Collectors Day 2026

Collectors Day Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Welcome! Applicants for Bell Museum’s Collectors Day should review the following prior to submission.

What is Collectors Day?
The Bell Museum is excited to celebrate its annual Collectors Day, a daylong event where members of the community are invited to share and showcase their own personal collections. Visitors will interact with collectors as they share stories about their gathering process and their passion and enthusiasm about their collections. The Bell Museum will also invite visitors to learn more about its scientific collections and their important role in research and understanding natural history.

How does the Bell Museum define a collection and how many objects does it take to be considered a collection?
A collection is a group of objects or materials that have been gathered and grouped to be seen or studied and kept together. A collection is determined and curated by the person who owns or is in care of it. Even three objects organized in a group together can be considered a collection.

What kinds of collections can be displayed at Collectors Day?
The Bell Museum welcomes collections that range in theme and material. We’re interested in collections that have personal meaning and significance to their collectors. These may include but are not limited to natural history objects. We welcome collectors to share interesting objects from any period of time, including but not limited to contemporary objects that have been collected in the past 5-10 years.

We welcome the participation of youth collectors, but require that all youth under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult during the entire event.

What kinds of collections will the Bell Museum not accept for display at Collectors Day?

The Bell Museum will review each application for Collectors Day, with special attention to appropriateness for a general audience and in consideration of ethical or legal concerns. We will not accept applications to display weapons, material of a sexual or derogatory nature, anthropological collections, or live animal and plant collections. We also do not allow the display of an individual artist’s own personal artwork.

We reserve the right to decline to display other materials as needed.

We will not permit the sale or the advertisement of sale of any collections during Collectors Day.

How will the Bell Museum select collections for participation in Collectors Day?
A Bell Museum committee made up of staff from the Public Engagement and Science Learning  and Research and Collections departments will review and select collections.

I participated last year. Can I participate again?
We’d be happy to review an application from you this year. If we find we have more applicants than we can accommodate, we will give priority to collectors who have not yet participated in the program.

How and where will collectors display their collections on Collectors Day?
The Bell Museum will assign each collector a location in the museum, and will provide each participating collector with either a 6-foot rectangular table or a 3-foot diameter round table, depending on the size of their collection, as well as two chairs.

What support will the Bell Museum provide to participating collectors?
In addition to a space, the Bell Museum will provide each participating collector with a table sign and name tag. Bell Museum staff and volunteers will circulate throughout the museum during the event, and can provide collectors with brief breaks as needed.

We will provide a designated space where collectors may have a snack or eat lunch, as no food or drink is allowed in the museum galleries.

What is the collector’s responsibility on Collectors Day?
Collectors will be expected to load in their display materials the morning of November 7 and to be set up and ready for visitors when the museum opens at 10 am. Collectors should plan to staff their table (aside from breaks) until the event ends at 3 pm. Load out will begin at 3 pm and wrap up at 4 pm.

The Bell Museum will have a few carts available for loading and unloading available on a first come, first served basis. We recommend that collectors bring everything they need to transport their collection safely from the Bell Museum’s Education Entrance to their designated display area.

Collectors must bring a table covering and will be responsible for display cases or stands, special lighting, and informational material about their collections. 

Collectors will be responsible for the display and security of their displayed materials on Collectors Day. We strongly discourage the display of objects that are fragile or of high monetary value at this public event. The Bell Museum will not be responsible for any damage or loss of collections displayed at Collectors Day.

What happens after you submit your application?
Applications for Collectors Day will be evaluated on a rolling basis. We will notify all collectors by email that they have been chosen for Collectors Day.

Prior to the event, we will host a virtual informational meeting. That webinar will also be recorded and made available to participants. Participating collectors will receive more specific information about event details and logistics from the organizer in the weeks leading up to the event. Please note: if your collection is selected for inclusion, we would love to have pictures of the collection, items from it, or you with it for marketing purposes (but these are not required).