News

Latest news and announcements from the Rice Northwest Rock and Mineral Museum.

Give to the Rice NW Museum on #GivingTuesday

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Tuesday, December 2, 2014 is international #GivingTuesday, a day to give back. Please keep the Rice Northwest Museum in your giving plans for this year. The event is the day after Cyber Monday and is designed to encourage giving to others. The supporters recommending giving freely of your time volunteering, giving to charity, and giving back. On Thanksgiving, we give thanks. On Black Friday, we give deals. On Cyber Monday, we get online. On Giving Tuesday, we give back. And you know what the greatest, coolest, most innovative part about this whole movement is? It doesn’t matter how much you give, or how much you give, only that you give. Join in. Be part of a movement. You may give to the museum by: Donating to help keep the museum the best in the Pacific Northwest and globally Become a member and join the Rice NW Museum family of supporters Sponsor an event, rock or mineral, or an exhibit at the museum Volunteer to help with the many projects and activities around the museum for a few hours or on a regular basis It takes a few dollars or hours to make a huge difference in the museum’s ability to offer free and low cost programs for school children from around the Pacific Northwest, local, national, and international educational outreach programs, to offer extraordinary exhibits and special programs, and introduce thousands of people to the joy of rock collecting and preservation and natural sciences. The project is a United Nations Foundation program.

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Antique Trader’s Guide to Fine Mineral Collection Recommends Rice Museum

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The Antique Trader magazine recently featured the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals as one of their favorite resources in their article, “Digging for Information: 10 Things to Consider Before Collecting Fine Minerals.” The article is a step-by-step guide for those considering if fine mineral collecting is right for you, offering helpful information and resources, like our museum, to learn more about the art of collecting. Fine Mineral Collecting is the collecting of one-of-a-kind natural minerals such as the red rhodochrosite that represents the Rice NW Museum on display in the museum’s Main Gallery downstairs, alongside many other rare and unusual minerals including tourmaline, benitoite, paravauxite, legrandite, and papagoite. Fine mineral collectors collect as much for the beauty, shape and form, as well as their rarity, quality, and value. For many, finding and displaying a piece of natural history, a precious mineral formed over millions of years in a “combination of fluid, heat, and pressure,” is reward enough. As mentioned in the article, by becoming a fine mineral collector, you would be in good company. Who knows, your piece may have been owned by Andrew Carnegie, Washington Roebling (builder of the Brooklyn Bridge) or even famous pianist Roger Williams or [Oscar-winning composer of “Titanic”] James Horner, all of whom were avid Fine Mineral collectors. Other famous fine mineral collectors include Colonel Washington A. Roebling, the inventor of wire cable and builder of the famous Brooklyn Bridge, Pauline Armstrong of the Schlitz-Anheuser-Bush family, famous Spanish photographers José Manuel Sanchez and Francisco Piña, Sir Arthur Russell, 6th Baronet of England, Gene Meieren of Intel, Frau Dr. Erika Pohl of Wella Balsam Cosmetics, Michael Scott of Apple Computers, and Dr. Edward David Jr., former Nixon era science adviser. The Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals offers workshops, lectures, and help to get you started on your own fine mineral collecting hobby. Come by for a visit and learn more about how you, too, can start exploring the exciting and beautiful world of minerals.

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Rice NW Museum to exhibit at the Portland Regional Gem and Mineral Show plus two other venues

