Salve’s new Nature Cabinet houses vast collection of natural specimens
The Department of Art and Art History has announced the opening of its new Nature Cabinet, an innovative resource center on campus dedicated to the study of the natural world.
The Nature Cabinet has transformed the Antone Academic Center’s Room 101 into a Renaissance-inspired “cabinet of curiosity.” This small wood-paneled room with built-in antique glass cabinets now houses a vast collection of animal skulls, taxidermy, natural specimens and other highlights. Skulls ranging from alligator, whale, ram and zebra share a space with an assortment of freestanding taxidermied specimens that includes a raven, turkey, armadillo and porcupine. The collection also features a wide variety of wet samples, natural history texts and scientific equipment.
The Nature Cabinet will celebrate its public launch Thursday, Oct. 4 with an introductory lecture by Ernest Jolicoeur, Anthony Mangieri and Susannah Strong, the faculty creators and curators of the collection. The lecture will be held at 5 p.m. in the DiStefano Lecture Hall, with a reception following from 5:30-7 p.m. in the Rogers Gallery and Room 101.
The Nature Cabinet was made possible through the generous support of a Therese Antone Academic Excellence Award for Special Projects. It is a handicap-accessible space available through the University’s online R25 reservation system. The Nature Cabinet welcomes meetings, field trips, class visits and a wide range of independent research to interact with its diverse collections. A large central table that seats eight and a teaching station are available to guests of the Nature Cabinet.
