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Did you know that the University of Alberta has 34 different collections and museums? Well, I knew they had at least one because I happen to volunteer once a week in the W.G. Hardy Classics museum (please come check it out, my shifts can be very quiet and I have so much to tell you!). But other than that, I didn’t really know much about the museums on campus.
So I set myself a goal this past month. I decided to visit several of the museums on campus after checking out the museums website and finding the ones that were open (in case you’re curious they’re the W.G. Hardy Classics museum, Human Ecology Gallery, Mineralogy and Petrology Museum, and the Paleontology Museum). Now, I decided to check out the HEcol and the Paleontology museums and somehow forgot that the Mineralogy museum existed (it’s almost finals time and my brain is a little tired, okay?). I also decided to check out the Bruce Peel Special Collections (which was insanely cool and I highly recommend that you check it out).
My first stop was the Palaeontology Museum. As a kid, I had wanted to be a Paleontologist so naturally I had to check this out.
(How cool is that entrance?)
I have to say that this museum was so much fun to wander through.
I mean, seriously, this museum is actually incredible. Most of the stuff said ‘please don’t touch” since, well, they are real dinosaur bones. Which is totally understandable.
BUT! Some of the stuff you could touch…Like this one! And this one!
I also happened to be the only person there (which was super cool because it meant that I could verbally express how cool I thought everything was without being self-conscious, but by all means, please don’t be afraid to do so! This museum is actually the coolest.)
If you’re interested in visiting, it is located in B-08 of the EAS building and is open Monday-Friday 8am-4pm.B-08 of the EAS building and is open Monday-Friday 8am-4pm.
Now, as I was on my way to this collection, I happened to stumble on a BONUS MUSEUM! I WAS SUPER HAPPY! Remember when I said that I forgot the Mineralogy Museum existed? Yeah, the Mineralogy Museum is in the same hallway as the Paleontology museum.
This was the largest of the museums I saw (the Palaeontology Museum was a close second).
There were rows and rows of incredible minerals and different kinds of stones (I am not a mineralogist or geologist, please forgive me).
Some of them had stunning colours, like this one:
And some of them were absolutely incredible to look at:
Overall I found this museum to be very calming, very quiet and peaceful. 10/10 would recommend.
If you’re interested in visiting, it is also located in B-08 of the EAS building and is open Monday-Friday 8am-4pm.B-08 of the EAS building and is open Monday-Friday 8am-4pm.
The next collection I visited was the one that I actually volunteer in. It was interesting for me to walk around as a visitor, as it’s not something I often do!
As an MA student in Classics, I sometimes get desensitized to objects from antiquity so it was nice to wander around and actually absorb the beauty and the knowledge of the stories behind some of these objects.
Sometimes I still can’t believe the age of the objects (and the fact that they actually survived to modern day).
(Fun fact: the head and the body of this bust are not from the same sculpture)
As a volunteer in this museum, I can confirm that it’s incredible.
If you’re interested in visiting, it’s located in Tory 2–89 and is open Monday to Thursday 10am-2pm during the fall and winter semestersTory 2–89 and is open Monday to Thursday 10am-2pm during the fall and winter semesters (it’s closed during reading weeks).
The final place I visited was the Bruce Peel Special Collections. Now, I had visited this once before (and also found out that my eye doctor in Calgary used to study down there when he went to the UofA years ago) with an art history class. There was a different exhibition going on this time which was a wonderful surprise!
The current exhibition is on John Bunyan.
I happened to know nothing about him, so this was really cool to me.
Every time I have gone, the rooms have been stunningly decorated:
The details are always amazing.
Sometimes they also have really cool interactive things like this:
I had to adjust it because my eyes are terrible but once I did you can actually look through it!
Look at those details!
There is also this amazing room which may become my new study spot on campus just sayin’…
This room is literally surrounded with books:
If you’re interested in going here, it’s in the basement of Rutherford South and is open 12:30–4:30 Monday-Friday through April 9, 2020.
Overall, each museum/collection was vibrant and well-curated in their own way. Each had an interesting and unique atmosphere, wondrous objects and artifacts, and were an absolutely incredible way to de-stress after studying. Even though I am classics student and am by nature obsessed with ancient artifacts, these museums would be interesting and entertaining to anyone. If you need a study break, a way to de-stress after a final, or are just interested in learning more about the unique things the University of Alberta has to offer, I highly recommend you check these places out.