Natural History Museum of Utah to host Traveling Treasures in Logan, August 12

Scientists began collecting artifacts for the Natural History Museum of Utah more than 50 years ago. Imagine an archeologist riding horseback through Southern Utah to unearth ancient sites, or a geologist hiking up mountains throughout Utah and around the world to collect dazzling minerals. These stories and more are told in the new Traveling Treasures exhibit, Collecting the Past for the Future, which details the intriguing history of the Museum’s early collecting—beginning in 1963.  Today, Museum curators and collection staff care for 1.6 million objects that help scientists make informed decisions about our future.

A Traveling Treasures free family science night will be Tuesday, Aug 12^th at the Logan Zions Bank Branch, 133 E. 1400 N, between 5:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Attendees can participate in many hands-on science-based activities including:

• Panning for Utah minerals and $1.00 coins, including gypsum, topaz, and wonderstone.
• Exploring Utah dinosaurs through skulls, teeth, and claws touch specimens.
• Studying insects by looking at real specimens from the Museum collection.
• Discovering univalve and bivalve shells through a sorting game.

“We are excited to host the Logan community on Aug 12^th,” said Mallori Cutlip, Zions Bank branch manager.  “Zions is very committed in bringing wonderful experiences to our customers and the general public as a whole.  The upcoming family event will be fun for all ages and a great educational opportunity.  I encourage the community to come see the new lobby exhibit and participate in all of the hands-on activities.”

The exhibit will stay in the Logan throughout August. In addition, the Museum has created a curriculum and activity booklet for Utah educators as a supplemental resource specialized for grades 3rd through 5th.Though this booklet is accompanying the Traveling Treasures exhibit, it can also be used throughout the year as it covers a wide range of Utah Natural History topics. Download a free copy from the Museum's website at:

https://nhmu.utah.edu/programs/traveling-treasures

“As the State’s Museum of Natural History, we are thrilled to continue our 23-year partnership with Zion’s Bank to bring collection objects to Utahans where they work and live, providing the opportunity for as many communities as possible to explore Utah’s natural history and to take pride in it, ,” said Museum Executive Director Sarah George. “As we celebrate Museum’s fiftieth year Collecting the Past for the Future tells the story of the critical role museums play in the illumination and preservation of natural history, both for research and for the education of future generations.”

Traveling Treasures is sponsored by the Natural History Museum of Utah at the University of Utah and Zions Bank. Each year, a new exhibit is installed in the lobbies of Zions Bank in communities across the state of Utah. During the span of the program, it has visited 200 communities, traveled approximately 40,800 miles, and reached more than 800,000 Utah residents through the exhibit and related free family events.

This year, Collecting the Past for the Future will travel 1,280 miles across the state of Utah, visiting 11 communities. After debuting in West Valley in January, the exhibit has visited Lehi, Ephraim, Kanab, Panguitch, and Huntington. Following Logan, the exhibit will move on to Tooele, Delta, and Santaquin.

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The Natural History Museum of Utah at the University of Utah is one of the leading scientific research and cultural institutions in the Intermountain West. Established in 1963, the Museum cares for over 1.6 million objects and offers innovative exhibitions and educational programs to thousands of residents and visitors each year, including traveling and permanent exhibits, special events, and other programs. The Museum also offers a variety of school outreach programs, reaching every school district in the state annually. 

Zions Bank, a division of ZB, N.A., is Utah’s oldest financial institution and is the only local bank with a statewide distribution of financial centers, operating 100 full-service centers. Zions Bank also operates 24 full-service financial centers in Idaho. In addition to offering a wide range of traditional banking services, Zions Bank is also a leader in small business lending and has ranked as the No.1 lender of U.S. Small Business Administration 7(a) loans in Utah for the past 23 consecutive years. Founded in 1873, Zions Bank has been serving the communities of Utah for more than 140 years