Upcoming Events
Saturday, November 1, 2025
1:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Ages 6+
$10/participant
Drop in anytime between 1:00p.m. and 4:00p.m. for this family-friendly hands-on workshop. Participants will investigate the food chain through exploration of an owl pellet and its contents.
The workshop is open to all ages 6 and up! Ages 6-9 will require adult assistance.
Registration is required, and space is limited. Click here for more information or to register for the workshop.
Saturday, November 8, 2025
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Ages 9-14 years old
$15/participant
Discover the FUN in the fundamentals of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math with hands-on art projects that promote lateral thinking and enhance creativity.
Registration is required! Click here for more information or to register.
Saturday, November 22, 2025
2:00 p.m.
Free presentation!
Join Scott Heacox as he presents a fascinating look at the intersection of biology, engineering, and design in the miniature world of insect architecture and how insect architecture inspires human art and design.
This lecture is free and open to the public! Registration is not required. Click here for more information.
Saturday, December 6, 2025
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Stop by the Hi-Desert Nature Museum during the Holiday Celebration at the Community Center! From 10am to 3pm, decorate your own nature-themed holiday ornament!
Whether a gift for a loved one or a present to oneself, every guest can design and paint their own wooden ornament.
This event is free and open to all ages while supplies last. Registration is not required.
Currently On Display
Avis Marvelous: Ornithology on the Western Frontier (1776-1896)
Last week! Final day to view is November 8, 2025!
Curated by Lee Silliman, this exhibition features over 50 historic full-color images created by American and European naturalists in the American West during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Each piece reflects the scientific and artistic techniques of its time, with vibrant hand-tinted engravings and richly colored chromolithographs. Many backgrounds in the artwork offer subtle suggestions of the bird’s natural habitat. Included are nineteen octavo stone lithographs from John James Audubon’s Birds of America, as well as works by noted ornithologists, Robert and John Ridgway, and Titian Ramsay Peale. These exquisite prints are complemented with historic commentary and context, species traits, and discussions on the current status these species are facing in today’s world.
Our Giant Rock: A Community Touchstone in the Mojave
A digital exhibit and archive about Giant Rock, a 30,000 ton granite boulder located in the Morongo Basin.
This interactive touchscreen exhibit encourages visitors to discover and explore the nuances that make Giant Rock a unique and cherished Morongo Basin landmark. Giant Rock is most notoriously known for the ‘giant’ personalities who lived near and even under it. However, it has also served as an intermediary for certain stories and events. The exhibit provides a series of interpretive narratives explaining these nuances while incorporating some never-before-seen images, documents, publications, and videos which help illustrate Giant Rock’s history.
Our Giant Rock: A Community Touchstone in the Mojave,was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Coming Soon...
NATURE'S BLUEPRINTS:
BIOMIMICRY IN ART AND DESIGN
On Display November 22, 2025 to March 7, 2026
The exhibition, Nature’s Blueprints: Biomimicry in Art and Design, brings together art and design with environmental science using artifacts, artworks and photography, as well as interactive learning stations.
This exhibition is aimed to encourage discourse among audiences of all backgrounds as our understanding of the natural world can lead to some extraordinary creations that improve lives and reduce our impact on the environment. Nature’s Blueprints: Biomimicry in Art and Design is an adaptation of the High Desert Museum’s Innovation Lab: Design Inspired by Nature, and is produced and toured by ExhibitsUSA, a program of Mid-America Arts Alliance.
Click here for more information on Nature’s Blueprints: Biomimicry in Art and Design.
*Roger Bruhn, Photograph of Patrick Dougherty’s Three of a Kind, Private Residence in Nebraska, 2013; digital photograph, 10 7/8 x 16 3/8; Courtesy of Karen and Robert Duncan
*Alan Bur Johnson, Progeny Fig. 2, 2011; photographic transparencies and insect pins, 15 x 18 x 3 inches framed; Courtesy of the artist and Lisa Sette Gallery
*Suzanne Anker, Fruit Bat from the series Zoosemiotics, 1993; Hydrocal and pigment, 29 x 55 x 4 inches; Courtesy of the artist
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Would you like to make a donation? Museum staff are happy to accept your donation in person or you can click the link below to be taken the Recreation Management portal to complete an online donation. Simply click on the green Museum tab, then Museum Sponsorship, and select your donation level. Your donations help fund children’s education programming, animal caretaking, exhibit maintenance, and so much more! Thank you for your kind donation!
