Staten Island Museum
General interest museum in New York, United States / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Staten Island Museum (officially the Staten Island Institute of Arts & Sciences) is Staten Island’s oldest cultural institution, and the only remaining general interest museum in New York City.
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Established | 1881 |
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Location | 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, New York, United States |
Coordinates | 40.64419°N 74.07776°W / 40.64419; -74.07776 |
Type | General interest museum |
Public transit access | New York City Bus routes, Staten Island Ferry, NYC Ferry, Staten Island Railway at St. George Terminal |
Website | www.statenislandmuseum.org |
Founded in 1881 by fourteen of New York City’s first “environmental activists”, the Staten Island Museum houses artifacts and specimens from ancient to contemporary periods. This “mini-Smithsonian” is rich with arts, natural sciences and local history.
The museum's holdings are formally organized into three main collections: Natural Sciences, Fine Art, and History Archives & Library. The natural science collections encompass over 500,000 botanical, biological, anthropological and mineral specimens including bird nests and eggs, mounted animals, fossils, shells, and a significant collection of insects, including important type specimens. Based upon a 19th-century model, the art collection includes works spanning prehistory to the modern period, with representations of diverse world cultures from both the Western and Non-Western traditions. The historical collections include a library, maps and atlases, early films, audio recordings, photographs, historical objects, ephemera and archival documents reaching back to the 17th century.