The Witte’s Buzzing With Bugs, Bugs and More Bugs!

September 25, 2010-January 2, 2011

• Backyard Monsters: The World of Insects
• Beautiful Bugs: Specimens from the Witte Museum Collection
• Art in the Yard: Insect Innovations

Monsters: The World of Insects

Creepy, crawly and really big bugs are invading the Witte Museum September 25, 2010 through January 2, 2011. Backyard Monsters: The World of Insects is landing in the Kathleen and Curtis Gunn Gallery to give visitors a chance to see what they have been stepping on through six gigantic robotic insects, world-class specimens of exotic insects and invertebrates, hands-on insect interactives and robo-bugs the visitor can control. The Witte has augmented Backyard Monsters with an exhibit classroom and insect zoo, where visitors can examine live bugs on weekends and holidays.

Don’t miss ants the size of your uncle or beetles the size of a Volvo! The robotic insects, some up to 96 times their original size, truly give visitors a bugs-eye-view of the world including battling Atlas Beetles that lunge toward each other in a daring duel, a Mexican Red-Knee Tarantula longer than a truck and a big and beautiful Monarch Butterfly with a 19-foot wingspan. Endorsed by the American Entomological Society, Backyard Monsters is a unique view of the diverse insect world, from the poisonous and bizarre to the beautiful and fantastic. There is a $3 surcharge in addition to museum general admission for Backyard Monsters.

Beautiful Bugs: Specimens from the Witte Museum Collection

To complement Backyard Monsters, the Witte Museum has drawn from the extensive collection of insect specimens from around the world to present Beautiful Bugs: Specimens from the Witte Museum Collection. Filling the Focus Gallery, Beautiful Bugs focuses on the beauty, strangeness and complexity of insects. Visitors can examine exquisite wings, luminescent colors and impressive body shapes of butterflies, bees, moths, walking sticks and more—providing insight into habitats world wide. Beautiful Bugs is included with general museum admission.

Art in the Yard: Insect Innovations

The final buzz! In an effort to continue strong community collaborations, the Witte Museum partnered with artist Cakky Brawley and her sculpture class at Palo Alto College to present Art in the Yard: Insect Innovations. The Spring 2010 class was tasked with creating a piece of art reflective of an insect to complement the Witte’s Backyard Monsters exhibition. The found-object sculptures, chosen through a juried selection, are taking up residence in the Witte Frontyard—where visitors can see these larger-than-life creations including a praying mantis,beetle, spider and more. Art in the Yard is free admission to all.

Backyard Monsters: The World of Insects is generously supported by ABC Home and Commercial Services, An Event to Remember and the City of San Antonio Office of Cultural Affairs. For more information visit www.WitteMuseum.org or call 210.357.1910.