Originally published at: https://geektherapy.org/nhmlac-announces-spring-and-summer-programming-for-the-natural-history-museum-and-la-brea-tar-pits-2/
Author: Newsroom
Los Angeles, CA (February 12, 2026) — The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC) announce their slate of spring and summer programming for the Natural History Museum (NHM) in Exposition Park and La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park. This mix of family-friendly and adult programming and events features a wide range of exhibitions, hands-on activities, talks, and performances both in-person and online. In addition, NHMLAC community scientists will spearhead a number of research initiatives and expeditions open to the public that will highlight the Museums’ ongoing impact and discoveries and allow Angelenos to get involved.
Below is a list of currently-scheduled* programming and exhibitions, as well as community science projects, research initiatives and new curator announcements. Visit NHM.ORG and TARPITS.ORG for future updates and more information.
*All programs and events are subject to change. Check our websites for the latest information and updates
Natural History Museum
Fierce! The Story of Cats — From ferocious tigers to beloved pets, Fierce! The Story of Cats is the exciting new exhibition at NHM that encourages guests to immerse themselves in the captivating world of cats. This temporary exhibition explores the diversity of cats — their behaviors, unique biology and complex relationship with humans. Spanning continents and the ages, Fierce! includes an array of incredible mounted specimens, interactive displays and cultural objects inspired by cats, offering an up-close-and-personal experience, highlighting cats’ beauty, diversity and predatory skills, all while illuminating the importance of protecting the world’s wild cats and their habitats. More information is available at: nhm.org/fierce.
Schedule: Closing on February 18
Admission: $12 per person + Museum admission or free for Members
Orcas: Our Shared Future — Making its West Coast debut, Orcas: Our Shared Future dives deep into the remarkable relationship between orcas, people, and the oceans we share. Visitors will experience how science and culture together illuminate the world of these intelligent, family-centered animals through immersive installations, life-size models and fossils, and emotional storytelling. This exhibition will also inspire visitors to learn more and take action as a part of NHM’s ongoing mission as a leading voice in biodiversity and habitat conservation.
Schedule: Opens to Members on April 24 and to the public on April 26
Admission: $12 per person + Museum admission or free for Members
Prehistoric Fight Nights — Join Rextooth Studios’ Ted Rechlin, award-winning graphic-novelist, animator, film-maker and science communicator, as he goes head to head with experts from NHM and La Brea Tar Pits over two nights to battle it out and crown the toughest champions of each prehistoric era. On the first night, we’ll travel to the Mesozoic for a colossal rumble among the dinosaurs, and on night two we’ll take a trip to the Pleistocene for an epic Ice Age brawl. Both evenings will also include getting up-close to rarely seen fossils from both museums’ collections, a book signing by Ted Rechlin, interactive activities, and more. More information is available at: nhm.org/prehistoricfightnights.
Schedule: February 20 and 21, 5:30–9 pm
Admission: $15 General Admission | $10 Members
First Fridays | 20th Anniversary Season — First Fridays celebrates 20 years as Los Angeles’ premier museum after-hours experience, where exclusive nighttime access to NHM brings music, science and culture together for an engaging evening of conversation and community. Throughout the night, guests are free to explore the Museum at their own pace, exploring galleries and exhibitions with live music, DJs, topical discussions, signature cocktails, pop-up experiences, and much more. More information is available at nhm.org/firstfridays.
Schedule: March 6, April 3, May 1. 6-10 pm.
Admission: $30 for Public | $20 for Members
Images: First Fridays
Butterfly Pavilion — Walk among beautiful butterflies in our seasonal Butterfly Pavilion. This outdoor exhibition features hundreds of butterflies, colorful native plants, and plenty of natural light to help you see these creatures shimmer. With lots of flight space and a variety of resting spots, come get one of the best views in Los Angeles of these amazing insects. More information will be available at nhm.org/butterflies.
Schedule: March 22 – August 23
Admission: $10 + Museum admission or free for Members
Images: Butterfly Pavilion Press Images
Earth Day — Celebrate Earth Month with NHMLAC. In addition to our annual Earth Day celebration on April 19, we’ll also debut a new environmental film series called Green Screen. The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County protect and share more than 35 million specimens and artifacts, the largest natural and cultural history collection in the western United States. By understanding the world around us, past and present, we gain a better appreciation for our planet and for all who share it. More information is forthcoming at nhm.org/earthday.
Schedule: April 19, 9:30 am–5 pm
Admission: Free with Museum admission | Free for Members
Images: Earth Day Press Images
City Nature Challenge — Every April, just in time for Earth Day, this popular community science global initiative returns, now in its 11th year! Participants the world over are invited to document nature in their own cities with smartphones and cameras to help scientists better understand local biodiversity. Learn more at nhm.org/citynaturechallenge.
