The Bell Museum's outstanding art collection includes more than 1,400 objects. World-renowned wildlife dioramas, as well as prints, paintings, sculpture and wildlife films bring nature to life for museum visitors. Many of the museum's dioramas were painted by Minnesota native Francis Lee Jaques. To search the museum's Jaques collection, click here. http://digital.lib.umn.edu/bmproject/bmsearch.html

The museum also has a substantial film archive that contains nature documentaries from the 1920's through the 1960's. Many of the films were shown at the museum's popular Sunday afternoon programs, which occurred from the 1940's through the 1960's. Thanks to a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation, the Bell Museum has restored and preserved several films from the Walter Breckenridge Archive. Click on the links below to see clips from two of these films.

Wood Duck Ways (1960's)
Segments of this film were recorded from the 1940's through the 1960's. Perhaps the most popular of the museum's nature films, the movie focuses on wood duck behavior. Click here to see the downy ducklings!

Island Treasure (1957) (Silent)
This film depicts the natural history of Casey's Island, which is located on the Mississippi River just north of Minneapolis. Click here and check out some of the wildlife on Casey's Island in 1957.