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High Desert Museum Offers Special Wildlife Programs, Extended Hours for Spring Break
BEND, OR — The High Desert Museum will kick off spring break with special programs and extended hours from Saturday, March 20 through Sunday, March 28, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm. It’s all made possible by Oregon College Savings Plan.
Wildlife interpretive talks will take place hourly beginning at 10:00 am daily. From the Bird of Prey Encounter, where visitors can get beak to beak with a majestic raptor, to High Desert Hooves, learning about iconic ungulates such as the pronghorn, spring break will bring a whole new appreciation of High Desert wildlife. Visitors will be required to check in at Admissions for talk availability.
“It will be a special week of vibrant programming and experiences for our visitors,” said Museum Executive Director Dana Whitelaw, Ph.D., noting that the Museum was closed at this time last year. “We’re pleased to be able to offer a safe, inspiring museum experience.”
Due to the limited capacity of the Museum to comply with COVID-19 guidelines, members and non-members are strongly encouraged to reserve timed entry tickets online prior to their visit. Tickets are available at highdesertmuseum.org/tickets. The Museum cannot guarantee that there will be walk-in space available.
The 1904 Miller Family Ranch living history exhibit is open Saturdays through Wednesdays from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm. Family members, in period dress and in character, will share how they worked and stayed warm through the High Desert winter. Get ready to meet the family at highdesertmuseum.org/miller-family-ranch.
A new exhibit is now open in time for spring break visitors: Cosmic Microscapes: Seeing Into Rocks from Oregon and Space. What do ancient pieces of cooled magma from the Moon and Mars have in common with samples from an eruption of Oregon’s Lava Butte only 7,000 years ago? The similarities are striking, and the abstract beauty is revealed in the new exhibit, a collaboration between Seattle photographer Neil Buckland and University of Washington affiliate professor and meteorite scientist Dr. Tony Irving. Small pieces of the Moon, Mars and Central Oregon formations were sliced paper-thin and photographed at staggeringly high resolution to produce prints of unprecedented scale. Learn more at highdesertmuseum.org/cosmic-microscapes.
Spring break visitors can also explore another new original Museum exhibit, Dam It! Beavers and Us. It celebrates the rock star of aquatic and riparian habitats and explores the interrelationship of people, the landscape and the continent’s largest rodent. Learn more about the new exhibit at highdesertmuseum.org/dam-it.
The Museum also has on display another temporary exhibition, Daredevils. The original exhibit explores the meaning risk-taking plays in our lives, why daredevils capture our imaginations and the many reasons they have been drawn to High Desert landscapes to execute their feats. More information on the Museum’s temporary and permanent exhibitions is available at highdesertmuseum.org/exhibitions.
ABOUT THE MUSEUM:
THE HIGH DESERT MUSEUM opened in Bend, Oregon in 1982. It brings together wildlife, cultures, art, history and the natural world to convey the wonder of North America’s High Desert. The Museum uses indoor and outdoor exhibits, wildlife in natural habitats and living history demonstrations to help people discover and appreciate this diverse region. The Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, is a Smithsonian Affiliate, was a 2018 finalist for the National Medal for Museum and Library Services and was the 2019 recipient of the Western Museums Association’s Charles Redd Award for Exhibition Excellence. highdesertmuseum.org