360° Before-and-After Tour

Summer 2024 update: We’ve added new post-renovation photos!  Now you can compare some of our iconic spaces from before our renovation, during, and after re-opening.  What a journey it has been! We’d like to thank you for following our blog during the years and encourage you to check out our read & watch page and …

Bubblegum and Shoestrings

The third floor of the new Peabody is soon to be home to our new Living Lab—the reimagined version of our former and beloved Discovery Room. This vibrant, interactive space will contain several live animal displays plus a cornucopia of assorted objects from across our collections, arranged in exciting cabinets and exhibits like the ones …

Taking Root

For the first time, the Peabody Museum will be displaying live plants in our public galleries. Many of the species featured in this island exhibit, including the thick-trunked cycad in the middle, are largely unchanged since the days of the dinosaurs. These plants were generously contributed to the Peabody’s new Central Gallery by our friends …

Casework Makes the Dream Work

This month, we’ve ramped up our installation efforts. A few galleries are already starting to take their final shape as exhibition panels and objects begin to fill the new casework. Here you’ll see signs of progress in our Mesoamerica and Andes, Egypt and Mesopotamia, and History of Science and Technology galleries. Expert hands and modern …

Bronto’s Back

The steel frame for Brontosaurus has been installed in the Burke Hall of Dinosaurs and adorned with the sauropod’s massive pelvis, leg bones, and dorsal vertebrae. Each individual fossil is supported by its own, independent armature and can be removed for study. One femur alone weighs nearly 600 pounds and the hips are so enormous …

To Build a Mosasaur

Tylosaurus was one of the largest genera of mosasaur in history. The specimen now displayed in the Peabody’s new Central Gallery once swam and hunted in Late Cretaceous seas over what is now Texas. Its fossilized remains were preserved for millions of years before being meticulously extracted and prepared for exhibition. This fossil mount, a …

Reptiles Take Flight

The Peabody’s new Central Gallery, beautifully designed by Centerbrook Architects & Planners, is now home to two of the museum’s signature fossil mounts. The “Skeleton Crew” from Research Casting International delivered and installed Archelon and Tylosaurus in just under a week. Suspended from the beamed ceiling and bathed in natural light, one of the largest …

In the Blink of an Eye

A construction project of this scale has so many individual tasks and components that progress can seem slow. During the past month, however, the renovation has accelerated dramatically and corners of the new Peabody are taking shape. Classrooms, offices, and exhibition spaces are now equipped with fresh paint, modern lighting, finished flooring, and glass panels. …

Onward and Upward

A major focus of our renovation is improving circulation and access around the new Museum. Along with the addition of 50% more gallery space, we’re also adding new stairs, elevators, and corridors to connect old and new spaces together. Here, a bright orange safety net covers the side of a new passenger elevator shaft in …

First Finishing Touches

Fall semester at Yale is in full swing! Though students only returned to campus a few weeks ago, areas of the new construction are wrapping up after many months of work. One of our first milestones is the completion of shared staff and administrative space on the 4th floor of the new Museum. This bright …