Nature Journal at the UW Geology Museum: sketch, write, wonder

Name: Nature Journal at the UW Geology Museum: sketch, write, wonder
Start: 2025-12-13T10:30:00-06:00
End: 2025-12-13T13:00:00-06:00
Location: UW Geology Museum

Schedule

Sat Dec 13 2025 at 10:30 am to 01:00 pm

UTC-06:00

Location

UW Geology Museum | Madison, WI

Join the Nature Journal Club at the UW Geology Museum. We journal here every year but it never gets old, with 100s and 100s of fossil and rock specimens to choose from: gems, metals, minerals, ancient water life, ancient land life, and a few huge skeletons of dinosaurs, a mastodon, and an ancient "armadillo." I’ll start off giving some quick tips on interesting things to notice and record in your journal. Then we’ll split up to find what’s interesting to us, journal, and meet back up to discuss what we journaled about near the end of the event.
*Note: The geology museum closes at 1pm which is why this is an earlier than usual event timing.*
DETAILS:
Where to meet:
- Meet in the lobby. Just look for people with sketchbooks and possibly a whiteboard.
Where to park:
- The the nearest parking lot is Lot 80 (beneath Union South), about 2 blocks away
Is this event location accessible? And are there bathrooms?
- The museum itself and the parking garage are accessible, just be prepared to travel the two-blocks between them.
- There are bathrooms.
What should I bring?
- Pencil and paper, or anything fancier. No oil or acrylic paints as this is a museum, though waterbrushes with watercolor palette should be fine. You may want to bring a portable sketching stool if you want the flexibility to settle down anywhere (if you’re not comfortable sketching while standing or sitting on the floor.) There is some seating around the museum though.
Who should come to this event? Do I need to know how to draw?
- Anyone can join in! No drawing experience is needed--beginners encouraged. The club is mostly adults right now, but we'd love to have more children join us.
What is nature journaling?
- When nature journaling, you document what you notice, wonder, and feel using pictures, words, and numbers. People nature journal to show love and attention to nature, to reignite childlike-curiosity, to explore their city’s natural spaces, to practice mindfulness, and to get excited about conservation.
What exactly will we do at this event?
- The group gathers at the beginning for about 20 min to meet each other and learn some nature journaling tips. Then we journal individually, oftentimes spreading out. (I'm happy to join anyone who would like additional tips). At the end, we come together again to optionally share our journal pages and chat about the most curious things we noticed.