Gillespie Museum variscite

The Gillespie Museum

The Gillespie Museum is open in 2022! 

Safer Stetson protocols will be in place for all museum visitors, including wearing masks and maintaining social distance.

You are also welcome to wander through the grounds, including the Native Florida Landscape and the Volusia Sandhill Ecosystem. (Guides to both outdoor spaces are available in the Pollination Station box near the sidewalk between the museum building and the Rinker Environmental Learning Center-RELC.)

Gillespie Museum Grounds aerial map

See our new Educational Resources Page for a wonderful collection of downloadable materials for engaging at-home, museum grounds, and outdoors learning.

The Gillespie Museum features one of the premier historic mineral collections in the southeast, and seasonally changing exhibits on an array of earth science and natural history topics.  With native ecology interpretive and research areas and other multiuse eco-areas across its grounds, and a dedication to inspired environmental programming, the Gillespie has become a center for science education on campus, in the local community, and beyond.

Find out about museum hours, contact information, membership, school programs and more.

Follow Us

During the school year, don't miss our weekly #WildflowerWednesday and #FridayFavorites posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (click link buttons below).  Receive up-to-date details on projects and programs from the museum and sandhill, plus creative prompts for artwork on our student-run, art-in-nature Throughline Virtual Gallery.

gillespie facebook icon gillespie twitter icon instagram logo  Throughline art-in-nature gallery Sign up for our mailing list

You can also Sign Up for our Mailing List to receive news and information on museum events and programming, online resources and activities, and other engagement opportunities inside and outside of the museum walls.

Gillespie Museum Events and News

Events

View all ongoing museum Events and News, or individual Science Café and Science Saturday schedules.

Please check upcoming events for cancelations; programming will be updated as campus health guidelines evolve.

Dates at a Glance

Spring 2022

  • February 10 - 2021 Manatee Mortality, Volusia County, Florida - Exhibit opening and gallery talk with Stetson student Casey Ramey, 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. (reservations required and attendance will be limited to ensure social distancing--RSVP to the museum at: [email protected] to reserve your spot today!) Masks will be required of all visitors.
  • February 12 - Science Saturday - We Love Rocks & Minerals - Valentine's Day crafts and activities, 10 a.m. - noon (Attendance limited. Reservations required to ensure social distancing--RSVP to the museum at: [email protected] to reserve your spot! Masks will be required of all visitors.)
  • February 17 - Science Café/Armchair Geology Series - Florida Underwater Archaeology with Morgan Smith, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, 5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. (reservations required and attendance will be limited to ensure social distancing--RSVP to the museum at: [email protected] to reserve your spot today!) Masks will be required of all visitors. (cultural credit available)
  • March 17 - Science Café/Armchair Geology Series - Roadside Geology of Earth's Moon with Stephen Elardo, University of Florida, 5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. (reservations required and attendance will be limited to ensure social distancing--RSVP to the museum at: [email protected] to reserve your spot today!). Masks will be required of all visitors. (cultural credit available)
  • March 19 - Science Saturday - Adopt-a-Wildflower/Plant a Seed - Volusia Sandhill crafts and activities, 10 a.m. - noon (Attendance limited. Reservations required to ensure social distancing--RSVP to the museum at: [email protected] to reserve your spot! Masks will be required of all visitors.)
  • April 7 - Science Café/Armchair Geology Series - Mars Sample Return Mission with Amy Williams, University of Florida, 5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. (reservations required and attendance will be limited to ensure social distancing--RSVP to the museum at: [email protected] to reserve your spot today!) Masks will be required of all visitors. (cultural credit available)
  • April 16 - Science Saturday - Earth Day at the Gillespie - Crafts and activities celebrating our planet & its wonders! 10 a.m. - noon (Attendance limited. Reservations required to ensure social distancing--RSVP to the museum at: [email protected] to reserve your spot! Masks will be required of all visitors.)
  • Because of evolving health guidelines, several of our spring semester events are still to be determined, and posted events are subject to change. Thanks for your understanding.  Join our mailing list to stay updated!

