A group of twenty to thirty volunteers listen during volunteer training for the America250 exhibit

Mark gives a school tour

Colleen gives a school tour

Dan smiles in the ReEnvisioned exhibit

Our Public Programs and Exhibits volunteers lead school tours, give walk and talk presentations, and answer questions in our exhibit halls! Thanks to Colleen, Dan, Mark, and all our other public-facing volunteers for the thousands of hours they put in.

#volunteerappreciationmonth

"I want to pass on my deep love and respect for the dark skies of Oregon. Central and Eastern Oregon are home to the largest patch of continuous dark night sky in the United States." -Scott Fisher of the University of Oregon's Pine Mountain Observatory. #InternationalDarkSkyWeek

Bryan sits on a stool amongst shelves of fossils. Bryan is holding a piece of petrified wood that's about six inches long. 

Carol stands on a stepladder in the fossil vaults, which doesn't scare anyone, definitely not. Carol can do what she wants.

University of Oregon student Gracie poses with a taxidermied pangolin from the original Thomas Condon fossil collection. 

University of Oregon student Sage is working on #sciart illustrations of the fossils sitting on their desk.

Volunteers in our fossil collections make sure they're organized, accessible, and recorded in our digital database. Thanks to Bryan, Carol, Gracie and Sage, and all of our other volunteers for the thousands of hours they dedicate to these collections! #fossilfriday #volunteerappreciation

A University of Oregon student smiles as she looks at a bird bone in Explore Oregon, our natural history exhibit. 

Welcome to spring term, Ducks! The museum is always free with a @uoregon.bsky.social ID card—come in for a study break, for research inspiration, or to learn more about Oregon. 🎉🦆

A University of Oregon student, decked in protective outdoor gear, runs an archaeological screener

The vast scrubby Great Basin with a group of archaeology students standing in the middle

Two students hold tools by a trench while listening to an instructor look at a find

Applications are now open for our summer 2026 archaeological field schools! 🧪🏛️🏺 mnch.uoregon.edu/archaeology-...

Thanks to University of Oregon Giving for a great overview of what the Applegate House Field School is like.
giving.uoregon.edu/.../2025/fal...

A screenshot of the Roots and Resilience exhibit website. Text reads "Chinese immigrants helped shape Oregon's history. Come discover the stories and resilience of early Chinese Americans." 

We know most of our Bluesky community isn't local to us...so we made a virtual exhibit out of Roots & Resilience: Chinese American Heritage in Oregon.

Early Chinese immigrants built Oregon as we know it--check it out here:

blogs.uoregon.edu/mnchexhibits...

Two young parents read the exhibit panel titled "The Chan Clan: An American Story." One parent holds a baby and the baby looks at the camera over the parent's shoulder. Photo credit: Lexie Briggs

Curators Chelsea Rose and Jennifer Fang and exhibit contributors Myron Lee and spouse pose in Roots and Resilience. Photo credit: Jack Liu

An older woman reads an exhibit panel. Photo credit: Jack Liu

This Sunday, March 29, is the last day to see our exhibit Roots and Resilience: Chinese American Heritage in Oregon. It's been our honor to explore the stories and resilience of the early Chinese immigrant community in Oregon. Come see it before it closes! 🏛️🏺

Bones In The Schoolyard Expose Woodburn Students To Hands-On Paleontology Forget dissecting frogs. These high school students get to excavate ancient bones, some of which are from species that have been extinct for thousands of years.

You can read more about the site here! www.opb.org/news/article...

A shelf in an exhibit case at the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History. Small bone fossils sit on the shelf, ranging from a tiny leg bone less than an inch long to a leg bone about 6 inches long. Behind the shelf are silhouettes of the modern equivalent species, from a songbird to a crane. 

A closer look at one side of the shelf. A tiny (three-quarters of an inch long) hawk leg bone, a Goose humerus about three inches long, three songbird humeri, and a unlabeled leg bone about the size of the hawk's bone. 

 A closer look at the crane humerus. It's about six inches long and about an inch and a half around. It's a beige color speckled with dark brown spots. 

Students and paleontologists have been excavating near a high school in Woodburn, Oregon for 20 years. These "birds of the bog" fossils, many of them waterfowl, confirm the area was once a large wetland. #fossilfriday #paleosky 🧪🏛️

A red flowering current branch in full bloom neatly frames the mama mammoth sculpture in the museum's courtyard on the University of Oregon campus.

