TRENTON, NJ - The New Jersey State Museum is open for visitors to discover exhibitions that preserve and share stories that inspire curiosity and creativity. Of note are the two short term exhibitions that have been extended, “Preserving the Pinelands: Albert Horner’s Portraits of a National Treasure” and “Fine Feathered Friends: Birds as Mainstay and Muse,” so that visitors have an opportunity to browse the galleries and experience the wonder of these exhibitions in person. Visitors can also browse “American Perspectives: The Fine Art Collection” galleries for changes to the works on display, including several new acquisitions. The Museum is operating on its regular schedule, Tuesday through Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Masks are required for all visitors over the age of two years and social distancing is encouraged.

“Preserving the Pinelands: Albert Horner’s Portraits of a National Treasure” will remain on view through January 2, 2022. The exhibition features images by photographer Albert Horner which capture the quiet beauty and intimate landscapes of New Jersey’s Pinelands National Reserve. A number of artifacts and scientific specimens from the Museum’s collections help tell some of the stories of the land, animals, people and industries that make this unique area a state and national treasure. “Preserving the Pinelands” is located in the East Gallery on the Museum’s on the first floor.

“Fine Feathered Friends: Birds as Mainstay and Muse,” will remain on view through March 6, 2022 in the Riverview Gallery on the Museum’s second floor. This exhibition brings together nearly 200 rarely-seen artifacts to explore the status of our fine feathered friends as ecological mainstay and their historical role as a design-inspiring force, or muse, for New Jersey craftspeople. Ceramic sculptures by noted artist Edward Marshall Boehm, original prints by John James Audubon, hand-carved duck decoys, scientific specimens and other objects help tell the story of our fascination with birds.

Changes to Gallery 10 (2000-present) and Gallery 9 (1980s-2000) in “American Perspectives: The Fine Art Collection” were brought on by a number of new acquisitions to the collection in the past few years. One of the newest works added is a standing wood and mixed media figure by the late sculptor Jonathan Shahn (1928-2020) added to Gallery 9. The Museum is thrilled to have a painting of the sculptor by Mel Leipzig (b.1935) in Gallery 10. Amazingly, the painting shows not just Shahn, but his sculpture which is on view in the adjacent gallery!

There have also been a few changes in the “Written in the Rocks: Fossil Tales of New Jersey” gallery, specifically, the installation of the nearly complete Hyposaurus rogersii skeleton, a pre-historic crocodilian which lived in what is now Gloucester County, NJ, about 65 million years ago.

The New Jersey State Museum is located within the State Cultural Complex and is open Tuesday through Sunday, excluding State holidays. For additional information, visit www.statemuseum.nj.gov, like the Museum’s Facebook page (@NJStateMuseum), follow us on Twitter (njstatemuseum), or Instagram (nj_statemuseum).

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About the New Jersey State Museum
Located at 205 West State Street in Trenton, the New Jersey State Museum encompasses three buildings including a state-of-the-art Planetarium and holds over 2 million artifacts in its collections in Archaeology/Ethnography, Cultural History, Fine Art and Natural History. The New Jersey State Museum is a center for the exploration of science, history and the arts. We preserve and share stories that inspire curiosity and creativity for the enrichment of our communities.

About the New Jersey State Museum Foundation
The New Jersey State Museum Foundation was founded in 1968 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) to support the Museum's collections, exhibitions and programs through fundraising, volunteerism, advocacy and marketing. In recent years, the Foundation has received generous support from the PNC Foundation, NJM Insurance Group, Department of State/New Jersey Historical Commission, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, James Kerney Foundation, Henry Luce Foundation, Princeton Area Community Foundation, Johnson and Johnson, and Bank of America.

The Foundation also operates the Museum membership program, as well as the Museum Shop which sells merchandise related to the Museum's exhibitions and collections, and New Jersey history and culture. Proceeds support the New Jersey State Museum's collections, exhibitions and programs.