You might have heard a little something about Door 19, an event that launched in February 2018 at the Academy. Four times a year, we offer guests the chance to see our quirkiest side during a themed soiree set against a backdrop of live performances, music, potent libations and dinosaurs.
One of the highlights of the evening is the chance to go beyond the galleries and into specimen collections off-limits to visitors. We introduce you to our biggest experts, and they bring out their coolest specimens during behind-the-scenes tours. Guests get to find out what it really looks like behind the scenes at a museum. Our scientists have gone a little bit off script to share their most incredible knowledge—from prohibition-era mixology to dinosaur foreplay.
This October, we pulled the skeletons out of our closets just in time for Halloween! Encouraged to come in costume, guests heard the strangest stories, saw the eeriest objects and the baffling-est bone collections, dissected owl pellets, played Operation and drank the night away at an Open Bar alongside our partners from 12th St. Catering, Eight Oaks Distillers, the Mutter Museum, Sculptlerybones, the Divine Hand Ensemble and the Center for Biological Diversity.
Here are some photos and highlights from the evening:
We took enchanting behind-the-scenes tours of our Paleontology and Mammalogy collections.
Made gorgeously creepy bone-filled pendants from owl pellets we dissected
Practiced our surgery skills at a cutthroat Operation tournament
Asked, “What the heck is that?” while you explored the strangest specimens we could dig up
Enjoyed an ethereal performance by the Divine Hand Ensemble
Dressed up in costume for chances to win prizes
And so much more! We are getting ready to announce our 2019 lineup for Door 19. Stay tuned for updates!
Post by Mary Alice Hartsock
Photos by Steve Gudelunas/ANS