January 18, 2013

What:          A dinosaur artist and educator will create a life-size drawing of a famous dinosaur while museum visitors watch on the opening day of the new exhibit Drawn to Dinosaurs: Hadrosaurus foulkii at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. The illustrator will use colored chalk on a blackboard installed in the Art of Science Gallery to draw the 25-foot-long, duck-billed, plant-eating dinosaur, Hadrosaurus foulkii, discovered in 1858 in Haddonfield, N.J. A full mounted cast of that dinosaur will stand nearby as part of the exhibit. Museum visitors can watch the process and ask questions. A time-lapse video of the daylong drawing session will be created and installed in the exhibit the following week.

Who:            The artist and educator is Jason Poole, coordinator of the Academy’s Fossil Prep Lab in Dinosaur Hall. Poole has participated in numerous dinosaur digs around the world and his artwork has been published in National Geographic, Science, and other publications and museum exhibits. Poole will interact with museum visitors as he draws.

Visuals:         Children and adults will gather and watch in the exhibit as Poole draws the dinosaur on a huge blackboard. By the end of the day, the dinosaur will be completed. Positioned next to the blackboard and surrounded by the rest of the intimate exhibit, a full skeleton of Hadrosaurus foulkii also will watch the progress.

When:          Saturday, Feb. 2, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a break from noon to 1 p.m.

Where:         The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia

Background:   The Academy was the first in the world to create a mounted dinosaur skeleton for display, and to this day the Academy is known as “the dinosaur museum.” Drawn to Dinosaurs: Hadrosaurus foulkii, on view Feb. 2–June 9, is an intimate exhibit that explores how artists and scientists work with ancient remains to flesh out long gone beasts. The centerpiece is a full cast of Hadrosaurus foulkii, discovered in 1858 in Haddonfield, N.J., and reconstructed and mounted based on Academy research and artist interpretation. The exhibit includes touchable hadrosaur skin impressions, a fleshed-out, life-size drawing of what experts believe the dinosaur looked like, and more.

Image:            Click here for a drawing of Hadrosaurus foulkii. For more images, call 215-299-1043.