A spirited guide to the century-old diorama halls at Los Angeles’ Natural History Museum, where habitats across the globe merge

The diorama halls at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) are among the oldest in the world, captivating Angelenos and tourists alike for over a century. Its immersive habitats range from the windswept ice of Greenland’s musk ox to the quiet bamboo forests of Kenya’s bongo antelope. Fabricating Wilderness, a PST ART project, is the first book to explore the art, science and history of NHM’s remarkable habitat groups. Drawing upon new research, this behind-the-scenes tour is illustrated by both contemporary photographs and archival images. It takes readers through the origin of dioramas and the turbulent early history of NHM’s halls, while also introducing the gifted artists who painted picturesque background murals and meticulously recreated every natural detail. Even at 100 years old, the story of NHM’s dioramas is not over.

Text by: Kayce C. Bell, Ursula K. Heise, Karen L. Maness, Allison J. Shultz, Araceli Ramos, Jon Christensen, Tim Bovard