After Hours: Field Notes

Enjoy a late night at the Bell!

Explore unusual and unique specimens from our collection on display for one night only. Whether you’re sketching, photographing, painting… knitting—let inspiration be your guide.  You can also curate your own experience from a host of activities, including special shows in the Whitney and Elizabeth MacMillan Planetarium and stargazing with telescopes on the Ruth and John Huss Observation Deck (weather permitting).

Most activities are free with gallery admission, though normal planetarium ticket fees apply.

Guest Artist: Adam Dennis

Gallery tour: 7:00pm

Artists, naturalists, and scientists all keep field journals to record observations of a changing world and the questions we ask about it. For the Bell Field Notes Project, Minneapolis artist Adam Dennis brought sketches from real scientific studies to life by recreating them as enlarged paintings throughout our galleries. He also created an original mural for the museum’s lounge.

Learn more about Adam’s approach to this unique assignment and see some of his favorite “sketches” on an artful tour of the Minnesota Journeys exhibit, where most of the Bell Field Notes are on display. A sampling of original sketches from the museum’s art collection will be on view, including several by Bell diorama artist and renowned painter Francis Lee Jaques (1887-1969).

Planetarium Show: Stardancer’s Waltz

Shows at 6:00 & 7:00pm

One night only! Produced by award-winning multimedia artist Diana Reichenbach, Stardancer’s Waltz is a 360° animated experience featuring music from Concerto for Violin, Rock Band, and String Orchestra by Mike Mills, founding member of R.E.M. & Grammy-nominated violinist Robert McDuffie.

Reichenbach’s use of animation and sound immerse you in uniquely personal, introspective moments through time-based progressions of shifting color, form, texture, and movement.