The Buffalo Museum of Science is filled with giant things, like dinosaurs, and polar bear specimens. However, their new exhibit, Lost Beauty II, celebrates the wonder of Earth's smaller things.
A local artist, Alberto Rey, was commissioned to choose 15 things from the museum's collection of 750,000 items. Rey then created large paintings from these small objects.
“While museums can house artifacts and specimens from across time and place, it is how these items inspire others that truly gives them value,” explained Kathy Leacock, the museum’s deputy director.
“The same object or specimen invokes something different in each of us. The Buffalo Museum of Science has more than 750,000 objects and artifacts in its collection – but why these items? What can they tell us? Why should they matter? And how does safeguarding these collections further our understanding of the world around us?”
Some of the items included in the exhibit have never been displayed at the museum.
Rey's exhibit, which is three years in the making, is the second in a series. Lost Beauty I was on display at the University at Buffalo's Anderson Gallery in 2019.
“I have always loved science and art and this project was a wonderful opportunity to explore and highlight a few of the tiny gems ‘lost’ in the museum’s vast collection,” Rey said.
The exhibit opens Saturday, Oct. 16, and continues through Dec. 31. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, masks are required for all guests.
For more information about the exhibit, visit the Buffalo Museum of Science's website.