Past Exhibits
Curious Allies: Exploring Relationships in Fungi, Parasites, and Carnivores
The Fifth New York Botanical Garden Triennial with the American Society of Botanical Artists
September 27, 2025–January 4, 2026
Join us for an exhibition about fascinating plants and the relationships that sustain them! No organism on Earth can survive alone, but some rely on collaboration more than others. The fungi, lichens, and plants featured in this show rely on important but often unobserved relationships—symbiosis, sometimes mutual, sometimes parasitic—to get what they need to thrive.
Learn more about Curious Allies
Solution Studio
June 17–August 31, 2025
Our award-winning makerspace, Solution Studio, returns! Work together to find solutions for the problems environmental scientists face today in this hands-on experience. This year, you can explore research happening in your own neighborhoods as we feature the work of several scientists working on urban ecology in the Twin Cities, as part of the MSP-LTER project at the University of Minnesota.
Learn more about Solution Studio
Monarchs and Milkweed: A Story of Survival
January 25, 2025–June 8, 2025
Monarchs and Milkweed: A Story of Survival takes you on a journey into the world of butterflies and plants, and introduces the complex relationship between monarchs and milkweed. Travel through the seasons of a calendar year to discover how both insect and plant grow and interact, culminating in a massive butterfly migration that crosses a continent.
In Search of Earth’s Secrets
September 21, 2024–January 12, 2025
This fall, drill into Earth’s history with exhibits and gallery programs that show how scientists learn about the past! In Search of Earth’s Secrets invites audiences of all ages to enjoy hands-on experiences while learning about earthquakes, volcanoes, and the dinosaur extinction.
Coring the Continents
September 21, 2024–January 12, 2025
Earth’s continents hold clues to our past, present, and future. Coring the Continents lets visitors unravel Earth’s stories by investigating research supported by the Continental Scientific Drilling Facility at the University of Minnesota.
Solution Studio
June 14, 2024-September 8, 2024
Solution Studio is an opportunity to let your creativity run wild as you work to solve challenges inspired by this cutting edge research. We provide the materials and tools, you bring the big ideas and a willingness to explore, create, experiment, and share!
Moments of Memory: Minnesota Landscapes Painted from Life
January 27–May 26, 2024
Life on the Edge
September 23, 2023–January 14, 2024
Life in One Cubic Foot
July 1–September 24, 2023
Solution Studio
June 16, 2023-September 10, 2023
Solution Studio is an opportunity to let your creativity run wild as you work to solve challenges inspired by this cutting edge research. We provide the materials and tools, you bring the big ideas and a willingness to explore, create, experiment, and share!
Snow: Tiny Crystals, Global Impact
January 21, 2023-May 7, 2023
Snow: Tiny Crystals, Global Impact is an interactive exhibition about the nature and wonder of snow. Visitors learn how snow shapes and sustains life on Earth, snow’s vital roles in sustaining our water supply and cooling our planet, and the cultural and personal value of snow. Explore all the ways this fundamental weather phenomenon impacts your life—no matter where you live!
Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend
October 22, 2022–January 8, 2023
The narwhal, with its unique spiral tusk, has inspired legend in Inuit society and fascinated people across cultures for centuries. Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend, developed by the National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, dives deep into the narwhal’s Arctic world to explore what makes this mysterious animal and its changing ecosystem so important.
Seeing Birds
January 28, 2022–October 2, 2022
Seeing Birds bridges past and current research at the University of Minnesota to see how advances in our understanding of birds are made through careful observation, artistic exploration, and scientific endeavor. Thank you to our 150th anniversary presenting sponsors General Mills and supporting sponsors Minnesota Farm Bureau and Minnesota Turkey Producers Association and Seeing Birds Special Exhibition sponsors Dellwood Foundation, and Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union.
Gaia
July 19, 2022–August 14, 2022
Experience Gaia, a touring installation by UK artist Luke Jerram, July 19–August 14. Gaia is an internally-lit sculpture of the Earth featuring imagery from NASA’s Visible Earth project. At 23 feet in diameter, it presents the Earth at a scale 1.8 million times smaller than its real size.
X-Ray Vision: Fish Inside Out
On view October 15, 2021–January 2, 2022
On view until January 2, the Bell Museum presents X-Ray Vision: Fish Inside Out, an exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution. View dramatic prints of radiographs that expose the interior structures of fish in a level of detail reminiscent of fine engraving.
Cleared
On view October 15, 2021–January 2, 2022
On view until January 2, Cleared combines scientific staining techniques and the artistry of photography to depict dyed fish specimens in vibrant colors.
Fifty Nights under the Stars
Finding Minnesota’s Dark Skies
Experience Minnesota’s treasured nightscapes in this temporary exhibition. Bell Museum resident artist Mike Shaw presents stunning night sky images captured in travels across the state to find Minnesota’s dark skies. See the glittering Milky Way arching over Split Rock Lighthouse, the Aurora Borealis dancing along the Gunflint Trail, rare Comet NEOWISE passing above wetlands near the Twin Cities, and more. Read more about this exhibit.
Climates of Inequality
March 12, 2021-May 16, 2021
Understanding Environmental Justice in the Twin Cities and Beyond
The Bell Museum presents Climates of Inequality: Stories of Environmental Justice, from the Humanities Action Lab. This exhibit focuses on storytelling and the experience of communities that bear the greatest impact from environmental degradation while contributing the least to it. Join us as we learn about environmental justice around the world and here in Minnesota, and discover ways to get involved. To learn more, explore our virtual programs and digital content, including panel discussions and activist profiles. This exhibition is now closed, but you can read more about it here.
Bugs: Outside the Box
On view until October 3, 2022
A fascinating look at the insect world
Bugs: Outside the Box presents a selection of greatly enlarged insect sculptures, each showcasing the beauty hidden within the (mini)beasts of the natural world. Intricate details not visible to the naked eye are showcased alongside educational topics, including an exciting look at museum collections and taxonomy, and an exploration of the power of magnification.
Installations from Josh Winkler
Connecting to Minnesota’s Forests: Past, Present, Future
Installations by resident artist Josh Winkler are now on view! Winkler’s artwork can be found in the Horizon Hall, our Minnesota Journeys gallery, and outside in the Learning Landscape. With these installations, Winkler explores connection in and with Minnesota’s forests. Find out more!