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An idea for a Museum solely dedicated to the Carboniferous life of Mazon Creek, Illinois


Joseph Fossil

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I've been to a least a few museums where they would have a part of an exhibit dedicated to the Carboniferous era (of which the Field Museum's section for that in the Evolving Planet is pretty good). But I do wonder what would it be like if a whole A grade small to medium sized museum opened dedicated solely to the fossils found in the Mazon Creek area, including the Essex Fauna. It could be located close to the Mazonia-Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife area and include life sized reconstructions of both the terrestrial and aquatic environments. It could also be a place where fossil hunters could donate there finds to have them displayed so scientists will have an opportunity to study any fossils found (where most of the fossils from the area now I fear end up in private hands). Any thoughts?

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It's not something that I'm actively planning, but just a cool idea I just thought of that I wanted some thoughts on. The Museum, if large enough, could even have a digital panorama like the one at the Field Museum's Evolving Planet exhibit for the life at the Burgess Shale but instead of Cambrian Animals, it could show the aquatic life of the Essex Biota or the Terrestrial life of Mazon Creek during the Pennsylvanian? What do you think?

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I would visit it, I say go for it!!  :thumbsu:

 

There are certainly plenty of other examples to go by, The Aurora Fossil Museum in NC, the Green River museum in the National Monument in WY, the one associated with the La Brea Tar Pits, I believe there is one in Bakersfield for STH (I have not been), and plenty of others.  Some are government run, some private ventures.

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It sounds like a great idea, but some caveats are always in season if this is going to be a significant museum location...

 

A friend of mine has pursued a similar idea to create a museum dedicated primarily to regional fossils, and is currently the repository for all the specimens (all catalogued and in drawers) situated in a lock-up on his property. Apart from having a board, it also entails sourcing funders, getting government interest and cooperation, finding a suitable edifice for both the storage and visitor display, and then come all the logistics of hiring curatel, overhead for the many layers of staff, costs for heating and cooling, marketing, and continued networking with other collectors in sourcing new material and refreshing the exhibits. The logistics can get complicated in a hurry when trying to set up a major project like this. A few others here, like @jpc, could likely speak to the back office logistics. 

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Um. I thought @Nimravis 's garage and basement were that museum.  :headscratch: :P

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As a museum professional (I design exhibits) I think this would be a hard sell. Kane has only touched on a few of the hurdles a museum has to overcome to just exist, let alone keep the doors open.  For example most museums run on a mix of "earned and unearned" income. Earned are things like admissions from memberships, individuals, camps and, hopefully, a steady stream of school groups. Unearned is the money you are, hopefully, gifted every year from benefactors, which is never a sure thing.  Almost all museums are running at a debit when it comes to earned versus unearned. Often 40:60 or less. What you pay at the door is never what it really costs to have you there.

 

Single subject museums are always very limited. You might get an early rush of visitor-ship but not many will return if you are not constantly upgrading or switching up what is on display. And that costs money. More money than you might imagine.

 

It's a fine idea, but improbable to pull off.  The better idea would be to approach a local nature center or similar institution and see if they would host an exhibit on regional fossils for some length of time, or even permanently. 

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22 minutes ago, erose said:

And that costs money. More money than you might imagine.

You can "easily" create your own museum if you are rich, veeery rich. I am speaking of billionaire and not much less.

There are some museum out there based on that funding (at least I think), but I don´t know how they are financially "designed" to persist for eternity, at least theoretical.

Franz Bernhard

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I think it is  a great idea.  You may need to be rich, or you may need to be a great shmoozer.

 

The museums mentioned above 

"The Aurora Fossil Museum in NC, the Green River museum in the National Monument in WY, the one associated with the La Brea Tar Pits, I believe there is one in Bakersfield for STH "  all get gov't funding as far as I know.  Heck the one at Fossil Butte National Monument is fully federally funded.  The Tate, where I work, is state funded as we are part of a state run community college (Casper College).      

 

I think you would need to get the city of Braidwood involved in a big way.  Before I got married, I thought about opening a Wyoming Fossil Museum in Lusk, WY.  I did not do much about it, but did ponder ways to make it financially viable and the best way I could think of to do it there would be to offer dinosaur outings every day all summer long.  Immediately creating a need to hire a few folks right there.  I did find a building... for a quarter million.  I was ready to sit down with the city folks in Lusk and talk about this project.

 

On the other hand, the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis has been a great success and has boosted that small town's economy by leaps and bounds.  It has a lot of skeletal mounts of dinosaurs from all over the world.  It has the only Archaeopteryx that is not in Europe.  It has a lot of cool non-dinosaur fossils.  It is a great little museum.  Did I mention the owner is an heir to the Bayer fortune?  Yes, Bayer aspirin.  

 

There are quite a few small museums in Europe dedicated to the local excellent fossil record...Lyme Regis comes to mind, and there is a Triassic museum in southern Germany whose name I forget that I was impressed by which is indeed based on one local's collection and hard work.  The SaurierMuseum in Aathal, Switzerland, also based on one guy's collection of Jurassic dinosaurs from here in Wyoming.  (Let's just assume that flying himself and a crew to Wyoming every summer for at least 30 years and shipping huge bones back to Europe involves a secret Swiss bank account).   The Urwelt MuseumHauff in Holzmaden,also based on one guy's collection, but he also owns the quarry where they get the fossils.  These small museums were my inspiration for trying to do the same in Lusk.  Alas, my lovely wife came along and plans changed.     

 

It can be done.    

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Dave's rock shop in Evanston is as close to what you are talking about as I know of.  You can find pictures from it in the "trip to the museum" forum.  

 

 

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Doing a Museum is always a fantastic idea. We had several small private museums with special topics, most of them built by one or two "hardcore-collectors".

But, normally not enough visitors come to cover the costs. Need enthusiasm, space and more enthusiasm.

I would be glad to see a museum with Mazon Creek. Before becoming a member of TFF I only know some leafs, arthropods and the horrible Tully Monster.

Now, after reading posts from Nimravis and had a look on hundrets and hundrets fantastic fossils from there I would absolutely appreciate if someone does as museum about it. Fantastic material, I am sure it will attract many people.

 

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Maybe hook up with the I & M Canal National Heritage Area. They hold collecting trips for Mazon nodules to help offset their costs. So a display area may be a workable idea for them.

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