Beaded Keychain Workshop

Learn how to make a beaded keychain from artist Alicia De La Cruz in this half-day workshop. This event is made possible by the Joseph and Josephine Ruttger Descendants Fund.

Wooly Wonders: From Fiber to Yarn

Celebrate the steps of turning wool into fabric by visiting Historic Forestville on Saturdays throughout June to learn the different steps. Each Saturday will have a demonstration of one of the steps in the wool to fiber process.

Join us in an artful demonstration of fiber spinning. Watch fiber artist Karen Schmidt, from Schmidt Farm in Preston, Minnesota, add wool while continuously spinning the fiber together.

Spotlight Science: SciPride

Recommended for all ages 

Celebrate Pride when we center the work of LGBTQIA+ scientists and allies at the Bell Museum! Meet researchers and experience their work through hands-on activities for all ages around the museum. This public program is open to all.

Solar Observing

We’re taking advantage of the sunny summer weather and bringing our solar telescopes out each week this summer! Our expert staff will guide you through safe solar observing while teaching you about our closest star. Please note: solar observing will be canceled in case of clouds or rain.

Solar Observing is an in-person event at the Bell Museum and is included in the cost of regular admission.

Solar safety

Sheep to Softness: A Demonstration of Cleaning Raw Wool

Celebrate the steps of turning wool into fabric by visiting Historic Forestville on Saturdays throughout June to learn the different steps. Each Saturday will have a demonstration of one of the steps in the wool to fiber process.

Raw wool is rough and scratchy; not to mention contains numerous organic material. It needs to be cleaned and washed before it can become yarn. Come participate in this hands-on multistep process.

Mendota After Hours: Fading Ads of the Twin Cities

Do you remember seeing those old painted ads on the sides of buildings for Coca-Cola, Grain Belt Beer, grocery stores, warehouses, etc.? Fading Ads are the old painted ads on the sides of brick buildings that once advertised a vibrant business, and now have faded to the point where only part of the sign is visible. Those overlooked, fleeting symbols seen on brick buildings throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul chronicle the Twin Cities past.

Mendota After Hours: A New Life Beckons: Alaska’s Matanuska Colony

During The Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the United States government implemented the “New Deal”. The relief and recovery programs within the New Deal were aimed at getting Americans working and getting money into their hands. One of those programs, through the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA,) was rural rehabilitation. The programs aim was to get displaced families off government provided relief and into resettlement communities.