It’s so easy to look up virtually anything online these days, but a digital experience can’t replace encounters with the physical world in museums. Ask anyone who has been face-to-face with a masterpiece painting or a fully articulated dinosaur skeleton.
A number of museums on Washington State University’s Pullman campus offer a blend of art, science, and history that visitors, students, and community members can experience in person.
Start, perhaps, at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU, sheathed in reflective crimson glass. In addition to intriguing exhibits, the museum hosts educational opportunities for the region.
Recent exhibits include the art of food, a remix of contemporary WSU faculty artwork with the museum’s historical collection, and a retrospective of Pacific Northwest painter and printmaker Keiko Hara.
Learn more about the natural world at the Conner Museum or the James Entomological Collection. Both are renowned for their extensive holdings: the Conner Museum is the largest public collection of taxidermy in the Pacific Northwest, and the James Collection is the largest insect museum in the state.
On the first floor of Webster Hall—just look for the tallest building on campus—three geology collections make up a fascinating museum, filled with fluorescent minerals, rocks of all sorts, one of the most extensive collections of cut and polished petrified wood in the country, and even a dire wolf skull.
There are many other rotating and permanent exhibits around the Pullman campus that can educate and entertain. All are open to the public and entry is free.
Next time you visit Pullman, plan to check out the museums and find some of the hidden gems around WSU.
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU
The stunning Crimson Cube, with its mirrored glass exterior, is the center of visual arts on the Palouse. It contains six galleries that showcase visiting exhibits, featured artists, and works from the museum’s permanent collection. Location: Across Terrell Mall from the CUB. Hours: Starting August 19, the museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday. Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU
Charles R. Conner Museum
The largest public collection of taxidermy in the Pacific Northwest dates to 1894. Exhibits are self-guided and feature more than 700 birds and mammals, such as an aardvark, bison, and moose. The research collection encompasses more than 60,000 specimens of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Location: South end of the first floor of Abelson Hall. Hours: Usually open every day 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (except major holidays and between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day). Conner Museum
Read more about Conner Museum: “A home for natural history”
M.T. James Entomological Collection
The largest insect museum in the state of Washington is a growing and important regional resource. Established in 1892, the collection’s holdings number in the millions and are of significant historical and scientific importance. Location: First floor, Food Science and Human Nutrition building. Hours: Contact the staff about a tour via M.T. James Entomological Collection.
Geology Museum
Three geology collections make up the School of the Environment’s museum. The Culver Study Memorial contains rock and mineral specimens and some fossils, including saber-toothed cat and dire wolf skulls. The Jacklin Collection is one of the most extensive collections of cut and polished petrified wood in the United States. The S. Elroy McCaw Fluorescent Mineral Display holds 150 fluorescent specimens in a dark room that displays the glowing minerals. Location: First floor, Kate B. Webster Physical Sciences Building. Hours: Monday–Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the academic year. Geology Museum
Museum of Anthropology
Curating archaeological and ethnographic materials from more than 1,600 archaeological sites from the Pacific Northwest, the museum is located on the first floor of College Hall. Hours: Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the academic year (summer hours vary). Museum of Anthropology
Worthman-Johnson Veterinary Anatomy Teaching Museum
An intriguing collection of anatomical specimens provides an excellent learning resource for students and a valuable teaching and reference source for faculty. The museum, housed in McCoy Hall and maintained by Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience, is open to the public for both self- and staff-guided tours. Worthman Johnson Veterinary Anatomy Museum
WSU Pullman has many more rotating exhibits and displays, including alumni memorabilia in the Lewis Alumni Centre; WSU Athletics Hall of Fame in Bohler Addition; Cougar Football Hall of Fame in the Football Operations Building; Marion Ownbey Herbarium in Owen Science and Engineering Library (various science exhibits can also be found throughout the library); galleries in the Fine Arts Center; art exhibits on the east end of the Compton Union Building; curated exhibits at Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (ground floor of Terrell Library); historical broadcasting equipment at Murrow Hall; and agricultural history and research displays in the Vogel Plant Bioscience Building.
When on the Pullman campus try our online locator map (ArcGIS) to easily find and check out what’s happening at the many ever-changing exhibits.