Fall 2021

  • September 8 - Cindy Leung, ceramics artist - Artist Talk, 6 p.m. - 7 p.m. in the RELC (This talk will also be available to live-stream online; RSVP to [email protected] for the Zoom link). Safer Stetson protocols will be in place for the in-person event, including wearing masks and maintaining social distance.
  • September 15-December 3 - On the Road, by Cindy Leung - Exhibit of hybrid ceramics on display in the Gillespie Museum. Safer Stetson protocols will be in place, including wearing masks and maintaining social distance. (cultural credit available)
  • September 15 - On the Road, by Cindy Leung - Opening Reception, with Tea, 4 p.m. - 5 p.m. in the Gillespie Museum. Safer Stetson protocols will be in place, including wearing masks and maintaining social distance.
  • September 15-December 3 - Meteorites/Rocks from Space - Exhibit of meteorites and tektites on display in the Gillespie Museum. Safer Stetson protocols will be in place, including wearing masks and maintaining social distance. (cultural credit available)
  • September 18 - Science Saturday - Smithsonian Museum Day - Meet our Meteorites, 10 a.m.-noon (reservations required). We will have limited capacity to ensure distancing. Masks are required of all visitors. Make your reservation today!
  • October 22 - Seed Harvesting - outdoors in the Volusia Sandhill Ecosystem (next door to the museum, behind the RELC), 3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. (cultural credit available)
  • October 30 - Science Saturday - Mostly Green Halloween - Our annual family-friendly fall fair! 10 a.m. - noon (reservations required to ensure social distancing--RSVP to the museum at: [email protected] to reserve your spot!). Masks will be required of all visitors.
  • November 3 - Crystals & Ethnogeology - with author and Stetson alum Nicholas Pearson, 6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. in the museum (reservations required and attendance will be limited to ensure social distancing--RSVP to the museum at: [email protected] to reserve your spot today!). Masks will be required of all visitors. (cultural credit available)
  • November 12 - Rock Your Stocking! 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. in the museum. Stuff your stockings this year with jewelry, crystals, and other unique gifts from the Gillespie Museum shop, while enjoying free Trilogy coffee & treats in honor of our 63rd anniversary!  (The museum store will also be open for shopping during regular business hours through December 3.) Safer Stetson protocols will be in place, including wearing masks and maintaining social distance.
Gillespie Museum Exhibits

Exhibits

View all current Museum Exhibits, as well as an archive of selected past installations.

(For a complete listing of the museum's online educational resources, including selected exhibit materials, see our Educational Resources Page, or download this comprehensive Overview of Gillespie Museum Online Resources.)

meteorites rocks from space

Meteorites/Rocks from Space - Come explore space rocks this spring 2022 at the Gillespie!  Learn how rock fragments from outer space reveal clues about our planet and the solar system in this small display of iron meteorites and silica-based tektites from the Historic Gillespie Collection.  Continuing in the museum through April 29.

 Florida Formations exhibit poster

Florida Formations - 500 million years of Florida geology - is a tale of the state's past environments and climates as told through its distinctive rock units and associated fossils.

Storied Stone exhibit poster

Storied Stone explores some of the fascinating narratives and lessons—geological, historic, cultural and spiritual—of the world of minerals and crystals. 

Earth Monument of Florida - Alan Sonfist

Earth Monument of Florida was a geological artwork by renowned environmental land art pioneer Alan Sonfist. This piece, from his "Corings" series (1971-2012), was exhibited in 2021 in the Gillespie Museum as part of the collaborative exhibit "Earth Pandemic" with Stetson's Hand Art Center.  Now available: watch the March 2021 Stetson virtual Interview & Artist Talk with Alan Sonfist.

Cindy Leung multilingual sculptor

On the Road was our fall 2021 exhibit of ceramic works by Cindy Leung, a multilingual sculpture artist who uses porcelain, silk and tea to create hybrid objects that explore identity through the interplay of linguistics and colonialism in a post-structuralist way.

Natural Dyes - Kayla Powers

Naturally Dyed Textiles was a spring 2021 exhibit in our Environmental Gallery that featured fiber art created by Detroit-based weaver and natural dyer Kayla Powers.  Watch Powers' virtual Artist Talk and Natural Dye Demonstration from her Stetson visit.

Florida Stewards

Florida Stewards was the spring 2020 inaugural exhibit in our new Environmental Gallery. Check out the highlights, including an online gallery of our own Stetson Stewards!

Agatized Coral

Our Fall 2019 through Spring 2020 exhibit Agatized Coral and Other Silicified Fossils featured a rare look at Florida's state stone.

Gillespie Museum Grounds

Outdoors & Grounds

See what's happening Outdoors at the Gillespie Museum.

The Grounds of the Gillespie Museum and the adjacent Rinker Environmental Learning Center (RELC) provide natural space for outdoor education and place-based research, constituting an integral part of the continuing environmental programming and initiatives of the museum and of the larger Stetson community.

The acreage surrounding the Gillespie features the Volusia Sandhill Ecosystem restoration project, as well as our Native Florida Plant Landscape. It also provides greenhouse and garden space for Stetson's Hatter Harvest, a sweet home for Stetson Beekeeping, and seasonal replenishment for our Seed Library.

Museum Hours

  • Tuesday through Friday:  10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  (The museum is occasionally open weekday evenings for special events and programs, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon for Science Saturday; 2021-2022 special events tbd, depending on current health conditions. Join our mailing list to stay updated!)

  • Safer Stetson protocols will be in place for all museum visitors, including wearing masks and maintaining social distance.

The museum will be closed during 2021-22 academic holidays, including Fall Break (September 30-October 1); Thanksgiving Week (November 22-26); Winter Break (December 6-January 10); Spring Holidays (February 28-March 4); and Good Friday (April 15).  Staff may be reached by email ([email protected]) or phone, 386.822.7330.

Admissions

Walk-in Visitors

  • No admissions fee. Donations support educational programming.

Educational Programs (Classes K-12, scouts, homeschool groups, etc.)

  • Students: $2.50
  • Teachers/Chaperones: No charge

Membership