St. Martin’s only natural history museum, Amuseum Naturalis, is officially launching its 2017 season on Tuesday, January 17th at 5pm. The public is invited to explore the museum and enjoy light refreshments during the free opening event. The launch coincides with the first Mardis de Grand Case street fair of the season.
Amuseum Naturalis is a free pop-up museum established by the Les Fruits de Mer association that highlights the natural history of St. Martin and the Caribbean. The exhibits feature some of the island’s most fascinating animals and plants, like lizards that live only on St. Martin and the tree with the hardest wood in the world. The museum also spotlights the nature we often overlook, like the vibrant freshwater ecosystems found in guts and livestock ponds.
“There’s nothing else like it on the island,” explained Les Fruits de Mer President Jenn Yerkes. “So many important stories about the island’s natural history that aren’t told anywhere else are collected right in one place, and that makes a big impact.”
Les Fruits de Mer created Amuseum Naturalis in 2016 so residents and visitors of all ages could celebrate and learn more about the unique nature of the island. It features a dozen exhibits on different topics, a small theater showing short original nature documentaries filmed on St. Martin, and outdoor displays showcasing local birds, plants and insects. Always growing and changing, the Amuseum stays true to its promise of “New wonders every week!”
“We’re incredibly excited to officially launch the updated Amuseum,” said Les Fruits de Mer co-founder Mark Yokoyama. “Having a second season gave us a chance to improve and expand on our work from last year and make the experience more beautiful, more engaging and more interactive.”
The Amuseum Naturalis 2017 season opening event is free and open to the public, Tuesday, January 17th from 5pm to 10pm. The museum will be open for the season Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4pm to 8pm, and it is always free. Amuseum Naturalis is made possible by the generous support of Delta Petroleum and over a dozen businesses and individual donors who have become Friends of the Amuseum. For more information, visit amuseumnaturalis.com.