Spring has arrived in our Native Plant Courtyard! The red flowering currants are in full bloom and the oso berries are just beginning to join them. #oregonnativeplants🌸🌼🌹

Shirod Younker stands in front of a river on a sunny day. 

A close up on the left side of the contemporary artist case at the museum on the University of Oregon campus. A panel  is on the left with a picture of Shirod, a bio, and a heading reading "Featured Contemporary Artist: Collaborating with Culture."

The right side of the featured contemporary artist case. Two carved canoe paddles and a collection of tools are visible, as well as a woolen blanket at the bottom of the case. 

Shirod Younker (Coquille/Coos/Umpqua) is our 2026 featured contemporary artist! Through teaching and collaborations with other Indigenous artists, Shirod is dedicated to passing on traditional knowledge and bringing Tribal communities together. Visit the museum or his website: redirme.com/x74r32

This portrait of Rose Jackson was painted by Jeremy Okai Davis. The artist’s style is similar to pointillism, with the people and their clothes made up of “pixels” of different colors. Rose is painted legs up, wearing a dark green dress, and set against a rusty orange background. She is a Black woman resting her hand on a pile of laundry.

Rose married John Jackson, a stagecoach groom in Oregon City. They moved to the Waldo Hills east of Salem and raised two children. The portrait artist Jeremy Okai Davis chose the green of her dress both to experiment with new colors and also to symbolize prosperity and new beginnings. 🎨

A black and white photograph of Rose Jackson, a black woman. The photograph shows her from the knees up. She's facing the camera, wearing a long-sleeved dark dress with a white collar, and resting her hand on what looks like an arm chair.

Meet Rose Jackson, one of the Black pioneers featured in ReEnvisioned: Contemporary Portraits of our Black Ancestors. Rose came across the Oregon Trail in 1849 with her enslavers. She was freed upon arrival and supported the family through the first winter by working as a laundress.🏛️🧵 #blackhistory

Learn about how artist Sam Roxas-Chua Yao transforms Chinese history in Oregon into sound, ink, and poetry! If you love history and art, this talk is for you. 🎨✒️🏛️

📅 March 12
⏰ 6pm

A close up of a larger painted family portrait by Jeremy Okai Davis. The artist’s style is similar to pointillism, with the people and their clothes made up of “pixels” of different colors. This picture focuses on a middle-aged Black woman looking off to the side and seated regally. Next to her stands a young Black female child wearing a hairbow and a light blue dress.

This portrait of Beatrice Morrow Cannady was painted by Jeremy Okai Davis. The artist’s style is similar to pointillism, with the people and their clothes made up of “pixels” of different colors. Beatrice is a young Black woman set against a dark blue background. She is painted from chest up and is wearing a dark red top.

This portrait of Rose Jackson was painted by Jeremy Okai Davis. The artist’s style is similar to pointillism, with the people and their clothes made up of “pixels” of different colors. Rose is painted legs up, wearing a dark green dress, and set against a rusty orange background. She is a Black woman resting her hand on a pile of laundry.

These three are America Waldo Bogle, Beatrice Morrow Cannady, and Rose Jackson.

This portrait of Letitia Carson was painted by Jeremy Okai Davis. The artist’s style is similar to pointillism, with the people and their clothes made up of “pixels” of different colors. Letitia is painted from legs up and is set against a teal background. The word “HOMESTEADER” in block print is visible at the top of the canvas. Letitia is a young Black woman wearing a straw gardening had and holding a large bouquet of colorful flowers.

This portrait of Louisa Sewell was painted by Jeremy Okai Davis. The artist’s style is similar to pointillism, with the people and their clothes made up of “pixels” of different colors. Louisa is painted sitting down against a red orange background. She is a Black woman wearing a blue dress with small white flowers and is holding a baby wearing a flowing white baby outfit.

This portrait of Sybil Harber was painted by Jeremy Okai Davis. The artist’s style is similar to pointillism, with the people and their clothes made up of “pixels” of different colors. Sybil is painted waist up and set against a bright orange background. The word “Midwife” in block print is barely visible at the bottom of the canvas, blending in with the cream and light blue of Sybil’s dress. Sybil is a young Black woman.

