We love visiting museums.
Art museums. Science museums. History museums.
They all are fantastic.
With the first day of school steadily creeping up on us, we decided to take advantage of our free time. We headed to a museum that we haven’t been to before – The Schiele Museum over in Gastonia. Bonus, it’s part of the ASTC Passport Program, meaning that you could get free or discounted admission through your membership at reciprocal museums.
Founded by Bud and Lily Schiele in 1961, early exhibits were directly donated from the Schiele’s collections of wildlife, rocks and minerals, and Native American pottery and jewelry. In my mind, this means he ran out of space in his home. Starting The Schiele Museum would allow him to collect even more items.
Which is my dream.
Located on almost 17 acres, this museum has something for everyone. It contains a planetarium, dinosaurs (with a new exhibit opening this fall), scenes from nature, and one of the largest showcases of Catawba Indian pottery in the world. Not to mention their animal ambassadors, both alive and taxidermized, and a huge outdoor area to explore!
One of the highlights was watching a caretaker feed mealworms to the turtles.
There was something so incredibly vintage about the Hall of North American Habitats and the Hall of North American Wildlife. It felt like I was taking my boys on a road trip circa the 1960s — and I loved it. In addition to cell phone photos, I also have been making the effort to use a disposable film camera this summer.
It’ll be a little while before I get to see those photos though. We are way past the days of 1-hour photo counters, it seems. Unfortunately, I have to mail my roll of film off.
Located outside, The Farm was by far my favorite exhibit at The Schiele Museum. To quote my eldest son, “I wish this was our homestead”.
The Farm explores the natural, ever-changing relationships between people, plants, and animals on our local farms. It features a variety of livestock, agricultural equipment, and gardens showcasing a variety of plants that thrive in the Piedmont.
As beekeepers ourselves, the active beehives were a welcomed surprise.
After visiting The Farm, we headed off down the nature trail, which was a brief .7 mile trek. We made our way around to see the Catawba Indian Village, Stone Age Heritage Site, the Moon Tree, and all the other wonders to be found. You experience a pine forest, mixed hardwood forest, and pond and stream communities typical of the North Carolina Piedmont.
Pro Tip: Wear bug spray. Even with all the dry weather we’ve had recently, the mosquitos were out in full force. I wasn’t prepared for that and was glad that my youngest (who mosquitos tend to love) wore long pants. I keep one of the Avon Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus Picaridin Towelettes in my purse now for situations like this.
All in all, this was a great museum to experience less than an hour from Hickory. We all loved visiting and look forward to continuing to see this museum flourish as time passes.
The Schiele Museum
1500 East Garrison Boulevard, Gastonia, NC 28054
Hours: Mon – Fri: 10am – 4pm; Sat: 10am – 5pm; Sun: 1pm – 5pm
(The Schiele Museum closes on Easter, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. )
Admission tickets to The Schiele Museum include museum exhibits, The Farm, and the Nature Trail. Planetarium tickets are an additional cost.