Schedule: April 24–27
Images: City Nature Challenge
Bug Fair — Join NHM for a two-day festival celebrating our winged, multi-legged, and squirmy friends for the 40th annual Bug Fair! Visit a variety of exhibitors and see everything from exotic insect collections to unique and cool bug-related products. More information is available at nhm.org/bugfair.
Schedule: May 16 and 17
Admission: Free with Museum admission | Free for Members
Images: Bug Fair
Unearthed: Raw Beauty — Featuring pieces of all sizes, shapes, and colors, Unearthed: Raw Beauty showcases the magnificence of some of the finest mineral specimens ever discovered. From learning about what gems, minerals and crystals are to the various ways NHM scientists use minerals to build a sustainable future, this exhibition invites guests to discover how specimens preserved from destruction can help us appreciate and understand our natural world. Unearthed reveals the natural beauty of minerals, because (unlike previous shows in NHM’s Gem Vault, which focus on cut gemstones) this exhibition will highlight amazing mineral crystals in their uncut state. Normally mined and ground up for raw materials, these spectacular specimens were preserved to inspire people to respect the natural wonders of our Earth. This temporary exhibition will feature incredible specimens loaned from the collection of eminent mineral dealer Dr. Robert Lavinsky (among others) alongside NHM’s own specimens. More information available at: nhm.org/unearthed.
Schedule: On view through April 18, 2027
Admission: Free with Museum admission
Images: Unearthed: Raw Beauty Images
Reframing Dioramas: The Art of Preserving Wilderness — The Natural History Museum’s historic diorama halls are the largest exhibitions at the Museum, showcasing over 75 incredibly detailed habitats ranging from arctic tundra to tropical rainforest. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the dioramas, NHM is restoring and reopening a diorama hall that has been closed for decades. There, visitors will experience immersive new installations — by artists RFX1 (Jason Chang), Joel Fernando and Yesenia Prieto (working as a three-artist team), as well as Saul Becker and Lauren Schoth — that call attention to dioramas as a unique combination of art and science and explore biodiversity, ecology, conservation, colonialism, and changing museum display techniques. More information is available at nhm.org/reframingdioramas.
Admission: Free with Museum admission
Images: PST | “Reframing Dioramas” at NHM
Ocean Encounters — Fun, educational, and interactive, the new Ocean Encounters live performance features life-size sea creature puppets for a prehistoric undersea adventure. Ocean Encounters is family-friendly, and each performance is about 20 minutes long. More information is available at nhm.org/oceanencounters.
Schedule: Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 am and 11:30 am
Admission: $10 per person + Museum admission or free for Members
Images: Ocean Encounters
T. REX 3D Film — This captivating science adventure celebrates the greatest of all tyrants, starring NHM’s own Thomas the T. rex. The big screen production on this iconic dinosaur—and its carnivorous Cretaceous cousins—aims to be the most dazzling and accurate T. rex documentary ever made. More information is available at nhm.org/TREX3D.
Schedule: Showtimes vary by day
Admission: $10 per person + Museum admission or free for Members
Images: T. REX 3D Film
Collective Knowledge from Our Changing World — Now open alongside the new NHM Commons, Collective Knowledge invites visitors to take a fresh look at NHM’s collections through the lens of photographer Craig Cutler. Twelve large-scale photographs bring objects and specimens to life, and behind-the-scenes stories highlight some of the incredible research taking place every day. More information is available at nhm.org/collectiveknowledge.
Admission: Free with admission
Images: Collective Knowledge
Animals Alive!* — Every week, meet our Living Collections team and their furry, scaly, slimy, or leggy friends that help make L.A. a biodiversity hotspot—along with creatures from all over the planet. Discover how they survive in our sprawling city as well as habitats across the globe, and what we can all do to help protect our animal neighbors. More information is available at nhm.org/animalsalive.
Schedule: Wednesdays, 10:30 am and 11 am
Admission: $5 or free for Members
*Animals subject to change
Collections Revealed — Every week, explore the 99% of Museum Collections not on display that drive research and discoveries at NHM and across the globe. From tiny marine invertebrates and extraordinary artifacts to newly described species and the oldest things on Earth, get an up-close look at the rarely seen Museum Collections we study and care for.More information is available at nhm.org/collectionsrevealed.
Schedule: Thursdays at 11 am
Admission: Free with paid admission or free for Members.
Nature Gardens Exploration — Swing by the Nature Gardens to dive into Nature Garden Explorations, tours led by Museum Educators and focused on topics such as birding, bug netting, nature journaling, and ponding. Topics rotate over the course of the year, so be sure to check online to see which explorations are currently available. More information is available at nhm.org/naturegardens.
