By Katie Moore
A live mermaid will be visiting the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) Jan. 13 and 14 as part of the Museum’s Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids exhibit.
For this special weekend, visit Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids to explore the various mythical creatures of the world and meet Mermaid Phantom! Mermaid Phantom will be in the exhibit from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. both January 13 and 14. Visitors can talk to Phantom, ask her questions about mermaids and mythical creatures, touch her tail and take photos with her!
“I am so excited to come warm up my fins at the Grand Rapids Public Museum when I visit the Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids the weekend of Jan. 13 and 14,” said Mermaid Phantom. “I haven’t seen humans in Lake Michigan since last summer! I hope I’ll meet plenty of people so we can take tons of pictures together… and talk about mermaid things too!”
Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids featuring models and replicas of preserved specimens as well as cast fossils of prehistoric animals to investigate how they could have, through misidentification, speculation, fear, or imagination, inspired the development of some legendary creatures.
Admission to Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids is $12 for adults, $7 for children, $9 for Kent County resident adults, $4 for Kent County resident children, and $2 for all Museum members! Tickets include general admission to the Museum, and can be purchased online at grpm.org or by calling 616.929.1700.
Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids offers many interactive stations throughout the exhibition. Visitors can build their own dragon on an engaging touch-screen and watch it come alive before their eyes in a virtual environment.
Visitors will touch casts of a narwhal tusk to discover how they lent credence to the centuries-old belief in the unicorn. Hands-on stations also include the lower jaw of Gigantopithecus (extinct group of apes) and a life-size reproduction of the talon of a Haast’s eagle.
This exhibit is located on the Museum’s third floor and runs through May 20.
Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (amnh.org), in collaboration with the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney; Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau-Quebec; Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Atlanta; and The Field Museum, Chicago.
