Peek at University of Iowa’s Pentacrest Museums

IOWA CITY - Peek inside the University of Iowa's Pentacrest Museums on Thursday at an annual open house from 4 to 8 p.m.

See everything from exotic insects to the greatest moments in Hawkeye football.

Go behind the scenes to view collection and lab spaces at the Museum of Natural History and talk to staff and students curating delicate insect specimens and working on other projects.

Sarah Camp, a senior art major from Shellsburg who serves as the insect collection curator and digitizer, will be working with insect specimens during the open house.

The open house is free and open to the public. Students, though, also will be able to learn about museum groups, research and volunteer opportunities.

'Once a year, we like to give visitors a chance to see our research and outreach projects as well as the many treasures we do not put on display. There's much more to what we do than what you see in the exhibit halls upstairs,” says Trina Roberts, associate director of the Museum of Natural History.

In conjunction with the open house, Old Capitol Museum will host an opening reception for the new exhibit 'Iowa Football: The Birth of a Legacy,” starting at 5 p.m. Explore the first 70 years of the Hawkeyes, from the first game to the 1959 Rose Bowl win, learn about the lives of legends like Nile Kinnick, Duke Slater and Forest Evashevski, and see a re-creation of a homecoming corn monument.

Refreshments will be served and Herky and members of the Iowa Spirit Squad will make a special appearance from 5 to 6 p.m. The exhibit will remain on display in the Keyes Gallery for Arts, Humanities & Sciences until Dec. 31.

'We're excited to kickoff the fall football season with this wonderful retrospective on the earliest years of Black and Gold pride,” says Shalla Ashworth, associate director of Old Capitol Museum.

For more information about the Pentacrest Museums, visit the Museum of Natural History and Old Capitol Museum websites at Uiowa.edu/mnh and Uiowa.edu/oldcap.

IF YOU GO

'What

: Pentacrest Museums open house

'When

: 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday

'Where

: Museum of Natural Sciences and Old Capitol Museum, Iowa City

'Cost

: Free