The New Jersey State Museum is open for visitors to discover exhibitions that preserve and share stories that inspire curiosity and creativity. Of note are the two short-term exhibitions that have been extended — “Preserving the Pinelands: Albert Horner’s Portraits of a National Treasure” and “Fine Feathered Friends: Birds as Mainstay and Muse” — so that visitors have an opportunity to browse the galleries and experience the exhibitions in person.

Visitors can also browse “American Perspectives: The Fine Art Collection” galleries for changes to the works on display, including several new acquisitions. The Museum is operating on its regular schedule, Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Masks are required for all visitors over the age of 2 and social distancing is encouraged. 

“Preserving the Pinelands: Albert Horner’s Portraits of a National Treasure” will remain on view through January 2, 2022. The exhibition features images by photographer Albert Horner which capture the quiet beauty and intimate landscapes of New Jersey’s Pinelands National Reserve. A number of artifacts and scientific specimens from the Museum’s collections help tell some of the stories of the land, animals, people and industries that make this unique area a state and national treasure. “Preserving the Pinelands” is located in the East Gallery on the Museum’s on the first floor.

“Fine Feathered Friends: Birds as Mainstay and Muse,” will remain on view through March 6, 2022 in the Riverview Gallery on the Museum’s second floor. This exhibition brings together nearly 200 rarely-seen artifacts to explore the status of our fine feathered friends as ecological mainstay and their historical role as a design-inspiring force, or muse, for New Jersey craftspeople. Ceramic sculptures by noted artist Edward Marshall Boehm, original prints by John James Audubon, hand-carved duck decoys, scientific specimens and other objects help tell the story of our fascination with birds. 

There have also been a few changes in the “Written in the Rocks: Fossil Tales of New Jersey” gallery, specifically, the installation of the nearly complete Hyposaurus rogersii skeleton, a pre-historic crocodilian which lived in what is now Gloucester County, about 65 million years ago. 

The New Jersey State Museum is located at 205 West State Street within the State Cultural Complex in Trenton. For more information, visit statemuseum.nj.gov.