Happy International Women's Day to the women of ReEnvisioned: Contemporary Portraits of our Black Ancestors, painted by Jeremy Okai Davis. These women shaped Oregon from the beginning of colonization. These three are Letitia Carson, Louisa Sewell, and Sybil Harber.

Another shot from photoshoot day!

At least at our museum, it's fun for the whole family (adults included)!

Several adults in their 20s and 30s surround an activity table outside. The one person under 20 (a baby) is playing with a bin full of water.

One woman and man in their late-20s and early-30s play a fun fishing game outside, proudly displaying a laminated "fish" that they "caught."

(It turns out everyone enjoys doing the educational activities meant mostly for children.)

(PS, for anyone wondering, I DO recommend scheduling museum photo shoots with your friends and their children, even if you don't run a museum social media account)

Two young parents hold up a baby to look at a giant sloth fossil skeleton

How to fall in love with the world, step 1: come to the museum.

Eugene, go see this exhibit! Jeremy Okai Davis talks about his stunning portraits of some of Oregon's earliest Black pioneers.

Brown fur mukluks with cloth lining, diamond motif around openings, with pompoms at the end of the brown yard tassel-closures.

Seal gut basket with a red leather trim around the top. There is a blue whip stitch around the center of the basket. Along the blue whip stitch are little red pieces of leather with fur attached evenly spaced around the basket.

Ivory story knife decorated with black ink filled scrimshaw.

It's cold out there! These objects show us a lot about life in the Arctic during the 20th century—bring the kids in your life by the museum on Saturday, February 21 to journey into the far north and discover how animals and people have thrived in this icy environment for thousands of years.

Behind every portrait there is a story. Join us for an artist talk with artist Jeremy Okai Davis to learn more about the process behind ReEnvisioned!

📅 February 26th
⏰6:00 pm
📍MNCH Galleria

Very cool! Have you seen our online galleries yet? We have several basketry ones that have some pretty incredible closeups: mnch.uoregon.edu/collections-...

A picture in color of lion dancers making their way through the museum's Explore Oregon exhibit. Delighted children watch. Photographer: Jack Liu

A black and white photo of lion dancers on a street in Portland, Oregon. Two men watch. Image courtesy of Oregon Historical Society Research Library, bao18385.

The lion dance is a tradition of Lunar New Year! The museum's 2025 opening reception for Roots and Resilience and this 1939 performance in Portland are just two examples of the long history of Chinese Americans in Oregon ushering in good luck and fortune. Happy Year of the Fire Horse!

🏛️🏺🧪MNCH and UNR researchers published a paper exploring the long history of sewing in the Great Basin. Archaeologist and lead author Richie Rosencrance gave an overview of the archaeology here: shorturl.at/81m72

Celebrate #Oregon's birthday by nominating an organization or individual for the museum's stewardship award! It recognizes a project that involves the community in meaningful ways and aligns with the museum's mission to inspire stewardship of our past, present, and future. tiny.cc/6nxy001

Elizabeth smiles at the camera. She's wearing blue vinyl gloves and holding up a woven basket. 

A screenshot of the Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology. The article title is visible and reads "Elizabeth Kallenbach -Trailblazer" 

Elizabeth Kallenbach has been named as a "Trailblazer" by the Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology! Her research expands the ability to identify fibers, providing a more complete understanding of the plants people in the Great Basin and Oregon have used for more than 14,000 years.🧪🏺🏛️

A stock photo of a cute little mouse peering over green grass. Text reads "The Past is the Key to the Future: Oregon's Fossil Rodents and the Impacts of Environmental Change; Thursday, February 12, 6:00 p.m. Humans’ impact on the environment is reshaping climates and landscapes. To understand these changes and guess at our future, we must look back to the deep past. Join paleontologist Samantha Hopkins as she explores how changes recorded in Oregon’s rich fossil record help us understand the ecological impacts of environmental change.    Included with regular admission; free for MNCH members and UO ID card holders. Show your Oregon Trail or other EBT card for an admission discount. "

Close to Eugene? Join us next Thursday, February 12 at 6pm for a talk about how studying Oregon's tiny fossil rodents helps us prepare for the impacts of climate change. #fossilfriday 🧪🏛️