Olympic Rain Forest (Diorama)
Dates
- Existence: 1957 - present
Historical Note
The Olympic Rain Forest diorama is located on the first floor of the American Museum of Natural History in the Hall of North American Forests. It depicts the Quinault Natural Area in Washington (State) in the Olympic Peninsula.
In his book, Windows on Nature, Stephen Quinn informs us:
"Background painter Francis Lee Jaques and foreground artist George Petersen led the team to collect the specimens for this exhibit. A timely tornado in Olympic National Forest provided a choice of toppled trees from which the team could choose. The correct diameter trees for the diorama were selected, then the bark of each tree was removed and carefully numbered and labeled. Each stripped tree was then measured for exact circumference and length. Back in New York, museum artists used these measurements to construct full-size armatures of each tree in wire and iron. The real tree bark, numbered and keyed in the field, was then attached to these giant columns, much like one would assemble a jigsaw puzzle. The result is exact replicas of the trees encountered out in the West, with their actual bark."
Topics
Found in 6 Collections and/or Records:
Forestry Hall. Olympic Forest Group, 1951-1953
Forestry Hall Olympic Forest Group F-26, folder 1 of 3, 8 cards
At the time of the creation of the files, the Hall was referred to as the Hall of Ecology, the Hall of Landscape, and the Forestry Hall. It is now called the Hall of North American Forests which encompasses the former Warburg Memorial Hall.
Forestry Hall Olympic Forest Group F-26, folder 2 of 3, 11 cards
At the time of the creation of the files, the Hall was referred to as the Hall of Ecology, the Hall of Landscape, and the Forestry Hall. It is now called the Hall of North American Forests which encompasses the former Warburg Memorial Hall.
Forestry Hall Olympic Forest Group F-26, folder 3 of 3, 7 cards
At the time of the creation of the files, the Hall was referred to as the Hall of Ecology, the Hall of Landscape, and the Forestry Hall. It is now called the Hall of North American Forests which encompasses the former Warburg Memorial Hall.
Forestry Hall. Olympic Forest Group. Labels., circa 1958
Olympic Forest Group, 1955
American Museum of Natural History
Museum Archives at the Gottesman Research Library
200 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024-5192