Rare Earth

Ended September 5, 2022

Experience a unique and astonishing collection of minerals that will make you question our cultural assumptions about nature’s value. Learn how these natural wonders are formed, uncover the science behind their beauty, and discover how and where they’re found, including in your very own body!

Enjoy untold stories of the mining history of the American West and treasures from across the Pacific. Marvel at minerals at their finest, from precious stones like malachite and emeralds, to choice fossils like the skull of a juvenile Triceratops horridus.

This special summer exhibit presents rarely-seen specimens from the Museum’s Earth Science Collections, UC Santa Barbara’s Woodhouse Collection, and extensive offerings from the world-renowned Arkenstone Collection.

Included in Museum admission, free for Members.

Photos by Robert Mosley (The Arkenstone)

Generously sponsored by The Walter J. and Holly O. Thomson Foundation, Santa Barbara Independent, and Noozhawk