Schedule: 11 am on weekends, meet near the pond in the Nature Gardens
Admission: Free with Museum admission
Scanning Electron Microscope Demonstration — Visit the Mineralogy Lab in the back of the Gem & Mineral Hall to see a live demonstration of NHM’s Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) in action from our Curator of Polychaetes, Dr. Kirk Fitzhugh. This is a unique opportunity to get a real-life glimpse into technology often reserved for the world’s top laboratories (and often seen in movies).
Schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 am
Admission: Free with Museum Admission
La Brea Tar Pits
STEAM Family Day— Building on the success of the Girls in STEM program, and our commitment to expanding STEM-based programs, NHMLAC is excited to introduce STEAM Family Day 2026 at La Brea Tar Pits. This year, we are widening the scope to include Art (STEAM) and will continue to be an opportunity for youth ages 8-18 and their families to engage in hands-on activities, explore future career paths, and engage in a resource fair and panel discussions. More information is available at: tarpits.org/steam-programs.
Schedule: March 21, 9:30 am–5 pm
Admission: Free with Museum admission
La Brea Tar Pits Insider Tour — An exclusive backstage pass to the Ice Age taking visitors behind the scenes with scientists. Sort real fossils, go behind the fences of one of the oldest tar pits still in existence and come face-to-face with the bubbling tar. More information about the Insider Tour is available at tarpits.org/insidertour.
Schedule: Saturdays and Sundays from 11am–12:15 pm. *Occasional Fridays and Mondays from 11am–12:15 pm. *Schedule varies.
Admission: Adult: $145 | $120 for Members. Child: $125 | $100 for Members.
Excavator Tour — The Excavator Tour explores the Fossil Lab (where real paleontologists work), our historic excavation sites, and Project 23 (where live excavations can be seen). More information about excavations is available at tarpits.org/excavations.
Schedule: 1 pm on weekdays; 10:30 am & 1 pm on weekends
Admission: Free with Museum admission
Discoveries from the Tar Pits — Drop by to learn some of the lesser-known stories of the Tar Pits, including active research and recent discoveries. Topics change daily.
Schedule: 3:30 pm daily
Admission: Free with Museum admission
Ice Age Encounters — Encounter the Ice Age as we dig into the past to uncover the mysteries of some of the extinct creatures who roamed Ice Age Los Angeles over 10,000 years ago. Experience this dynamic, 15-minute show featuring a life-size adult saber-toothed cat puppet, a live performance, and film projections that bring the distant past to life. This one-of-a-kind multimedia performance transports guests back in time to come nearly face-to-face with a moving, roaring extinct saber-toothed cat. Performed in an intimate theater setting, this show is great for the whole family and children of all ages. More information is available at tarpits.org/iceageencounters.
Schedule: Thursdays and Fridays at 10:30 and 11:30 am, Saturdays and Sundays at 11:30 am and 1:30 pm
Admission: $8 per person in addition to Museum admission or free with membership
Images: Ice Age Encounters
*Please note: The saber-toothed cat puppet is very large and may be frightening to some children.
Museum Admission – NHM and La Brea Tar Pits
Members – FREE
Adult — $18.00
Senior (62+) — $14.00
Student — $14.00
Children (3 – 12) — $7.00
Children 2 and under – FREE
Unless otherwise noted, all events are included in the price of admission or free for members.
Admission is always free for NHMLAC Members, California Pre K–12 teachers with ID, Active or retired United States military with ID, CA EBT cardholders with ID, and USC Students and Faculty with ID. In addition, L.A. County residents receive free Museum Admission from 3-5 pm Monday through Friday.
Community Science Projects (Open to Public)
Ant Quest: Ant Quest is a community science project that will help us better understand ant biodiversity in Southern California. In particular, we are working with community scientists to: 1) understand the relationship between patterns of land use in Southern California (landscaping, natural areas, housing, etc.) and the kinds of ants that are found in a particular place 2) learn about the relationship between native California ant species and those that have been introduced from other places. We’d like you to help us complete the first community science Ant Quest focusing on urban Southern California by finding ants, taking photos, and uploading them to the Ant Quest iNaturalist project or emailing them to us: ants@nhm.org.
SNERCH (Formerly SnailBlitz): NHM’s annual community science slugfest returns from February 1 to March 31. The search for snails and slugs known as SNERCH asks for volunteers to scour Southern California for snails and slugs during the two-month run and share photographs of as many of the slimy critters as they can find. Past contributions have uncovered non-native and endangered species. Whether they’re in your backyard, at the local park, or along the trail of your favorite hike, every snail or slug photographed will help NHM scientists like Twila Bratcher, Chair in Malacological Research and Associate Curator of Malacology Dr. Jann Vendetti, learn more about the biodiversity of Southern California. Snerch is part of the larger SLIME (Snails and Slugs Living in Metropolitan Environments) project on iNaturalist. More information at nhm.org/snearch.
