The Virginia Living Museum:

	Is dedicated to preserving Virginia’s rich natural heritage through an educated public.

	Introduces visitors to the uniqueness and importance of all living things through exhibits of more than 200 living species native to Virginia.

	Fosters an appreciation of the importance of preserving the natural world through exhibits, hands-on classes, labs, safaris and special programs for students and the general public.

	Is a member of the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, which aims to foster a broader commitment to Bay restoration and conservation efforts by providing citizens the opportunity to experience the Bay and its rivers first hand.

	Has provided formal, natural and space science education at the museum to more than 2 million students since 1987.

	Provided formal science education programs to more than 136,000 Virginia students in fiscal 2004-05. All programs are correlated with Virginia’s Standards of Learning for Science and targeted for specific grade levels.

	Has educational programs that are endorsed by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education and the Virginia Department of Education as outstanding enrichment opportunities.

	Contracts with six Peninsula school systems to provide formal science education for students in grades K-12.

	Annually teaches more than 30 Virginia life and earth science teachers new ways to teach science though summer graduate credit courses and provides internships to Governor’s school students.

	Through its living exhibits, brings visitors in contact with more wildlife than could be encountered in a lifetime of outdoor adventures in Virginia.

	Maintains native plantings in all exhibits, gardens and outdoor areas.

	Collaborates with museums and tourist bureaus from Williamsburg to Virginia Beach and the Virginia Tourism Corporation to increase visitor spending in the area.

	Demonstrates the inter-connectedness of earth and space through daily planetarium programs and viewing of the sky in the observatory.

	Participates in off-site events and festivals (such as Norfolk Children’s Festival) to bring its conservation message to the general public.

	Has more than 350 active volunteers who contributed 36,653 hours in fiscal 2004-2005 (the equivalent of 19 full-time staff positions).

	Attracted 311,000 people in fiscal 2004-2005 to its exhibits and programs.

	Obtains more than 70% of its income from admissions, museum store sales, memberships program fees and fundraising efforts.

	Has an annual operating budget of $3.3 million that remains balanced.

	Is accredited by the American Association of Museums, a recognition awarded to less than 10 percent of the museums in the country.

	Is a private, non-profit 501 (c)3 institution.

	Is governed by a Board of Trustees comprised of 27 elected and 11 appointed members.

	Has a staff of approximately 45 full-time and 45 part-time employees

Nature comes alive at the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News

The Commonwealth of Virginia is blessed with an “uncommon-wealth” of natural wonders, among the most diverse in the country. At the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News, this natural heritage comes alive.

The exhibits in the museum’s new building, that opened March 2004, bring people in contact with more habitats, wildlife and plant species than would be encountered in a lifetime of outdoor adventures. The exhibits literally go from the upland coves of the Appalachian Mountains to the salty offshore waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

The dramatic 62,000-square-foot building, part of a $22.6 million expansion, takes advantage of the site’s natural bowl-shape to link the outdoor elevated boardwalk with the indoor living exhibits.

Opened in 1987 as the first living museum east of the Mississippi, the Virginia Living Museum is still a museum leader in its use of living exhibits (animals, plants, marine creatures, reptiles, amphibians, birds) to present its message –  stimulating knowledge, awareness and stewardship of the living world and our relationship to it.

Each exhibit tells a story. There is the predator-prey relationship between the chipmunk and the corn snake, the comeback of a threatened species – rockfish, the still endangered status of once plentiful short-nosed sturgeon, and the complex interrelationships of the animals and plants that inhabit a cypress swamp.

In the two-story, glass-covered walk-through habitats, visitors immerse themselves in natural environments. The cool, moist Appalachian Cove features a waterfall, a swift-running mountain stream and a lake filled with mountain fish, plus free-flying birds. Massive cypress and tupelo tree trunks line the southeastern Cypress Swamp, where visitors can see numerous swamp creatures, including alligators and snapping turtles.

The Coastal Plain Gallery explores the world’s richest nursery, the Chesapeake Bay. Exhibits range from the dramatic 30,000-gallon Noland Chesapeake Bay Aquarium with its large sea creatures to an underwater view of the intricate and complex life forms that inhabit a wooden piling beneath the ocean waters.

The Piedmont and Mountains Gallery is anchored by a display of the fall line from the James River in Richmond, filled with smallmouth bass, catfish, wood turtles and other aquatic creatures. Also in this gallery, are spotted turtles in an upland bog, yellow perch and tiny red squirrels.

Hanging over the double helix staircase, which represents the genetic basis of life, is a six-foot-diameter globe showing the earth as viewed from space. At the bottom is a scientifically authentic replica of a dinosaur that may have lived in the foothills of Virginia around 200 million years ago. Visitors can touch real dinosaur footprints.

In Virginia’s World of Darkness, visitors come eye-to-eye with tiny sharks, burrowing pine voles, scurrying ghost crabs, playful flying squirrels, eerie moon jellyfish, a giant lobster and other animals that adapt to nocturnal life.

In the Virginia Underground Gallery, visitors wind their way past the striking features of creatures from a limestone cave. The gallery also features a cut-away of the fossil-rich layers along the steep banks of the James River and the colorful gems that can be found in the “jewel box” of an underground mine.

The Chesapeake Bay Touch Tank, hands-on discovery centers and interactive activities in each gallery encourage visitors to expand their knowledge.

With a dome that revolves 360 degrees and a university-grade16-inch Meade telescope, the rooftop Abbitt Observatory provides visitors with spectacular views of the sun, during clear days, and beautiful objects in the night sky, on designated evenings.

The 70-seat planetarium theater is currently open to the public on a limited basis.

Outdoors, a 3/4-mile elevated boardwalk loops across Deer Park Lake and through 10 acres of woods and creeks with animals, such as river otters, red wolves, beavers, bobcats, coyotes, deer and wild turkeys living in their natural habitats. Also, on the boardwalk, is the Coastal Plain Aviary, a dramatic walk-through aviary filled with coastal birds, such as pelicans, herons, egrets and ducks.

The museum is located between Williamsburg and Norfolk/Virginia Beach at 524 J. Clyde Morris Blvd., Newport News (I-64, exit 258-A).

Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Winter hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The museum is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Admission is $13 adults and $10 children (ages 3-12). Group rates are available for groups of ten or more.

For more information, call 757-595-1900. For group reservations, call 757-595-9135.

For information about other attractions and lodging in Newport News, VA., call (toll-free) 888-493-7386 or visit the website at www.newport-news.org.

The Virginia Living Museum will continue to be the premiere learning laboratory to showcase Virginia’s natural and living resources so that people, of all ages and in future generations, will understand and protect the balance of our natural world.

The purpose of the Virginia Living Museum shall be to stimulate knowledge, awareness and appreciation of the biological and physical world, and to develop an understanding of its relationship to the environment of the planet and the universe beyond. This shall be accomplished by providing a variety of living interpretive exhibits and education programs for the public, students and educators that encourage a commitment to protection and conservation of our natural world and its delicately balanced components.

High resolution photographs can be emailed or sent on CD. Please contact our Marketing Director, Virginia Gabriele at 757-595-1900 ext. 249, marketing@thevlm.org or our Tourism and Promotions Manager, James Dean at (757) 595-1900 ext. 232,
james.dean@thevlm.org.