Current Exhibits
Temporary Exhibitions
Quilting Natural Florida II | Feb. 6 - April 25, 2010
Experience the natural beauty of Florida in a new way. The Florida Museum, in partnership with the Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild, is displaying more than 100 original quilts showcasing Florida's wildlife and plants. From sea creatures to birds and everything in between, each quilt depicts part of the state's landscape or wildlife. These stitched masterpieces vary from literal to abstract creations.
Seasonal Crossings: Environmental Woodcuts of Central & South Florida | Dec. 17, 2009 - April 18, 2010
Slogging through swamps, wading through weeds and getting off the beaten path, Mollie Doctrow sketches native habitats and makes environmental woodcuts. These printed woodcuts are portraits of plants and plant communities, some endemic, rare and endangered.
Permanent Exhibit Halls
Butterfly Rainforest: Where Science Takes Flight!
Stroll through this 6,400-square-foot screened, outdoor enclosure with subtropical and tropical plants and hundreds of living butterflies. View thousands of Lepidoptera species on the "Wall of Wings" and learn about butterfly and moth biology. See scientists working in the Butterfly Rearing Lab and the Research Labs.
Florida Fossils: Evolution of Life & Land
Drawing upon the Florida Museum's internationally acclaimed fossil collections, this award-winning exhibit describes the last 65 million years of Florida's history. Walk through time beginning with the Eocene, when Florida was underwater, to the Pleistocene when the first humans arrived 14,000 years ago. More than 90 percent of the 500 fossils are real and many were found within 100 miles of Gainesville.
Northwest Florida: Waterways & Wildlife
This exhibit follows water as it flows through the unique environments of northwest Florida, the most biodiverse region of the state. Explore a hardwood hammock featuring a life-sized limestone cave, a seepage bog with its carnivorous plants, a Native American trading scene and more.
South Florida People & Environments
This exhibit celebrates the story of native people in South Florida and the environments that supported them. Walk along a boardwalk through a mangrove forest, travel underwater to view larger-than-life marine creatures, visit the house of a Calusa leader and much more.
Outdoor Exhibits
Florida Wildflower & Butterfly Garden
Located just west of the Museum, this demonstration garden showcases Florida's native wildflowers and their importance as host and nectar plants for Florida's native butterflies. It encourages visitors to imagine how they could transform their own yards into an inviting and colorful, yet practical and water-saving mecca for butterflies and other wildlife.
Fossil Plant Garden
Located next to the Florida Museum's main entrance, this garden is landscaped with modern species of plants whose ancestors lived millions of years ago and are preserved as fossils in many places around the world.
Floor Plan Map
Get a detailed map of the Museum along with descriptions of current and upcoming exhibits:
Download the Florida Museum Floor Plan Map (PDF)