SoCal Webs: NHM’s new community science project that aims to catalogue and improve our knowledge of spider biodiversity in Los Angeles County and throughout Southern California. The Natural History Museum’s collection of spiders includes thousands of specimens from locations throughout the Los Angeles basin and spans the last 70 years. Since 2002 more than 6,000 specimens of spiders have been added to the collection through the community science project Los Angeles Spider Survey (LASS), making the NHMLAC Spider collection one of the most important references of spider biodiversity from the greater Los Angeles area (Kemp et al., 2021). We want to extend this project into the digital era, and that is where community scientists come in! Submit photos and supporting data (date, time, address/locality, and observational notes) by uploading to the SoCal Webs project page on iNaturalist or sending an email to spiders@nhm.org.
City Nature Challenge — Every April, just in time for Earth Day, this popular community science global initiative returns, now in its 10th year! Participants the world over are invited to document nature in their own cities with smartphones and cameras to help scientists better understand local biodiversity. This year will also feature an organized habitat survey at Elephant Hill with NHM’s Community Science team. Learn more at nhm.org/citynaturechallenge.
Schedule: April 24 – April 27, 2025 (Elephant Hill Habitat Survey on April 26)
Images: City Nature Challenge
Research Initiatives
Antarctica Expedition — Throughout this expedition, participants will travel alongside Dr. Tania Pineda, Collections Manager of Echinoderms, and Dr. Jeff Bozanic, aboard the M/V Plancius from Oceanwide Expedition, with daily opportunities to engage directly in citizen science initiatives supporting expedition-based projects. These activities include the biological collection and documentation of marine specimens, microplastic sampling using filter-feeding organisms, bird and wildlife surveys, and foraminifera sampling for environmental and climate research. The expedition to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island, the Antarctic Peninsula, and the remote Shag Rocks is sponsored by Research Associate in Echinoderms, Dr. Jeff Bozanic. All specimens collected during the expedition will be processed and permanently curated in the scientific collections of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. More information is available here: Oceanwide Expeditions. To view the current position of the vessel during the time of the expedition, use Cruisemapper.com, M/V Plancius, and follow @naturallyspiny on Instagram.
When: Feb 11 – March 09, 2026
Where: Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island, the Antarctic Peninsula, and the remote Shag Rocks
Philosophy of Biological Systematics — A unique course examining the nature of scientific inquiry and what is required for biological systematics to operate within established principles of rational reasoning. From these basics we critically evaluate the efficacy of such systematics-based concepts as “parsimony,” “likelihood,” and “Bayesianism;” what do we mean by terms such as taxon, and are species ontological individuals, lineages, explanatory hypotheses, or something else; what is required to test phylogenetic hypotheses; how to properly judge empirical support for hypotheses; why popular approaches such as separate phylogenetic analyses of partitioned data, cladogram comparisons, and character mapping are logically and scientifically unacceptable. For more information, or to join the class, contact Dr. Kirk Fitzhugh at kfitzhugh@nhm.org.
When: April-May, 23 lectures
Where: Online, via Zoom
Price: Free
The Collections Rescue Initiative, funded by the California Institute for Biodiversity, aims to safeguard California’s natural history so that researchers, students, conservationists, and the public can continue to benefit from these specimens. Through our funding, we will offer support for rescue, stabilization, documentation, and long-term stewardship of eligible collections. Currently, NHM is working on projects involving collections from USGS, UCLA, Pomona College and NOAA/UCLA, however the project is also actively recruiting for more collections. More information is available at nhm.org/collections-rescue.
RASCals: The Reptiles and Amphibians of Southern California (RASCals) community science project is a partnership between NHM and the San Diego Natural History Museum designed to improve our knowledge of native and non-native reptiles and amphibians in Southern California. We need your help documenting reptiles and amphibians in the region to understand how various species have responded to urbanization. We are interested in native and non-native species in all types of habitats, from relatively pristine habitats to backyards, schoolyards, and urban parks. Submit photos and audio to the RASCals Project on iNaturalist or e-mail submissions to rascals@nhm.org.
SLIME: Snails and slugs Living in Metropolitan Environments (SLIME) is a community science project cataloging the biodiversity of terrestrial land snails and slugs throughout Southern California. NHM’s collection of land snails includes thousands of specimens from locations throughout the L.A. basin and spans the last 100 years. However, not much is known about this mollusk biodiversity today, especially within the cities of Southern California. Help us complete the first community science snail survey focusing on urban Southern California by finding snails and slugs, taking photos, and emailing them to us or uploading them to the SLIME iNaturalist page.