The Museum and Nature Center at John James Audubon State Park is temporarily closed to visitors. During this time, our staff is working to bring you entertaining and engaging content that you can explore from home. On Mondays we will be sharing a summary of the last week’s content in a “Weekly Roundup” post on the Friends of Audubon blog.
Here are the latest videos, activities, and social media posts from our museum curator, art educator, and park naturalist for May 11-15, 2020.
MUSEUM MONDAYS
Every Monday our museum curator, Heidi Taylor-Caudill, will share stories about the museum collection and history of John James Audubon State Park in a “Museum Monday” video. On Monday, May 11th, Heidi told the story of Henderson native Lida Williams’ 1938 portrait of John James Audubon.
On Mondays, check out @johnjamesaudubonstatepark (Facebook) and @JJAStatePark (Twitter) to see our newest Museum Monday video. You can also find the videos on the Friends of Audubon blog using the tag, “Museum Mondays.”
WILD WEDNESDAYS
On Wednesdays, join our park naturalist, Lisa Hoffman, for virtual explorations of John James Audubon State Park, a beautiful nature preserve of hilly forests, lakes, and wetlands in northwestern Kentucky. In the video for Wednesday, May 13th, you’ll discover the working parts of a tree.
Every Wednesday, check out @johnjamesaudubonstatepark (Facebook) and @JJAStatePark (Twitter) to see our newest Wild Wednesday video. You can also find the videos on the Friends of Audubon blog using the tag, “Wild Wednesdays.”
FANTASTIC FRIDAYS
On Fridays, our art educator, Kim McGrew-Ligget, is sharing fun projects to help kids practice and develop their artistic skills. You can find how-to’s and videos on Facebook @johnjamesaudubonstatepark and Twitter @JJAStatePark. Find all the videos on the Friends of Audubon blog using the tag, “Fantastic Fridays.”
Last week’s project with Mrs. Kim shares a lesson on how to draw “Funny Frogs.” Feel free to share your birds in the comments section on Facebook or Twitter!
NEWS FROM THE MUSEUM SHOP
Last week we spotlighted a selection of children’s books, nature books, books on John James Audubon, and nature-themed puzzles available for purchase through our museum shop.
Though the Audubon Museum is currently closed to visitors, we are now are offering you the opportunity to buy items from our museum shop over the phone. For customers in the local area, we can make arrangements with you to have your purchases made available for contactless curbside pickup at our museum’s back patio. Contact our museum shop manager, Raini Hall, at (270) 826-2247 ext. 235 or [email protected] for more information.
https://friendsofaudubon.org/2020/05/museum-shop-news-sale-on-books-and-puzzles/
OBJECT SPOTLIGHT
Every object in our collection has a story. Last week on the Friends of Audubon blog, our museum curator talked about one of the rarest books in our museum collection: volume one of the Bien edition of The Birds of America (1858-1860). This book represents the financial downfall of the Audubons in the early 1860s. How did this happen? Read the post to learn the story behind the production of the Bien Edition and its disastrous consequences for the Audubon family.
https://friendsofaudubon.org/2020/05/object-spotlight-birds-of-america-bien-edition/
Find all the Object Spotlight blog posts on the Friends of Audubon blog using the tag, “Object Spotlight.”
ONLINE PUZZLES
Need a distraction for a few minutes? Try some of our new online puzzles! The puzzles feature photography of John James Audubon State Park, art and artifacts from our museum collection, drawings from Fantastic Friday projects, as well as bird and flower images from 19th century greeting cards used by John James Audubon’s descendants. There are different levels of difficulty and you can change the number of pieces based on your preference. New puzzles will be added each week.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to see what we share over the next week!
- Facebook: @johnjamesaudubonstatepark
- Twitter: @JJAStatePark
- Instagram: @audubon_state_park
This blog post was written by Heidi Taylor-Caudill, Curator of the John James Audubon State Park Museum.