1. How do you re-create the moon shadows seen on a snowy December night? That was the challenge artist Stephen C. Quinn faced when new energy-efficient lights were installed in the wolf diorama, creating new shadows that weren’t consistent with the scene.

    Here, Quinn adds various pigments to the “snow” to re-create the illusion of shadows that would result from the Moon casting its eerie blue light on the wolves and surrounding trees. 

  2. It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives! A bobcat is installed in the Jeffrey Pine Forest Diorama, 1958.  See it today in the Hall of North American Forests.

    It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives!

    A bobcat is installed in the Jeffrey Pine Forest Diorama, 1958. 

    See it today in the Hall of North American Forests.

  3. Museum artist Stephen C. Quinn paints a mural for a new exhibition opening this fall. Quinn has worked on dioramas here at the American Museum of Natural History for nearly 40 years.  © AMNH/D. Finnin 

    Museum artist Stephen C. Quinn paints a mural for a new exhibition opening this fall. Quinn has worked on dioramas here at the American Museum of Natural History for nearly 40 years. 

    © AMNH/D. Finnin 

  4. It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives: Mr. Neimeyer colors grasses for use in a diorama, 1934.For more, check out the Picturing the Museum collection.(c) AMNH Library/#281044

    It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives: Mr. Neimeyer colors grasses for use in a diorama, 1934.

    For more, check out the Picturing the Museum collection.

    (c) AMNH Library/#281044

  5. It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives: working on the Andean Condor diorama, 1963. See this diorama today in Birds of the World. © AMNH Library/329258

    It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives: working on the Andean Condor diorama, 1963.

    See this diorama today in Birds of the World.

    © AMNH Library/329258

  6. Is it real—or isn’t it? In the foregrounds of our dioramas, some plants and grasses are real, and some aren’t. (And some of the real ones have been spray-painted for added color.) Can you spot the difference as you roam the Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals? American Badger © AMNH/D. Finnin

    Is it real—or isn’t it? In the foregrounds of our dioramas, some plants and grasses are real, and some aren’t. (And some of the real ones have been spray-painted for added color.) 

    Can you spot the difference as you roam the Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals? 

    American Badger © AMNH/D. Finnin

  7. It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives: Melting the wax covering from a cactus model, December 1953.See the model today in the Hall of North American Forests.© AMNH Library/ 323110

    It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives: Melting the wax covering from a cactus model, December 1953.

    See the model today in the Hall of North American Forests.

    © AMNH Library/ 323110

  8. When Carl Akeley first envisioned the Akeley Hall of African Mammals he imagined it would provide visitors with glimpses of African landscapes as though through the windows of a moving train. The tradition of habitat dioramas at the Museum is a storied one and some of the finest examples can be seen in the restored Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals.

    When Carl Akeley first envisioned the Akeley Hall of African Mammals he imagined it would provide visitors with glimpses of African landscapes as though through the windows of a moving train.

    The tradition of habitat dioramas at the Museum is a storied one and some of the finest examples can be seen in the restored Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals.

  9. Imagine a world without computers, TV - or even color photography. Now, imagine seeing one of the Museum’s dioramas. Would they inspire you to be more environmentally aware? That was one objective of the creators of the original dioramas at the Museum. Keep reading after the link: http://bit.ly/Wbi86q  (c) AMNH/C. Chesek

    Imagine a world without computers, TV - or even color photography.

    Now, imagine seeing one of the Museum’s dioramas. 

    Would they inspire you to be more environmentally aware? That was one objective of the creators of the original dioramas at the Museum. Keep reading after the link: http://bit.ly/Wbi86q 

    (c) AMNH/C. Chesek

  10. A moment of rest in the newly restored Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals. (c) AMNH/D. Finnin

    A moment of rest in the newly restored Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals.

    (c) AMNH/D. Finnin