Hidden Gems at the San Diego Natural History Museum
Known locally as The Nat, the San Diego Natural History Museum is making good use of unoccupied space with its Hidden Gems exhibit. Spanning the five floors of the museum, the 2,000 square foot vertical gem and mineral exhibit fills the space outside of the elevators on each floor, providing a permanent home to more than 100 specimens from the museum’s collection, many of which had not been on display prior to the exhibit’s opening. In this vertical exploration, visitors can expect to be wowed with a different experience as they reach each level of the museum.
Each floor has its own theme designed to showcase the diversity of minerals from all over the world. Fluorescent minerals are aglow under black lights on the lower level. Level 1 displays a sampling of gems from all over the world, with a special case dedicated to birthstones from GIA. Level 2 is comprised entirely of gems mined locally in San Diego County, California, including quartz, topaz, and hot pink tourmaline. This level also features a replica gem pocket full of gemstones found in the area (figure 1). Level 3 focuses on the application of minerals in the real world, including a section highlighting the minerals used to make cell phones. Finally, Level 4 covers geologic diversity, presenting a wide array of gems and minerals of different colors, shapes, and sizes. After experiencing all five floors, visitors leave with an understanding of the many roles of gems and minerals—aesthetic, geological, and practical.
The walls and ceilings of the exhibit also deserve honorable mention. Large-scale murals produced by scanning various mineral specimens and printing them on the wallpaper create the feeling of walking into the featured mineral (figure 2). And a 24-foot sculpture modeled after the crystalline structure of silicate dangles from the ceiling.
Hidden Gems is a long-term exhibit and will occupy the space outside the elevators for the near future, until the museum unveils another innovative exhibit to fascinate visitors. For now, Hidden Gems is a vertical delight for all to see. Visit https://www.sdnhm.org/exhibitions/hidden-gems/ to learn more.