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This is a busy week for the Rice NW Museum. Rockhounds, mineral enthusiasts and teachers can find us at one of three different events this coming Columbus Day weekend. Portland Regional Gem and Mineral Show October 10 – 12, 2014 The Rice NW Museum will be in attendance at the Portland Regional Gem & Mineral show all three days of the show. Our gift shop will be joining the more than forty dealers selling mineral related items. Proceeds help support our educational programming at the museum. The Rice NW Museum will also be among the more than one hundred educational exhibits. In addition, there will be lectures, book signings, demonstrations, kids activities, and much, much more during the show. Those who attend the Portland Regional Show can get $2 off regular admission to the Rice NW Museum this weekend with proof of paid admission to the show. Oregon Science Teachers Association Fall Meeting October 10-11, 2014 Education and outreach are important to fulfilling the mission of the Rice NW Museum. If you are an educator, you will want to catch the Rice NW Museum’s curator and outreach specialist, Leslie Moclock, at the Oregon Science Teachers Association 2014 Fall Conference. Leslie will be sharing information about our school tours and off-site programming at this conference. Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Friends of Mineralogy October 10-12, 2014 The Friends of Mineralogy is an organization whose focus is on mineral science education. The Pacific Northwest boasts one of the largest and most active chapters of this organization. The theme of the annual fall symposium of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of Friends of Mineralogy is Minerals of Colorado. The Rice NW Museum will have an educational exhibit featuring some of our better Colorado minerals. Museum director, Julian Gray, will be attending the symposium and facilitating the seminar Saturday and Sunday.

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Rice NW Museum honored for educational exhibits at the 2014 Denver Gem & Mineral Show

Events, News /

Thousands of people attended the Denver Gem & Mineral Show held the second weekend in September each year in Denver, Colorado. The theme of this year’s show was near and dear to the heart of the Rice NW Museum and Oregonian rockhounds: Agate. Agates are found in many places in Oregon and are well represented in the Rice NW Museum’s permanent exhibits. Curator Leslie Moclock selected about two dozen of the best agates and thundereggs from the museum’s collection for two temporary educational exhibits at the show September 12-14, 2014. Taking the museum to mineral collectors in attendance at shows is part of the museum’s outreach program. Both exhibit cases were recognized for their excellence in educational content and quality of the exhibition. The Denver Gem & Mineral Show Committee selected the Rice NW Museum case on the origin of agates for the Donna Chirnside Memorial Award honoring the best display by an institution at the show.  The Friends of Mineralogy, a group that promotes mineral education, awarded the Best Educational Case by an Institution Award to the Rice NW Museum case featuring thundereggs, Oregon State Rock.

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50th Annual Rock Show by the Clackamette Mineral and Gem Society in October

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The 50th Annual Rock Show presented by the Clackamette Mineral and Gem of Oregon City, Oregon, will be held on Saturday, October 25, 2014, from 9AM-6PM at the Clackamas County Fairgrounds in Canby, Oregon. There will be door prizes, exhibits, displays, demonstrations, a fluorescent show, silent auction, kid’s corner, dealers, and rocks available for purchase.

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34th Annual Portland Regional Gem and Mineral Show in Hillsboro

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The 2014 Portland Regional Gem Mineral Show Association is the 34th Annual event hosted by the Portland Regional Gem and Mineral Association October 10-12, 2014. This is one of the largest rock, gem, and mineral shows in the Pacific Northwest, bringing together over 40 dealers and hundreds of exhibits. There will be demonstrations, lectures, workshops, educational programs, specimens, and more through out the entire weekend. Admission is $5 per day for adults. Children 12 and under are free accompanied by an adult. The event will be at the Washington County Fair Complex across from the Hillsboro Airport in Hillsboro, Oregon. For more information, see the 2014 Portland Regional Gem Mineral Show Association announcements and news.

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9th Annual Northwest Fossil Fest

Events, News /

The Northwest Fossil Fest hosted by North American Research Group (NARG) will be at the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals Saturday, August 9, 2014. The Theme for the 9th Annual Northwest Fossil Fest is Petrified Wood. The event is free for families to learn about fossils, fossil collecting, preparation, identification, and display. The event includes lectures and demonstrations, including a presentation by acclaimed petrified wood specialist, Walt Wright, followed by an optional 3 day workshop (requires separate registration). The schedule for the Fossil Fest is: 11:00AM – Fossils of Oregon 1:00PM – Walt Wright’s Introductory Lecture on Identifying Petrified Wood 3:00PM – Brad Newport and the Holleywood Ranch on his famous Petrified Wood Collection and its history This is a great event for families and fossil fans. Attendance for the Fossil Fest includes free admission to the museum. For more information and registration, see Northwest Fossil Fest.

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