An exhibit of mineral treasures opens March 3 at Lamar University with rare specimens from Spain, Madagascar, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Uruguay and other exotic locales.
As part of homecoming week activities, the Lamar College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Earth and Space Sciences will host a grand opening of the exhibit, as well as a dedication of the newly remodeled Geology Building and a department reunion, at 2 p.m. March 3 in the Geology Building.
With the new display cases and minerals on permanent loan from the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Lamar will be home to one of the top mineral exhibits in the nation.
“This will draw a lot of attention to the department of Earth and Space Sciences and show people what we do,” said Jim Jordan, chair of the department. Our department will house “a truly outstanding exhibit of rare and unique minerals spectacular in beauty and of great educational significance,” Jordan said.
Paul Bernhart, of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, elaborated: “Among the world-class collection, there will be gleaming yellow sulfur crystals from Sicily, Italy, that will surprise people with their candy-like shimmer.”
The display will also display deep purple amethyst, golden calcite, classic malachite and azurite from mines all over the world.
“Science is what we want people to learn about, and the beauty of the minerals is how we will get them here,” Jordan said.
One of the more spectacular examples is a geode from Madagascar that is filled with gleaming blue celestine crystals. The rough grey exterior of the rock gives way to an array of transparent blue crystals when they are carefully cracked open.
Another treat for gallery visitors are the glittering gold pyrite crystals from Spain.
“Commonly known as ‘fool’s gold’ these minerals impress all who see them, many of them cannot believe they are completely natural,” Bernhart said.
The gallery will also hold a lustrous, deep-red vanadinite from Morocco, a mineral that is sought after by collectors around the world for its striking beauty.
The Department of Earth and Space Sciences will dedicate the newly renovated Geology Building during the ceremony and conduct tours of the facility.
The board of advisors for the Department of Earth and Space Sciences has been meeting and planning the exhibit for the past two years, with Lamar alumnus Byron Dyer of Houston, a 1957 Lamar graduate, playing a pivotal role. Dyer met with Joel Bartsch, president of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, in the early planning stages of the gallery and opened many doors for the gallery to come to Lamar, Jordan said.
Bartsch, designer of Lamar’s exhibit, will be among the honored guests attending the opening. Bartsch has years of experience designing mineral exhibits, often treating them as works of art in a gallery as shown in the book he coauthored, “Masterpieces of the Mineral World.”
Additional information is available in the Lamar University Department of Earth and Space Sciences at (409) 880-8240.
