In the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, there are many museums for the arts and sciences enabling residents and visitors from afar to expand their knowledge and enhance their cultural experiences. Descriptions for a sample of these museums are provided below as an introduction to the possibilities.

The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) in West Raleigh has attracted outstanding special exhibits including Rodin, Ansel Adams, Toulouse-Lautrec, and John James Audubon. The recently expanded permanent collection, now housed in the new West Buildking, has art from ancient times to the present day with specific galleries of African, Jewish, American, European, Italian, Contemporary, pre-Columbian and Oceanic, and ancient American art. An overwhelming favorite in the new building is the Rodin Sculpture gallery sited both indoors and outdoors. The NCMA campus is a vibrant center for programs and activities suited to all ages with ongoing art lectures in the auditorium, outdoor movies and concerts in the May-September months, interactive learning stations available for study, gala functions for members and patrons, delicious dining in the Blue Ridge Cafe, rooms available for meetings and parties, an expanding park setting with trails, exhibits and even a "Beltline" bridge connection to the Ridgewood area of Raleigh. This museum gives new meaning and relevance to the word "ART".

The NC Museum of Life and Science in Northern Durham houses interactive physical science exhibits, an aerospace section, a nature park, an insectarium and a butterfly conservatory.  The fascinating weather exhibit encourages children to make tornados, clouds and ocean currents.  The 5000 square foot Butterfly Conservatory maintains a year-round temperature of 80 degrees for its beautiful and busy residents who delight young and old by landing indiscriminately on their guests. Or, if you are into creepy-crawly things, the Insectarium is the place to gain a whole new perspective on the bug world complete with leaf-crunching audio and a video microscope.

The NC Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh is a monumental building, four stories above ground and covering a city block.  On the first floor, the familiar sizes of the Coastal creatures in “bioramas” are contrasted with gigantic whale skeletons overhead – one is a 1928 sperm whale skeleton named Trouble found at Wrightsville Beach, NC. The second and third floors have the dramatic “Mountains to Sea” exhibit including a replicated waterfall, a peaceful mountain glen, and the meanest looking predator of the museum, the 110 million year-old Acrocanthosaurus dinosaur, about to eat a plant-loving sauropod.  The fourth floor showcases the insect world in the Arthropod Zoo and also houses a conservatory with such living creatures as turtles, snakes, and butterflies.

The Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill, though not called a museum, has fascinating exhibits on the worlds of astronomy and science.  In the 68-foot domed Star Theater, one can travel in space and view shows of planets and stars regardless of the weather.  The video theater is an exciting venue for the topical movie "DNA: The Secret of Life" with its corresponding "Profiles in Genomic Science at UNC - Chapel Hill" on display outside the theater.  The theater also features the movie "Naturalist: A window into the mind of an inspirational biologist" on the life of the Pulitzer Prize winning E. O. Wilson. For an amazing adventure, the telescope and observatory at the Morehead Observatory has guest nights for the public on Fridays during the school semesters. Please visit the UNC Department of Physics and Astronomy Web site for more information on the observatory.

Interested? Gather your crowd and your curiosity for a journey to one of these or the many other museums in the Research Triangle Area.  But, don’t stop there – the state of North Carolina is a bountiful collection of other choices all undeniably worthy of your attention.