The Gillespie Museum

Happy Birthday to the Gillespie!

Three ways to celebrate:  Science Saturday, How to Start a Rock and Mineral Collection, during Stetson’s Homecoming Weekend on Saturday, November 3, 10:00 am - noon; 60th Anniversary Reception and gallery walk on Thursday, November 8, 4:00 – 6:00 pm; and Gillespie@60, a cultural credit opportunity for Stetson undergraduates, weekdays, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, beginning November 14.

Dig into Florida Fossils with DeLand's own Fossil Hunters

Explore Florida geology and paleontology with the cast of the Fossil Hunters television series. Coming spring 2019 for a Science Café on February 7 and a Science Saturday on February 9.

Florida Formations, a new exhibit on Florida geology

Florida Formations tells the geologic history of the state through its distinctive rock units, an array of ocean-formed carbonate formations, each with a story to tell us about past Florida environments and past climates.

a better nectar

Co-hosted by the Gillespie Museum and the Hand Art Center, a better nectar was a multisensory installation based on artist Jessica Rath’s extensive research into co-evolutionary communication between flowering plants and their pollinators. Though this exciting exhibition has come and gone, other pollination-related displays and activities continue in the Gillespie and across campus through the spring semester.

The Pollinator Project centers around the ongoing research of Stetson biology professors Cindy Bennington and Peter May in the Volusia Sandhill Ecosystem, an environmental restoration in progress on the Gillespie Museum grounds. While enhancing the use of the museum for collaborative field work, and as an outdoor classroom, the Pollinator Project also includes an indoor Native Pollinator Research Station with an insect collection, seed library, and other associated displays in the Gillespie Museum's east gallery. An art installation called Pollination Guild in the Sage Science Center was a community endeavor facilitated by Brown Visiting Teacher Scholar Madison Creech that features printed fabric panels and oversized partridge pea flowers with a visiting bee. Other related events included a Beekeeping Workshop (March 16), Citizen + Science: Monitoring Native Pollinators in the Volusia Sandhill (March 23 - May 2); and Wildflower Wednesday (April 18).

Storied Stone

This small exhibit was inspired by Nicholas Pearson’s The Seven Archetypal Stones, which explores some of the lessons—geological, historic, cultural and spiritual—of the mineral world. Our small display and a guided walk through the museum’s collections tell a few stories about these seven captivating stones.

Museum Hours

• Tuesday through Friday: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
• The museum is occasionally open weekday evenings for special events and programs.

• Saturday: Open once a month for Science Saturday from 10 a.m.-noon.

The museum will be closed during 2018-19 academic holidays, including Fall Break (October 4-5); Thanksgiving Weekend (November 21-23); Winter Break (December 15-January 14); and Spring Holidays (March 4-8). Staff may be reached by email (gillespiemuseum@stetson.edu) 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