through observation, insight and inspiration.

Decipher the mystery of this extraordinary intellect in Leonardo da Vinci: Man, Inventor, Genius, a spectacular exhibition which reveals the ingenuity and brilliance of a man ahead of his time. Explore the myths and legends surrounding da Vinci’s life, and consider how his legacy inspires and challenges us today, when this remarkable exhibition opens at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, May 22, 2010, on view through Sept. 6, 2010.

Michelangelo’s first known painting, The Torment of Saint Anthony, is now on view among the permanent collection of the Kimbell Art Museum. The Kimbell Art Museum acquired the painting in May 2009. Described by Michelangelo's earliest biographers, this remarkably fresh and well-preserved gem is believed to have been painted in 1487–88, when Michelangelo was 12 or 13 years old. The work is executed in egg tempera and oil on a wooden panel and is one of only four known easel paintings generally believed to come from his hand. The others are the Doni Tondo in Florence’s Uffizi Gallery and two unfinished paintings, The Manchester Madonna and The Entombment, both housed in the National Gallery, London.

The Kimbell's new acquisition is the first painting by Michelangelo to enter an American collection.

An  oil sketch of Venice by the 19th-century British artist Richard Parkes Bonington was acquired by the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Eric M. Lee, its director, announced this week.

Oil sketches by Bonington are rare and only a handful of American museums have any. “Even though he is not very well known, he was one of the towering figures of 19th-century landscape painting,” Mr. Lee said. He explained that works by Bonington, whom he described as “a quintessential romantic artist,” were hard to come by because the artist died when he was only 25.

The Kimbell work is a quick plein air scene of what the artist saw one day in 1826 along the Grand Canal.

The painting will go on view on Friday, next to two other views of Venice, one by Canaletto and another by Guardi.

The Sid Richardson Museum is a permanent exhibit of paintings by the premier Western artists, Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. The works, reflecting both the art and reality of the American West, are the legacy of the late oilman and philanthropist, Sid Williams Richardson, and were acquired by him from 1942 until his death in 1959.

 The museum, which opened in 1982, is housed in a replica of an 1895 building, in historic Sundance Square, an area of restored turn of-the-century buildings in downtown Fort Worth. The Site was chosen by the Foundation trustees both for its convenience to downtown visitors and workers and for the historic atmosphere of the area..

Following Sid Richardson's philosophy of helping others, this free Museum offers educational programs, such as tours for adults and children, as well as on site visits to local schools and community groups.

SECOND SATURDAY AT THE SID RICHARDSON MUSEUM

 Make Every Second Count!

July 10, Aug. 14, Sept. 11

1:00 PM Guided tour of an extraordinary group of paintings by Frederic Remington, Charles Russell and other late 19th century artists who shaped the public's perception of the American West.

2:00 PM Live Performance by Roberta Atkins highlights the career of cowboy artist, Charles Russell, told from the perspective of his wife, Nancy Cooper Russell.

Now Showing

A Photographer's Story: Bob Jackson and the Kennedy Assassination A Photographer’s Story:

Bob Jackson and the Kennedy Assassination features of the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Bob Jackson. February 17, 2009 -October 17,2010

Visitors may now use their cell phones as a guide through historic Dealey Plaza and other important sites related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Launched by the musuem on September 4, 2009, and narrated by museum curator Gary Mack, the Dealey Plaza Cell Phone Walking Tour features more than one dozen stops such as the grassy knoll, John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza, the former Dallas County Jail and the statue of George Bannerman Dealey.

The self-paced tour begins at the museum and ends atop the Triple Underpass. Available for purchase only at The Sixth Floor Museum, the narrated cell phone tour and accompanying map includes a dedicated telephone number. Visitors dial the local Dallas number, and then pick and choose as many stops as they like and in any order. Each stop is easily identified on the map, which uses individual photographs as well as marked stops to guide visitors.

The tour takes approximately one hour to complete. The tour costs $2.50 if purchased with museum admission or $5 if bought separately. During the introductory period, either method gives purchasers a 10% discount in the museum store.

Welcome to the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame

Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame features many unique Western Exhibits such as: the Sterquell Wagon Collection, John Justin Trail of Fame, Chisholm Trail Exhibit, History of the Mexican Charro, Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, Zigrang Bit Collection, Adventures of the Cowboy Trail, our Western Gift Shop, and the Jersey Lilly Old-Tyme Photo Parlor. 

 The museum is located in Barn A, in what was once the horse and mule barns in the Stockyards.

 Visitors see three exhibits for one low admission fee. The Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame honors Texas men and women who have excelled in the sports of rodeo and cutting.

Each booth contains photographs and memorabilia; and many of the booths also have video, depicting the honorees’ careers in their respective events. (Learn about the nomination process)

Also included in the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame are the Sterquell Wagon Collection and the John Justin Trail of Fame. The Sterquell is billed as “the world’s largest lifestyle wagon collection” and features more than 60 antique wagons, carriages and sleighs. Included in the exhibit: A Sicilian cart dating to the 1750s, with dramatic painted scenes and intricate iron work A Welsh funeral hearse, complete with beveled glass windows, gold leaf paint, and plumes The John Justin Trail of Fame