After Hours: Rest-oration

Activities free with gallery admission. Planetarium ticket fees apply.

Enjoy an evening at the museum! Curate your night from a host of activities, including sketching in the galleries, art-making activities, a show in the Whitney and Elizabeth MacMillan Planetarium, and stargazing on the Ruth and John Huss Observation Deck (weather permitting).

Sketching theme: Celebrate the quiet of winter drawing from animals that sleep through the winter. Or take a moment to just color one of our unique nature themed coloring sheets.

Tea ‘Petting Zoo’

Join TeaSource founder Bill Waddington for a short talk about the wonder that is tea, a single plant that provides the essential resource for more than 3,000 varieties. A selection of tea leaves will be presented as a tea “petting zoo” to show how different types of processing produce a wide variety of flavors. Waddington will be available for questions after his short talks that begin at 6 and 7:30 pm.

Diorama Tours

Tours begin in Horizon Hall at 6:15 and 7:15 pm.

Dive deep into the dioramas with Anita Cholewa, retired Herbarium curator and collections manager. Learn about how our native plants defend themselves against predators, amazing adaptations, and Minnesota’s biodiversity—and threats to it.

Drop-in Yoga

Horizon Hall

Prepare for winter with short, drop in yoga demonstrations. “Calming Yoga” features easy stretches and breathing techniques to calm mind and body, and “Anywhere, Anytime Yoga” offers a mini practice you can do at your desk, in the car, at the airport, or wherever you need a little restoration.  

Instructor Rachel Holdgrafer of Peaceful Mind Yoga focuses her practice on gentle and restorative yoga sessions that benefit all bodies. She will provide mats and props. Suitable for street clothes, and for all ages, all levels, and a wide range of abilities. Free with gallery admission.

Planetarium

6 & 7 pm: Astronomy Photographer of the Year (2016)

Where art and science meet can remind of us the beauty around us, and inspire new questions that were otherwise hidden from view. Enjoy some of the most stunning and breathtaking images of galaxies, aurorae, the Moon, Sun, and planets taken by amateur and professional astronomy photographers set to music. Their images from the annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition are an invaluable tool with which to inspire a love of astronomy in others.

Click here for tickets and availability.

Advance tickets for planetarium shows are available up to three weeks ahead of time via the link above. If you are a current Bell member, please log in first, to receive your discounted tickets.