11/15/2025
Thrilling news to start your Friday: the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History has been awarded a Save America’s Treasures grant to preserve the historic Laysan Island Cyclorama. With this grant, funding for the conservation project is now approximately 80% complete!
Save America’s Treasures provides funding to protect nationally significant historic properties and collections. The program will fund $750,000 toward the museum’s ongoing restoration efforts of the cyclorama, including crucial conservation work such as updated professional assessments of the mural, specimens, and exhibition materials; cleaning and repair of the mural, mounts, and foreground elements damaged by time, dust, and environmental stress; and improvements to environmental controls and building systems to ensure long-term preservation.
“The Laysan Island Cyclorama is a national treasure that blends science, art, and environmental history in a way that is each breathtaking, historically significant, and deeply relevant today,” says Pentacrest Museums Director Liz Crooks.
Today, the cyclorama continues to educate and inspire audiences, offering a rare immersive view of an ecosystem forever changed by human activity. Its restoration will ensure that the UI Museum of Natural History can continue to use this exhibition to teach lessons of museology, biology, environmental stewardship, resilience, and interconnectedness. Read more at https://pentacrestmuseums.uiowa.edu/news/2025/10/university-iowa-museum-natural-history-awarded-prestigious-save-americas-treasures. 🩵
